Wales will attempt to get physical with revered New Zealand captain Richie McCaw at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

The critical breakdown area - an aspect of the game where the masterful McCaw reigns supreme - is key to both teams' victory aspirations.

And Wales head coach Warren Gatland knows his players cannot afford to let the All Blacks' openside flanker dominate.

"The breakdown is about putting your body on the line - it's attritional," he said.

"We are playing against one of the best players in the world in Richie McCaw.

"We've got to be as physical as we can be with McCaw, and hopefully make him feel like he has been in a game. That's part of the plan.

"I've always been an advocate of the game being hard and physical. You take it to the letter of the law, but you don't cross it."

Wales last beat New Zealand 56 years ago, and if they are to end that demoralising run of 20 successive defeats then Gatland will need his star performers from this summer's British and Irish Lions tour hitting top gear.

And perhaps none more so than powerful centre Jamie Roberts, whose prospective midfield confrontation with New Zealand's Ma'a Nonu could be worth the entry fee alone.

"Jamie has kept improving," added Gatland.

"He learnt a hell of a lot playing alongside and working with Brian O'Driscoll on the Lions tour, which was great for Jamie's development.

"We are not trying to put too much pressure on him, but when you have a player who is that big and strong, you've got to use that.

"As the All Blacks will be looking to use Ma'a Nonu against us at times, we've got to use the size and strength of Jamie as well."

Gatland has made seven changes from the side that ended last season's RBS 6 Nations Championship campaign by losing a title decider against Ireland in Cardiff.

It would probably have been six had Scarlets wing Mark Jones not suffered a knee injury during Wales training over the weekend that will sideline him for the entire autumn series and probably require keyhole surgery.

James Hook, normally a fly-half or centre, fills the full-back vacancy created by Lee Byrne's foot injury, while Gareth Cooper replaces injured scrum-half Mike Phillips and Ospreys prop Paul James wins his second cap - six years after the first.

James takes over from another injured Lion, his Ospreys colleague Adam Jones, and Gatland knows the scrum battle will be crucial.

Gatland could have moved Gethin Jenkins across the scrum from loosehead to tighthead, but he has backed 27-year-old James to play his part opposite a New Zealand front row shorn of the suspended Tony Woodcock.

"We've been quite happy with the way he has scrummaged at tighthead," said Gatland.

"We discussed the possibility of moving Gethin, but we feel he is one of the best looseheads in world rugby and we wanted to keep him in that position.

"Scrummaging is an important aspect of the game. If our scrum doesn't function, we are really going to struggle, so we will put a lot of emphasis on that. We need a platform to work off."