LUKE Charteris is confident he can do the job Wales coach Mike Ruddock has handed him for tomorrow night's near 74,000 sell-out game against Fiji at the Millennium Stadium (7.30pm).

Charteris, though only 22 and with just five caps to his name, has been put in charge of the Welsh line-out, an area which badly malfunctioned against the All Blacks.

Charteris will be in charge of the line-out calls and will organise the whole set piece.

"It is a responsibility and I'm confident of taking on the role, it's something I've not always done, but I'm looking forward to it," he said.

"It's not as simple as just winning the ball, it's down to the quality of the lift a lot of the time. I don't think a few extra inches is of that benefit any more. You need to be in the right areas."

And the 6ft 9in Charteris, who has just moved to Bath after travelling daily from his West Wales home, goes in with a ringing endorsement from All Blacks coach Graham Henry.

"Luke will be calling the line-outs and will also rely on others feeding him information and telling him there may be other areas to attack from. It is a scanning and communications exercise," said Ruddock.

"I've been very pleased with Luke, he's progressing and growing as a leader and we've invested in him as a line-out leader. We're working hard with him, he's a tall timber and we're trying to stress to him it's important to consider all the options. I'm sure he'll respond to it.

"Graham Henry said he was impressed with him when he went on as a replacement on Saturday, and that's good enough for me.

"I'm very confident in him, he played against the best in the world first up. Luke knows what I expect of him, I've been through it with him and I've got every confidence in his ability to to do it."

Charteris says nobody in the Welsh camp is expecting an easy time against the Fijians or just expecting the team to automatically get back on track after the record defeat at the hands of the All Blacks.

"No-one is taking anything for granted," he said. "Their locks are 6ft 8in and 6ft 9in who destroyed the Samoa line-out recently and gave New Zealand problems, but we'll be well prepared.

"I also like nothing more than getting out there and running around, but the main priority is winning the ball and then securing it.

"I was disappointed with my performances on the summer tour, I didn't play as well as I would have liked, so now it's an opportunity to put things right."

lRuddock said scrum half Dwayne Peel has had a bone scan after damaging his ankle, and the signs are not good for his involvement in the rest of the Autumn series.