New signings |
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Wil Chips
Rambler Joined: 23 August 2009 Location: Pembs Status: Online Points: 50969 |
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Nothing, expensive and a gamble mind.
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gorau
Senior Member Joined: 31 October 2005 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 832 |
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What we need is a balance, some athletic forwards - which we have. But we also need a few physical forwards to add bulk and help us in games like against Racing and Ulster. Players who can get over the gain line and help generate quick ball. We only have Jake Ball and Ed Kennedy who are the physical types of forwards, one or two more would be ideal. Those big physical forwards then can help give us momentum allowing for the likes of Cubby boi to flourish in the outside channels. You need to have the balance.
A backrower who fits this mould would be Jordan Taufua, who can play across the back row and is with the Crusaders at the moment. A physical second row then to help our front row also and we will be sorted. I'd like us to temp Thomas Young here as he can get over the gain line and has great hands and a turn of pace and he's great over the ball which would suit us.
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eds
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mr geraint
Senior Member Joined: 30 October 2009 Location: Oxfordshire Status: Offline Points: 823 |
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Not sure about our chances in competing financially for Wasps’ first choice 7.
Taufua, meanwhile, was in the ABs summer squad. He didn’t play but is probably watching Read get old and thinking about playing 8 for NZ after the RWC. |
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gorau
Senior Member Joined: 31 October 2005 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 832 |
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Wasps are in a dire situation apparently. I think there are a few ahead of Taufua with the All Blacks currently, Shannon Frizell, Dalton Papali'i, Liam Squire, Vaea Fifita to name a just a few ahead of Taufua.
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eds
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henry_winkler
Veteran Dont believe a word...... Joined: 12 January 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2797 |
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We need to sign 5 forwards in the summer, all of which need to be 18st plus.
We need 2 X 2nd rows of first choice material. A no.8 of first choice material (been saying this since Ben Morgan left) And we need another 18st plus 2nd row to challenge Another 18st no.8 to challenge. Anything less than this will be a recruitment failure. Ideally we need Josh Adams or Similar and Owen Williams or similar but the pack is a priority (been saying that since I was 12 years old) Some things never change in West Wales. |
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gorau
Senior Member Joined: 31 October 2005 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 832 |
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The likes of Luke Whitelock, Elliot Dixon, Sam Henwood.
I watched a video of Sam Henwood from a Vimeo channel called EsportifTV. A load of players on there with highlight videos including Javan Sebastien, Johnny McNicholl, Dan Jones and Jonathan Davies. Now am I missing something is Foxy out of contract?
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eds
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Ffidel Bennett
Veteran Joined: 31 August 2014 Location: Caerdydd Status: Offline Points: 6306 |
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That we sign forwards with mobility and athleticism, means that we limit our playing style, and its little wonder that our former captain, Barclay, could recently say, that our opponents are now increasingly working us out and negating that style (namely that we go through the phases until a gap appears). A strong, quick reacting, defence can make this difficult, especially in poor conditions for handling and with our 10 remaining flat. Now, as I've urged several times before, we don't have to take this, if we are willing to occasionally risk possession by chipping behind the oncoming defenders and will make us less predictable. However having a couple of big tackle-bursting forwards would give us even more options and be very useful when we do get well inside the opposition 22.
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roy munster
Veteran Joined: 30 August 2010 Status: Offline Points: 15682 |
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all top teams need an all court game...If we stick to just plan a then teams will find it easy to defend....we need a plan a b c d e f g ....keep the opponents guessing....this means hard hitting powerful ball carriers with insatiable work ethic. but pls no more halaufa or michael tago signings....tidy players but way past their best for various reasons.
Edited by roy munster - 09 December 2018 at 7:09pm |
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ROYMOND MUNTER MBE (FOR SERVICES TO THE COMBOVER)
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Wil Chips
Rambler Joined: 23 August 2009 Location: Pembs Status: Online Points: 50969 |
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I know we’ve dialogued about chip / grubber kicking in the past. I know your thoughts on it being a seldom used tactic. We have developed a style of play which really involves mostly passing and off loading. With stellar line breaking guys out wide like Steff and Foxy, great passing ability from 1-23, and some intricate playbook options, no matter how good the defence, some tries will come... Now teams know out strategy, and can, to at least some extent, work us out by committing little resource to the breakdown, fanning out and ensuring guys like Steff have double coverage...it puts us under pressure. Other teams, Ulster for sure, pride themselves in defensive alignment and line speed, and are ok to yield possession and territory to a point. So your right, you have to mix it up when the opposition has got your number. Ulster pushed up their wingers in to the line pretty much every play, it clutters up the play space for our backs, brings in to stark focus that we don’t really have line breaking bruisers, and so we become very lateral. A couple of grubbers/chips would make the wingers think twice before charging up, turn the defensive line ( they had a couple of guys who are not the quickest to turn), and if executed well create a contest for the ball. We just need to change our tactics subtly and create doubt. No doubt at all the Ospreys, with zero belief they can go more than 3 phases from what I can see, will kick behind us and give us the challenge to break them down, |
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Ffidel Bennett
Veteran Joined: 31 August 2014 Location: Caerdydd Status: Offline Points: 6306 |
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Yes Wil, I don't want to turn us into the Ospreys who kick relentlessly, but just occasionally, especially at the start if we see space behind to a close defensive line, chipping the ball behind will bring their wings back to cover, leaving more space for our boys to progress. And who knows if we chase with pace and determination might actually produce some tries.
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BlackwoodScarlet
Veteran Joined: 12 March 2008 Location: Blackwood Status: Offline Points: 4470 |
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When the Blues come down will they bring their 2 most physical players in the pack i.e Williams and Manoa, knowing that physical vthey can beat our pack up
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knutsfordlion
Veteran Joined: 22 October 2009 Status: Offline Points: 2426 |
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Even during our success we did not have big forwards who carried. We used footwork and handling to move the point of contact when carrying and that got us the go forward needed. We coped well against those monster French packs and the liked of Sarries, so physicality is a mind-set as much as anything else. We need some continuity in selection and get some momentum going, and we will come through once again.
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Page the oracle
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thommo
Veteran Joined: 26 March 2005 Status: Offline Points: 1854 |
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What has happened is that we do not have a plan b. As demonstrated last season against leinsterugby we got bullied up front and had no answer. Unfortunately the big teams financially also have the big packs. |
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Rob o'r Bont
Veteran Dr. Optimist Joined: 03 May 2008 Location: Bont Status: Offline Points: 14625 |
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My opinion (until I change it) is that it's circumstances (such as injuries) and not the squad makeup per se that has caused us to seemingly dip this season.
And I'm not even sure we've dipped. Yes, the start of this season hasn't been great but we are not a million miles away from where we were at this stage of the season in the last two years. Whats different in Europe so far is we didn't get a last minute try against Ulster in the way we did against Treviso last year. That's all, that's the only difference.
What we remember about the last two seasons are the glorious run ins we had in the last couple of months of the season. The earlier parts of the season were not always so great but the run ins made us forget the bad days at the office. My point is (notwithstanding we have lost a few we would like to have kept), player retention and recruitment is in my opinion on the right track and it might take till the business end of the season for us to fully realise this. |
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In a world where you can be anything – Be Kind.
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GPR - Rochester
Veteran Joined: 01 December 2014 Location: Rhydcymerau Status: Offline Points: 18780 |
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I simply cannot agree with you. Last season when our forwards didn't turn up with the required intensity, which they are prone to doing, we generally had a defensive resilience which kept us in games. I have lost count this season of how many soft tries we have conceded. By soft I mean opposition teams not having to go through multiple phases to wear us down. Ulster's 4 tries came off a combined 10 phases. If Ulster had not made so many handling mistakes they would have been out of sight. I would love to believe that we are going to see the awakening of this team in the 2nd half of the season but I will not be holding my breath. Against Ulster we were missing one first choice front 5 forward and we were totally overpowered. We even lost the scrum battle against an Ulster scrum rated perhaps joint 3rd in Ireland. Now our back row woes can be put down to injury - our current first choice back row of Shingler, Cubby & Blade will undoubtedly improve the team but only so much if we continue to have powder puff performances by our front 5. In addition our long held need for a carrying No 8 remains to be solved on the evidence so far. Teams have to evolve their way of playing but one thing remains constant - you have to go forward in rugby to create smooth quick ball; you have to have slick delivery from 9-10. Both of these basics were totally missing from our game last Friday. I repeat it was a miracle that we got within a point. I have watched all our games this season apart from Leicester & we have only shown the required intensity up front in one game - Leinster home.
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scarletnut
Veteran Joined: 28 April 2009 Status: Offline Points: 14170 |
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I still wake up late at night and think of what might have been when tim stimpson hit that jammy penalty1
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