Print Page | Close Window

Wales v France Teams

Printed From: Scarlet Fever Llanelli Rugby Sport Wales Tickets
Category: RUGBY
Forum Name: GENERAL RUGBY
Forum Description: Other rugby chat
URL: https://scarletfever.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=44290
Printed Date: 28 March 2024 at 1:02pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: Wales v France Teams
Posted By: Fscarlet
Subject: Wales v France Teams
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 9:26am

Wales: WALES TEAM TO PLAY FRANCE
Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets) (77 Caps)
George North (Northampton Saints) (72 Caps)
Scott Williams (Scarlets) (54 Caps)
Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets) (5 Caps)
Liam Williams (Saracens) (47 Caps)
Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (61 Caps)
Gareth Davies (Scarlets) (31 Caps)
Rob Evans (Scarlets) (24 Caps
Ken Owens (Scarlets) (56 Caps)
Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs) (30 Caps)
Cory Hill (Dragons) (14 Caps)
Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys) (116 Caps) CAPT
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) (56 Caps)
Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues) (10 Caps)
Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby) (71 Caps)

Replacements:
Elliot Dee (Dragons) (4 Caps)
Nicky Smith (Ospreys) (17 Caps)
Samson Lee (Scarlets) (37 Caps)
Bradley Davies (Ospreys) (59 Caps)
Aaron Shingler (Scarlets) (16 Caps)
Aled Davies (Scarlets) (7 Caps)
Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues) (13 Caps)?
Steff Evans (Scarlets) (9 Caps)



France: Benjamin Fall; Gael Fickou, Mathieu Bastareuad (capt), Geoffrey Doumayrou, Remy Grosso; Francois Trinh-Duc, Maxime Machenaud; Jefferson Poirot, Adrien Pelissie, Cetade Gomes Sa, Sebastien Vahamaahina, Wenceslas Lauret, Yacouba Camara, Marc Tauleigne.

Replacements: Camille Chat, Dany Priso, Rabah Slimani, Bernard Le Roux, Mathieu Babillot, Baptiste Couilloud, Lionel Beauxis, Geoffrey Palis.




Replies:
Posted By: NobbySosban
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 11:59am
Patchell & Cubby not in 23, Samson, Shings & Steff on bench.Ermm

15 Halfpenny
14 North
13 S Williams
12 Parkes
11 Liam Williams
10 Biggar
G Davies
R Evans
Owens
3  Francis
4  Hill
5  AW Jones (c)
6  Tipuric
7  Navidi
8  Faletau

16 Dee
17 Smith
18 Lee
19 B Davies
20 Shingler
21 A Davies
22 Anscombe
23 S Evans


At least we should have some fresher players for Munster & Stade Rochelais.




Posted By: Fscarlet
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:02pm
Shingler & Steff dropped to the bench.


Posted By: SospanMawr
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:04pm
This is a nightmare for us. Everyone get preying that Rob, Ken, Cawdor, Parkes, Scott, Leigh get through safely.
Our boys who desperately needed game time like Patch will now go into our biggest game in years with one game in a month is it?
At least Shingler, Samson and Steff are on the bench.


Posted By: reesytheexile
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:15pm
So Cubby and Patch get released for Munster I assume?
Ps Biggar really needs to play the game and shut up.


Posted By: Fscarlet
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:18pm
Originally posted by reesytheexile reesytheexile wrote:

So Cubby and Patch get released for Munster I assume?
Ps Biggar really needs to play the game and shut up.


They will all be available for the Munster match as it isn't until next weekend.


Posted By: SospanMawr
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:19pm
Originally posted by reesytheexile reesytheexile wrote:

So Cubby and Patch get released for Munster I assume?
Ps Biggar really needs to play the game and shut up.
Munster is next weekend (24th)


Posted By: Dafen Boy
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:32pm
Split emotions here, adsurd selection but prefer that less of our boys play. 

Biiga will kick to France all day and Tips will be invisible at the breakdown...

Hill is barely regional standard....no room for Moriarty



Posted By: RR1972
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:32pm
Gats reverts to type then!
 
 
Biggar at ten, HP at 15 .
 
Liam is very lucky to keep his place , not sure naividi and tips are  the best option to deal with that camara on the flank or that nippy number 9 they have
 
Is Sampson not 100% fit? no way francis is a better prop than him
 
A lot less confident seeing this selection
 
 
 


Posted By: Fscarlet
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:33pm
Originally posted by Dafen Boy Dafen Boy wrote:

Split emotions here, adsurd selection but prefer that less of our boys play. 

Biiga will kick to France all day and Tips will be invisible at the breakdown...

Hill is barely regional standard....no room for Moriarty



Sorry but Hill is one Welsh player who has really stood out for me in the 6 Nations this year.


Posted By: Dafen Boy
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:33pm
France could win with that selection


Posted By: Dafen Boy
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:35pm
Originally posted by Fscarlet Fscarlet wrote:

Originally posted by Dafen Boy Dafen Boy wrote:

Split emotions here, adsurd selection but prefer that less of our boys play. 

Biiga will kick to France all day and Tips will be invisible at the breakdown...

Hill is barely regional standard....no room for Moriarty



Sorry but Hill is one Welsh player who has really stood out for me in the 6 Nations this year.

For me he is another Coombs, good honest player but gets talked up as Newport must be included. Seb Davies needs to play to be ready for the WC.


Posted By: magicman64
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:38pm
Ah well same old again


Posted By: Micro Duck
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:50pm
I've really liked Cory Hill this Six Nations. He's really come on.

Not sure why Shings hasn't been selected. He's been excellent.


-------------
New KALAMAFONI - BEAST MODE t-shirt now available online.

Plus a new 'Sosban Fach Scoundrels' range.

Paste the link below into your URL:
https://llanelli.teemill.com/


Posted By: Fscarlet
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:51pm
Originally posted by Dafen Boy Dafen Boy wrote:

Originally posted by Fscarlet Fscarlet wrote:

Originally posted by Dafen Boy Dafen Boy wrote:

Split emotions here, adsurd selection but prefer that less of our boys play. 

Biiga will kick to France all day and Tips will be invisible at the breakdown...

Hill is barely regional standard....no room for Moriarty



Sorry but Hill is one Welsh player who has really stood out for me in the 6 Nations this year.

For me he is another Coombs, good honest player but gets talked up as Newport must be included. Seb Davies needs to play to be ready for the WC.


I am going on my own opinion here, not anyone elses. I think he has improved game on game & really come to the fore in terms of carrying.


Posted By: RR1972
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:52pm
Originally posted by Dafen Boy Dafen Boy wrote:

Originally posted by Fscarlet Fscarlet wrote:

Originally posted by Dafen Boy Dafen Boy wrote:

Split emotions here, adsurd selection but prefer that less of our boys play. 

Biiga will kick to France all day and Tips will be invisible at the breakdown...

Hill is barely regional standard....no room for Moriarty



Sorry but Hill is one Welsh player who has really stood out for me in the 6 Nations this year.

For me he is another Coombs, good honest player but gets talked up as Newport must be included. Seb Davies needs to play to be ready for the WC.
 
 
I prefer Seb Davies but Hill has played really well this 6 nations in fairness to the guy
 
Not sure Moriarty is 100% fit and shingler is well head of him on current form so merits his bench spot.
 
I think your also overly harsh on tips, the lad is a quality player and rarely lets wales down
 
I'm with you on the Biggar selection though , a boring negative choice , we need to either give patchell or rhys p a good run of games at ten and stick with one of them


Posted By: SA14
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 12:55pm
If all the Scarlets internationals were picked it would be a great team with no criticism for Gatland yes?


Posted By: RR1972
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 1:04pm
Originally posted by SA14 SA14 wrote:

If all the Scarlets internationals were picked it would be a great team with no criticism for Gatland yes?
 
we'd still get some dispute (wyn jones should be at 1, aled should start at 9 ) LOLLOL


Posted By: Ffidel Bennett
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 1:15pm
How can he not pick Shingler to start? Most neutral rugby commentators have him as the stand out 6 of the whole tournament? Oh well what's an additional couple of million in prize money, it's obvious that the WRU are rolling in it from the ticket money and can pick an experimental side.


Posted By: Sosban bach
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 1:24pm
Cubby not even on bench what a surprise and shingler on bench is a joke.


Posted By: reesytheexile
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 1:28pm
Originally posted by SospanMawr SospanMawr wrote:

Originally posted by reesytheexile reesytheexile wrote:

So Cubby and Patch get released for Munster I assume?
Ps Biggar really needs to play the game and shut up.
Munster is next weekend (24th)
Oops . I am to eager 🤔 thanks for putting me right!


Posted By: scarletnut
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 1:36pm
Originally posted by SA14 SA14 wrote:

If all the Scarlets internationals were picked it would be a great team with no criticism for Gatland yes?
This is getting tiring now mate

-------------
I still wake up late at night and think of what might have been when tim stimpson hit that jammy penalty1


Posted By: roy munster
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 1:48pm
gatland is a coward

-------------
ROYMOND MUNTER MBE (FOR SERVICES TO THE COMBOVER)


Posted By: SA14
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 1:58pm
Hopefully the Scarlets players not involved can now rejoin the club and take part in training.


Posted By: ladram
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 3:16pm
Originally posted by roy munster roy munster wrote:

gatland is a coward
gutless I was going to post but your post covers it.building for the world cup my arse


Posted By: Fscarlet
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 3:19pm
On the back row...
Originally posted by Gatland Gatland wrote:

I have had a chat with Aaron, he is unlucky. Happy with how the back row worked together last week. I thought Justin Tipuric was outstanding, Toby comes back in again and Josh Navidi has been great for us over the last six months.

On Samson...
Originally posted by Gatland Gatland wrote:

Samson didn’t train at all last week. He had a virus, we felt that Tomas would retain that position and Samson get some time off the bench.


Posted By: ladram
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 4:17pm
Originally posted by Fscarlet Fscarlet wrote:

On the back row...
[QUOTE=Gatland]I have had a chat with Aaron, he is unlucky. Happy with how the back row worked together last week. I thought Justin Tipuric was outstanding, Toby comes back in again and Josh Navidi has been great for us over the last six months.

On Samson...
Originally posted by Gatland Gatland wrote:

Samson didn’t train at all last week. He had a virus, we felt that Tomas would retain that position and Samson get some time off the bench.
[/QUOTE]
tips is ny 2nd fav and biggs is my number 1.so stuff the rest


Posted By: rygbi11
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 5:48pm
Plenty of quality in that 23. IMO. Very strong 23, IMO.


Posted By: Legendinmybathroom
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 6:54pm
Just goes to prove what I said after the Scotland game and what Peter Jackson stated on scrum five. The coaches didn’t really want to pick so many Scarlets players for the Scotland game and to play the Scarlets way (sorry, I mean the Howley/Wales way), but their hands were tied by injuries to their preferred players. As those players have come back to fitness they have quickly been slotted back into the team at the expense of some of the Scarlets.
Today’s selection was just so predictable.


Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 15 March 2018 at 8:05pm
What does anyone expect from Manwithrabbitinhead and Stan Laurel? They’re ultra conservative. I think of late they’ve felt the pressure because Wales seem to keep going backwards. A ducks ae of a defence is only any good if you also secue possession and use it to score points. This shambles have such a limited view of how to play the game they’ve utterly squandered the talent in their hands for the last 5 years. They were over dependent on Shane for creativity and once they dropped Priestland for Dan Chopsy Bighead they’ve had zero idea how to score more than the opposition. Sorry but it just doesn’t cut it against the best teams. You can’t restrict the likes of the All Blacks to less than 15 or so points by letting them have the ball and running at you and fanning out at each ruck. It got found out years ago.

If they were to have a school report it would read “Should have done better.” I honestly believe the Grand Slam was there for the taking this year. Neither England or Ireland have been particularly brilliant this year IMHO and I feel disappointed that we lost those games.


Posted By: roy munster
Date Posted: 16 March 2018 at 12:09am
Gatland started with a bang he had a pretty good 5 years , he inherited a very talented squad....the next 5 have been a woeful waste of talent. Failing to beat aussies or all blacks and losing 50% of all matches...They've also been a period of gatlands gluttony , taking 2 full years out to go on 2 lions tours in the past 5 years totally disrupting the welsh team and set up and leaving his unqualified kronies at home to run the welsh team with this amateurish clique. 

-------------
ROYMOND MUNTER MBE (FOR SERVICES TO THE COMBOVER)


Posted By: Dafen Boy
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 12:27pm
Originally posted by roy munster roy munster wrote:

Gatland started with a bang he had a pretty good 5 years , he inherited a very talented squad....the next 5 have been a woeful waste of talent. Failing to beat aussies or all blacks and losing 50% of all matches...They've also been a period of gatlands gluttony , taking 2 full years out to go on 2 lions tours in the past 5 years totally disrupting the welsh team and set up and leaving his unqualified kronies at home to run the welsh team with this amateurish clique. 

Yes, he has gone stale and complacent.  Wasted some really good players.


Posted By: Dafen Boy
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 5:12pm
Puzzling tactics from Wales


Posted By: Mogwen
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 5:46pm
Liam is becoming a liability

-------------
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.


Posted By: Scarletstarch
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 6:22pm
Sorry but Liam is a shadow of the player he was when he was with the Scarlets, his move to Saracens seems to have had a negative effect on him! ShockedUnhappy


-------------
"YMA O HYD"


Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 6:34pm
Originally posted by Mogwen Mogwen wrote:

Liam is becoming a liability


You were saying ...


Posted By: Mogwen
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 6:46pm
??? He’s had a poor game and has given away too many penalties/turnovers. Bradley has made a positive impression and so has dee

-------------
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.


Posted By: Scarletstarch
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 6:54pm
I love you Aaron Shingler, what a steal!!! Clap


-------------
"YMA O HYD"


Posted By: Mogwen
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 6:55pm
Done more in 20 mins than tipuric in 60. Baffeling decision to bench him

-------------
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.


Posted By: surfing-mtber
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 6:59pm
Samson made a difference in the scrum. Steff should have been on for Liam at 50mins. Shingler wins the match with a steal at the lineout, should have been on from the start. Hadleigh negated Bastereau. Lucky win .

Lacking creativity from 10, partly to do with poor possession.

-------------
Joshua24:15


Posted By: Eastern outpost
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 7:02pm
The talentectomy of the team selection guaranteed next to no creativity.

Bring on Minded with another Great Escape video sequel

-------------
In a world where you can be anything – Be Kind.


Posted By: Mogwen
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 7:05pm
It showed Howley’s lack of desire to play an expansive game no matter what he says in the press. Hardly any offloads, no fluidity and biggar, once again showed what he offers. The players that came on were an improvement on who went off. That to me should ring alarm bells. But it wont😒😒

-------------
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.


Posted By: Dafen Boy
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 7:11pm
Gtaland continues to take us backwards


Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 7:24pm
Originally posted by Mogwen Mogwen wrote:

??? He’s had a poor game and has given away too many penalties/turnovers. Bradley has made a positive impression and so has dee


Indeed, I was agreeing with you.


Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 7:31pm
Gwyn summed it up on S4C. If I can paraphrase ...

A win’s a win but what have we achieved, what have we learned? Yes there’s a bit more depth but do we know what game we want to play? Who’s the best fly half to execute the plan? Are we expansive or conservative? We started with a bang against Scotland. When the pressure came on today we reverted to the old conservative gameplan. We didn’t create anything and our only try came from french confusion. We were lucky. Ok the coach has to decide what the best plan is to win, but if it’s going to be conservative then play like that every time and develop the patterns needed to win the game.


Posted By: Mogwen
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 7:56pm
Originally posted by totallybiasedscarlet totallybiasedscarlet wrote:

Originally posted by Mogwen Mogwen wrote:

??? He’s had a poor game and has given away too many penalties/turnovers. Bradley has made a positive impression and so has dee


Indeed, I was agreeing with you.


Sorry. I misunderstood

-------------
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.


Posted By: Eastern outpost
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 8:06pm
Of all the stuff we created over the tournament, who created what in terms of tries and how many were gimmes from the opposition?

-------------
In a world where you can be anything – Be Kind.


Posted By: cat
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 9:43pm
We got out of jail today, it's been a while since i've seen such a dour performance, boring to watch and i genuinely nearly nodded off second half, we were awful, worse performance of the tournament for me even though we sneaked the win.


Posted By: Legendinmybathroom
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 10:24pm
So the six nations is over for another year. We finished in second place but we’re a country mile behind the Irish ☘️.
We started really well against the Scots with 11 Scarlets in the starting 15, playing an expansive game at pace with plenty of offloading. We then play against a very average England team (who finished last but one), making a few changes to the personnel and came unstuck. Next up it was Ireland, where we went for the tried and trusted conservative flyhalf option of Biggar and all we got was a load of whinging and moaning and a territory based game which didn’t even get us within a losing bonus point of them. In each of those games they also started replacing Scarlets players with their preferred tried and tested players, who weren’t available for the Scottish game.
Against Italy we selected a mobile backrow, a attack minded flyhalf (plus another on the bench) and played quite well. Today I didn’t bother watching the second half, choosing to listen to it instead as I’d seen enough first half. Biggar just couldn’t get the back line moving and we would just kick possession away after a few phases of play. Liam was a liability again and George didn’t see the ball, Shingler gets dropped but then saves Wales with that steal at the final whistle.
We were very fortunate that Tran Duc had such an off day, gifting Liam Wales’s only try, kicking dead with a penalty and then missing a straight forward kick to win the match.
Yes we’ve given a few players some game time, but I’m confused about what Gatland is trying to achieve. We play expansively when up against certain opponents but then just when you start enjoying it, the make the decision to play a conservative game which is so predictable to watch and to defend against, and invariably either lose or struggle to hang on to fall over the finishing line.


Posted By: Eastern outpost
Date Posted: 17 March 2018 at 10:53pm
We may be one-eyed yet we manage to be pretty observant, Legend and many others.

-------------
In a world where you can be anything – Be Kind.


Posted By: roy munster
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 5:29am
Only gatland and howlers could take just 6 weeks to squeeze all the life and excitement out of a wonderful scarlets contingent some quality ospreylians and several top class exiles. It all stems from fly half. Biggar just stands still doesn't attack and either ships it sideways or kicks it away. If wru boss gareth davies had any backbone he'd get rid now and scour the world for a new coaching team with 18 months to rwc

-------------
ROYMOND MUNTER MBE (FOR SERVICES TO THE COMBOVER)


Posted By: roy munster
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 5:34am
Notice Ireland said NO to supplying schmid as lions coach

-------------
ROYMOND MUNTER MBE (FOR SERVICES TO THE COMBOVER)


Posted By: Matthew Cardey
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 6:20am
As most things go through the 10 . Its only fair to point out that the selection at 10 was completley wrong. We wil beat a poor french side, scotland, italy playing this way. but we will never beat ireland, aus, nz, england


Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 8:15am
Originally posted by roy munster roy munster wrote:

Only gatland and howlers could take just 6 weeks to squeeze all the life and excitement out of a wonderful scarlets contingent some quality ospreylians and several top class exiles. It all stems from fly half. Biggar just stands still doesn't attack and either ships it sideways or kicks it away. If wru boss gareth davies had any backbone he'd get rid now and scour the world for a new coaching team with 18 months to rwc


Well, they are £2M better off. If ever they had the means to send them on their way it’s now.


Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 8:30am
FWIW I thought Halfpenny had a good game.


Posted By: GPR - Rochester
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 9:06am
Pretty predictable load of guff really. Biggar stands still when receiving the ball, doesn't challenge the line and therefore totally negates his outside backs. This is not new he has played this way for years. If either Rhys had been playing for France they would have won with something to spare but Gatland says how pleased he is - the man is in denial. 

What this 6 nations tells us is that Wales can play the Scarlets way and have the players to do this but need a sympathetic coaching team who will let them play what they see, take the shackles off & play. Leigh Halfpenny, who I thought was really solid again, has put Liam well and truly in his place when it comes to selection at FB. Liam is a defensive liability and should not go to the World Cup on this form. Steff & Hallam are far better players at the moment. 

Yesterday we were obliterated at the breakdown - Tipuric and Navidi were nowhere. What Cubby has to do to get a fair run of games I do not know. The only hope I have is that the powers that be at the WRU keep showing the complete lack of forward planning & thinking that they have done for the last few years and therefore will NOT appoint Wayne & Stevo after this shambles leave. 


Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 9:51am
Originally posted by GPR - Rochester GPR - Rochester wrote:

Pretty predictable load of guff really. Biggar stands still when receiving the ball, doesn't challenge the line and therefore totally negates his outside backs. This is not new he has played this way for years. If either Rhys had been playing for France they would have won with something to spare but Gatland says how pleased he is - the man is in denial. 

What this 6 nations tells us is that Wales can play the Scarlets way and have the players to do this but need a sympathetic coaching team who will let them play what they see, take the shackles off & play. Leigh Halfpenny, who I thought was really solid again, has put Liam well and truly in his place when it comes to selection at FB. Liam is a defensive liability and should not go to the World Cup on this form. Steff & Hallam are far better players at the moment. 

Yesterday we were obliterated at the breakdown - Tipuric and Navidi were nowhere. What Cubby has to do to get a fair run of games I do not know. The only hope I have is that the powers that be at the WRU keep showing the complete lack of forward planning & thinking that they have done for the last few years and therefore will NOT appoint Wayne & Stevo after this shambles leave. 


TBH I thought both the England and Ireland matches were winnable and view both as missed opportunities. The same primary problem showed up against France, that is the inability to win enough possession. IMHO I think the forwards aren’t properly prepared. It’s all about the breakdown. Wales’ defensive pattern, although very well organised (and previously viewed as a strength) is actually the Achilles heel, has been worked out and the coaches have failed to realise and adapt. If you don’t compete at the breakdown and keep fanning out you are vulnerable to the old fashioned truck up the middle. As long as teams are patient they just keep it up the jumper with players in behind supporting the carrier. Guaranteed to get over the gainline. Just have to grind the defence down until the gaps appear. Arguably Warburton could make a difference as he’s pretty competetive in that area and we all know what Cubby can do but without the numbers going in to isolate the carrier it will always be difficult to achieve the turnover. This is where the Scarlets are far better than Wales. We are very adept at spotting the opportunity and everyone is switched on to getting that ball and attacking a now disjointed defence.

So that brings me to the second major problem. Scarlets play heads up rugby. Gatland’s got Wales doing rugby by numbers ... poorly. There is no clear idea as to how to score tries. Biggar is so obviously inadequate in getting the attack going yet he’s persisted with. Owen Williams adds a little as a 2nd playmaker but then dropped. Patchell has a quiet 2nd game in which he’s given little decent possession and then dumped.

The only conclusion I can come to is that the players are being let down by these limited coaches and that the only solution is to clear them out. Ten years is enough. The achieved everything thy could by 2013 (having inherited the most gifted set of players since the 70’s) and only taken Wales backwards since then.

Enough is enough. Time for Gatland et al to go.


Posted By: Rich (Bris)
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 10:07am
Originally posted by Matthew Cardey Matthew Cardey wrote:

As most things go through the 10 . Its only fair to point out that the selection at 10 was completley wrong. We wil beat a poor french side, scotland, italy playing this way. but we will never beat ireland, aus, nz, england


And we'd perhaps have beaten Ireland this year if Patch had been there to pass at the end insteed of anscombe.



Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 10:10am
Originally posted by Rich (Bris) Rich (Bris) wrote:

Originally posted by Matthew Cardey Matthew Cardey wrote:

As most things go through the 10 . Its only fair to point out that the selection at 10 was completley wrong. We wil beat a poor french side, scotland, italy playing this way. but we will never beat ireland, aus, nz, england


And we'd perhaps have beaten Ireland this year if Patch had been there to pass at the end insteed of anscombe.



For one thing he wouldn’t have gotten turned over whilst he focussed on whinging at the ref.


Posted By: haydn_davies
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 11:13am
Biggar isn't conductive to getting backs moving.

Any attacking flair behind the pack is squeezed out of the side with him at 10. Offers nothing with ball in hand.

-------------
Think, think, think - it's a thinking man's game!! - The Great Carwyn James.


Posted By: Ffidel Bennett
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 11:19am
Faletau played more like a back than Biggar did. With Halfpenny taking the kicks Biggar is a total waste of space who should be perfectly at home in Northampton.


Posted By: GPR - Rochester
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 11:25am
Originally posted by Ffidel Bennett Ffidel Bennett wrote:

Faletau played more like a back than Biggar did. With Halfpenny taking the kicks Biggar is a total waste of space who should be perfectly at home in Northampton.

Surely no one can accuse the opinions stated here for years now as us being one-eyed. Frankly, whilst I see Patchell as our long term future at 10 I would be happy to accept Priestland or even Anscombe at 10 instead of Biggar.

Since when do we pick a 10 for Wales on his ability to defend & ability in the air? Limited is a complement to this coaching teams' ability & foresight. The All Blacks will have looked at this 6 nations and decided that Ireland are by far the best team but they have a very nasty habit of conceding tries out wide. Enough said - the biggest threat to the AB's winning again is probably going to be Australia. 


Posted By: gaffer
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 11:33am
Originally posted by haydn_davies haydn_davies wrote:

Biggar isn't conductive to getting backs moving.

Any attacking flair behind the pack is squeezed out of the side with him at 10. Offers nothing with ball in hand.


We could do with a far better 9 as well - that's a huge part of the problem. Also better carrying from the forwards - Ireland are streets ahead here. All this allows a 10 to be more effective,


-------------
What's going on?


Posted By: roy munster
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 3:02pm
Sorry to say it but winning yesterday may be the worst result for Wales long term. It will sadly mean gatland and his kronies stay in place till the world cup. They must be the most stale , narrow minded , negative coaching set up in world rugby. Theyve wasted a golden generation. Wales has more top talent that Ireland and England put together imo

-------------
ROYMOND MUNTER MBE (FOR SERVICES TO THE COMBOVER)


Posted By: roy munster
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 3:06pm
Originally posted by totallybiasedscarlet totallybiasedscarlet wrote:

Gwyn summed it up on S4C. If I can paraphrase ...

A win’s a win but what have we achieved, what have we learned? Yes there’s a bit more depth but do we know what game we want to play? Who’s the best fly half to execute the plan? Are we expansive or conservative? We started with a bang against Scotland. When the pressure came on today we reverted to the old conservative gameplan. We didn’t create anything and our only try came from french confusion. We were lucky. Ok the coach has to decide what the best plan is to win, but if it’s going to be conservative then play like that every time and develop the patterns needed to win the game.

agree with the first 80% but his last sentence is muddled nonsense. the best teams can adapt to opposition and weather conditions without even needing to ask the coaches what to to...we have the players and ability to play an all court game. sometimes a team can play the 15 man rugby and close down the game later on , or employ wet weather rugby. I am sick to death of gatlands negative nonsense. Hes even managed to destroy wales excellent breakdown work. yesterdays back row selection was a joke


-------------
ROYMOND MUNTER MBE (FOR SERVICES TO THE COMBOVER)


Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 3:17pm
Originally posted by roy munster roy munster wrote:

Originally posted by totallybiasedscarlet totallybiasedscarlet wrote:

Gwyn summed it up on S4C. If I can paraphrase ...

A win’s a win but what have we achieved, what have we learned? Yes there’s a bit more depth but do we know what game we want to play? Who’s the best fly half to execute the plan? Are we expansive or conservative? We started with a bang against Scotland. When the pressure came on today we reverted to the old conservative gameplan. We didn’t create anything and our only try came from french confusion. We were lucky. Ok the coach has to decide what the best plan is to win, but if it’s going to be conservative then play like that every time and develop the patterns needed to win the game.


agree with the first 80% but his last sentence is muddled nonsense. the best teams can adapt to opposition and weather conditions without even needing to ask the coaches what to to...we have the players and ability to play an all court game. sometimes a team can play the 15 man rugby and close down the game later on , or employ wet weather rugby. I am sick to death of gatlands negative nonsense. Hes even managed to destroy wales excellent breakdown work. yesterdays back row selection was a joke


To be fair to Gwyn, what he was trying to say was Wales seemed to get caught between talking about a new style but reverting to the old. He was making the point that the coaches needed to decide on one or the other and stick with it.

Having said that, I wholeheartedly agree with your point about being able to adapt. It must be 10 years since we’ve seen a Welsh team able to adapt .... hmmm? Coincidence?


Posted By: roy munster
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 3:33pm
Originally posted by totallybiasedscarlet totallybiasedscarlet wrote:

Originally posted by roy munster roy munster wrote:

Originally posted by totallybiasedscarlet totallybiasedscarlet wrote:

Gwyn summed it up on S4C. If I can paraphrase ...

A win’s a win but what have we achieved, what have we learned? Yes there’s a bit more depth but do we know what game we want to play? Who’s the best fly half to execute the plan? Are we expansive or conservative? We started with a bang against Scotland. When the pressure came on today we reverted to the old conservative gameplan. We didn’t create anything and our only try came from french confusion. We were lucky. Ok the coach has to decide what the best plan is to win, but if it’s going to be conservative then play like that every time and develop the patterns needed to win the game.


agree with the first 80% but his last sentence is muddled nonsense. the best teams can adapt to opposition and weather conditions without even needing to ask the coaches what to to...we have the players and ability to play an all court game. sometimes a team can play the 15 man rugby and close down the game later on , or employ wet weather rugby. I am sick to death of gatlands negative nonsense. Hes even managed to destroy wales excellent breakdown work. yesterdays back row selection was a joke


To be fair to Gwyn, what he was trying to say was Wales seemed to get caught between talking about a new style but reverting to the old. He was making the point that the coaches needed to decide on one or the other and stick with it.

Having said that, I wholeheartedly agree with your point about being able to adapt. It must be 10 years since we’ve seen a Welsh team able to adapt .... hmmm? Coincidence?

I disagree with him on that last bit, these jouros like to waffle a bit just to keep the story going. You dont just choose one or the other. great teams have the capacity to cover all styles. As for the decade of gatland....Look at the players and the squad he inherited? Packed with talent. Byrne, shane, shanks, henson, hook,mark jones, stevo, peel phillips, ryan jones, nugget, awj, ianto geth adam j, etc  its main problem was leadership and discipline. gareth thomas was a good player, enthusiastic person, but blows hot and cold as we saw with his display on scrum v , imo he was a poor captain who over rode gareth jenkins to encourage us to play fijian rugby against the fijians. Madness. 

Gatland and co started brilliantly and doubled up with a second grand slam in 2012. But this papered over cracks in their coaching and man management. The last 5 years has seen stagnation and regress. Yesterday and this wasted 6 nations campaign proved yet again he is not the man to take us forward.


-------------
ROYMOND MUNTER MBE (FOR SERVICES TO THE COMBOVER)


Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 3:45pm
Originally posted by roy munster roy munster wrote:

Originally posted by totallybiasedscarlet totallybiasedscarlet wrote:

Originally posted by roy munster roy munster wrote:

Originally posted by totallybiasedscarlet totallybiasedscarlet wrote:

Gwyn summed it up on S4C. If I can paraphrase ...

A win’s a win but what have we achieved, what have we learned? Yes there’s a bit more depth but do we know what game we want to play? Who’s the best fly half to execute the plan? Are we expansive or conservative? We started with a bang against Scotland. When the pressure came on today we reverted to the old conservative gameplan. We didn’t create anything and our only try came from french confusion. We were lucky. Ok the coach has to decide what the best plan is to win, but if it’s going to be conservative then play like that every time and develop the patterns needed to win the game.


agree with the first 80% but his last sentence is muddled nonsense. the best teams can adapt to opposition and weather conditions without even needing to ask the coaches what to to...we have the players and ability to play an all court game. sometimes a team can play the 15 man rugby and close down the game later on , or employ wet weather rugby. I am sick to death of gatlands negative nonsense. Hes even managed to destroy wales excellent breakdown work. yesterdays back row selection was a joke


To be fair to Gwyn, what he was trying to say was Wales seemed to get caught between talking about a new style but reverting to the old. He was making the point that the coaches needed to decide on one or the other and stick with it.

Having said that, I wholeheartedly agree with your point about being able to adapt. It must be 10 years since we’ve seen a Welsh team able to adapt .... hmmm? Coincidence?


I disagree with him on that last bit, these jouros like to waffle a bit just to keep the story going. You dont just choose one or the other. great teams have the capacity to cover all styles. As for the decade of gatland....Look at the players and the squad he inherited? Packed with talent. Byrne, shane, shanks, henson, hook,mark jones, stevo, peel phillips, ryan jones, nugget, awj, ianto geth adam j, etc  its main problem was leadership and discipline. gareth thomas was a good player, enthusiastic person, but blows hot and cold as we saw with his display on scrum v , imo he was a poor captain who over rode gareth jenkins to encourage us to play fijian rugby against the fijians. Madness. 

Gatland and co started brilliantly and doubled up with a second grand slam in 2012. But this papered over cracks in their coaching and man management. The last 5 years has seen stagnation and regress. Yesterday and this wasted 6 nations campaign proved yet again he is not the man to take us forward.



Absolutely. As members of that squad retired the replacements got sucked into his 1D gameplan. It’s all effort and no reward. Awful, awful rugby.

I’ll be honest, when Pivac comes to the end with us, I wouldn’t like to see him as Wales coach. I’d put him in charge of regional coaching development. Wales needs a vision of how the game should be played and everyone in Welsh rugby needs to buy into it. I wouldn’t call it the Scarlets way or whatever (even though it’s what we aspire to). I’d just call it high tempo, high skill, heads up rugby.


Posted By: roy munster
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 3:59pm
Wales can scour the world for a world class coaching team. We already paid henry , hansen and gatland more than most coaches in the world. Pivac and co can hopefully keep creating the magic in the regional teams. I think that suits pivac more to be honest. The top job is a whole series of banal mindless energy sapping PR exercises in meeting the hysterical press and spouting endless cliches at tepid press conferences.....I notice stevo stays as far away from the media as possible , dont blame him...Coaching is about the relationship with the players not the media....

Hopefully stevo and mark taylor will stay with us for years to come and turn us from a one season wonder to a region of consistent success and silverware...I just wish the WRU would stop sitting on their thumbs and give this lot a one way ticket out of here. Their debts are almost wiped out, theyve just banked another few million prize money and another 6 nations windfall. They can afford to wish gatland nos dda. 


-------------
ROYMOND MUNTER MBE (FOR SERVICES TO THE COMBOVER)


Posted By: roy munster
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 4:42pm
Here is the genius of 21 yr old patchell kicking a penalty from 62 meters with a few meters too spare ,,,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf-VbiWRNWk

-------------
ROYMOND MUNTER MBE (FOR SERVICES TO THE COMBOVER)


Posted By: ladram
Date Posted: 18 March 2018 at 4:46pm
watching wales yesterday was totally boring,all that happens when biggar plays is that everyone outside him has to try and crash through the opposition and when he did pass the ball they just crabbed across the field with nobody drawing a man,the only way this will change is if attendances start going down for the greedy b******* at the wru to sit up and see that for around about ÂŁ90 a ticket you deserve to be entertained I wouldn't go there on a freebie let alone pay for a ticket.


Posted By: GPR - Rochester
Date Posted: 19 March 2018 at 8:45am
Most of what is being said is spot on lads. I am tired of waiting for the WRU leaders to run the game properly. Offering this coaching set up extended contracts was the final straw for me. Where on Earth is the long term planning? Gatland & Co. have no plans in place - they just stagger from one game to the next. 

They don't analyse & think about opposition in the way Schmidt does; the extent of their thinking is " Oh Ireland have the best kicking half backs in World Rugby so tell you what Warren lets pick our no 10 based on his ability in the air so that we won't be beaten by too many". 

The breakdown has become the most important phase of play so your back row selection is fundamental. Irelands lads - Leavy, Stander & O'Mahoney bossed England, Scotland & Wales. These 3 guys are the same people who were given a lesson at the breakdown last season by Aaron, Cubby & Barclay. I don't think replacing Barclay with Faletau would have weakened that trio but Gatland insisted on not seeing what was in front of him evidenced by consistently brilliant contributions at Regional & European level. 

His selection last weekend was totally non sensical; how could it have been based on form - Liam Williams, Tipuric at 6 instead of the man who made the team of the 6 nations at 6. If Samson is fit to be on the bench he's fit to start & finally we revert to that wonderful defensive 10. 

Unless the WRU management start realising that we are wasting huge reserves of talent this nonsense will continue. 


Posted By: Ffidel Bennett
Date Posted: 19 March 2018 at 10:24am
Yes a negative selection that deserved to lose and would have if it wasn't for some horrendous French mistakes. Unfortunately the narrow win and the ÂŁ2million prize money will probably now convince them that this is the way to go in important matches. Carwyn James is turning in his grave.


Posted By: GPR - Rochester
Date Posted: 19 March 2018 at 10:53am
Originally posted by Ffidel Bennett Ffidel Bennett wrote:

Yes a negative selection that deserved to lose and would have if it wasn't for some horrendous French mistakes. Unfortunately the narrow win and the ÂŁ2million prize money will probably now convince them that this is the way to go in important matches. Carwyn James is turning in his grave.

Indeed Ffidel. The most disappointing thing for me is that we have the personnel to play an attractive, attacking brand. We have a back 3 with Leigh, Steff & George who can compete & in Steff's case someone who can really create. With Amos & Liam as back up that department is pretty strong. Hadleigh seems cast in stone at 12 and he continues to usually do the right thing; with Foxy to come back and Watkin/Scott as back up we are ok. It is long overdue that we looked to play with a playmaker at 10 - never mind two playmakers this shower don't even select one!!!!

We have a number of front 5 forwards who can do the job but we are desperate for a good back up 3. Brown step forward hopefully. With Jake back & Hill improving with Seb Davies getting experience in Argentina hopefully. That leaves the back row which I am afraid is where they continue to lose the plot. Faletau with Moriarty as back up is good. They will clearly want to put Warburton back in as soon as he can walk again.

He should be considered as a 6 only in my opinion in a straight fight with Aaron. Tipuric is a 7 and is behind Cubby in most things particularly the breakdown. A back row of Warburton, Faletau & Cubby offers great balance and real breakdown presence with Aaron on the bench if we want to open play up. We can but dream.


Posted By: roy munster
Date Posted: 19 March 2018 at 1:12pm

We failed to give seb davies a go in 2nd row, the only other new caps were adams and jamie cubby davies both dropped after 60 minutes (davies is 27 not a kid hes waited 6 years for a chance and hes the most effective 7 in the league by miles) Hes failed to develop a back up 8 , a back up tight head and dropped our best blindside for no reason? He also decided to convert jamie roberts from a 15 to a crash ball 12 for a decade which meant the outside welsh backs had less ball than all other top 10 nations. Massive talents like shane williams and George north halfpenny liam williams jon foxy davies all starved of possession thanks to warrenball? madness



Yeah great performance against the scots then gatland dismantles the team and goes back to mindless warrenball and drops patchell the playmaker etc Theyre just not really learning. Gatland ONLY CAPPED 4 new players in the 18 months after the 2015 world cup? australia capped 29 in the same period?


Some blame the fans for being demanding? weve had 10 years of this? Were Not demanding at all. Its our national sport we are the best fans with the biggest home gates in the world on average (next to england) we pay a fortune millions pumped in (public money too at the regional stadiums) world class facilities at the vale too and gatland is the highest paid coach in the world. The fact hes been given a decade and 2 years off too is absurd


Another fiction peddled is he is the most successful welsh coach...He is NOT the best at all...His win record at 50% is way worse than loads of welsh coaches , considering the resources hes has his win record is a very poor return. John Dawes had 75% win record, Ruddock 65%, Clive rowlands 62% Henry 59% Bowring 52% Alan Davies 51% etc 

He inherited a very talented squad that needed discipline and direction, he gave us that, we went well for a few years. But the last 5 have been woeful. 


Before gatland we beat the aussies a few times and the boks in 99 we won a grand slam 3 years earlier too and ruddock had a 65% win record so its worse under gatland overall. He has lost 13 times in a row to aussie and 10 in a row to the all blacks and the man has learned absolutely nothing, he still refuses to pick a playmaker who creates tries and attacks the line? Sorry hes had 101 goes and still he doesnt learn. Time to say goodbye.


-------------
ROYMOND MUNTER MBE (FOR SERVICES TO THE COMBOVER)


Posted By: SA14
Date Posted: 19 March 2018 at 1:35pm
Did the other coaches have a 100 games?


Posted By: RR1972
Date Posted: 19 March 2018 at 2:51pm
[QUOTE=GPR - Rochester]Most of what is being said is spot on lads. I am tired of waiting for the WRU leaders to run the game properly. Offering this coaching set up extended contracts was the final straw for me. Where on Earth is the long term planning? Gatland & Co. have no plans in place - they just stagger from one game to the next. 

They don't analyse & think about opposition in the way Schmidt does; the extent of their thinking is " Oh Ireland have the best kicking half backs in World Rugby so tell you what Warren lets pick our no 10 based on his ability in the air so that we won't be beaten by too many". 

The breakdown has become the most important phase of play so your back row selection is fundamental. Irelands lads - Leavy, Stander & O'Mahoney bossed England, Scotland & Wales. These 3 guys are the same people who were given a lesson at the breakdown last season by Aaron, Cubby & Barclay. I don't think replacing Barclay with Faletau would have weakened that trio but Gatland insisted on not seeing what was in front of him evidenced by consistently brilliant contributions at Regional & European level. 

His selection last weekend was totally non sensical; how could it have been based on form - Liam Williams, Tipuric at 6 instead of the man who made the team of the 6 nations at 6. If Samson is fit to be on the bench he's fit to start & finally we revert to that wonderful defensive 10. 
 
 
tbh as big a fan as  I am of shingler he got mullered at the breakdown by Ireland do did navidi we only did better in that area when tupric came on in that game.
 
I like the sound of a shingler tupric/cubby toby f back row but I also like the sound of a moriarty warbrton , toby f back row.
 
As for the backs I really don't want to see Biggar at 10 anymore, even less so when we have halfpenny full back and we don't need his goal kicking.
 
Pick one of patchell priestland or anscombe and give them all 3 tests at 10 this summer.
 
I'd be tempted to play aled d 9 as well, some of Gareth's passing is dreadful at times.
 
 
for the next test I'd go with this line up (resting those who played for the lions test team)
 
1) rob 2) dee 3 Sampson
4) ball 5) s davies
6) shingle 7) cubby 8) moriarty
 
9 aled 10) rhys patchell
 
12) parkes 13) scott w
 
11 ) stef 14 North 15) halfpenny
 
 
 
I agree with a lot of comments about Gatland and howley and co
 
TBH Edwards aside I'd be happy to see the lot go , but nothing will change until the world cup now and that's the hard truth of the matter
 
 
 
 
 


Posted By: GPR - Rochester
Date Posted: 19 March 2018 at 3:18pm
Originally posted by RR1972 RR1972 wrote:

[QUOTE=GPR - Rochester]Most of what is being said is spot on lads. I am tired of waiting for the WRU leaders to run the game properly. Offering this coaching set up extended contracts was the final straw for me. Where on Earth is the long term planning? Gatland & Co. have no plans in place - they just stagger from one game to the next. 

They don't analyse & think about opposition in the way Schmidt does; the extent of their thinking is " Oh Ireland have the best kicking half backs in World Rugby so tell you what Warren lets pick our no 10 based on his ability in the air so that we won't be beaten by too many". 

The breakdown has become the most important phase of play so your back row selection is fundamental. Irelands lads - Leavy, Stander & O'Mahoney bossed England, Scotland & Wales. These 3 guys are the same people who were given a lesson at the breakdown last season by Aaron, Cubby & Barclay. I don't think replacing Barclay with Faletau would have weakened that trio but Gatland insisted on not seeing what was in front of him evidenced by consistently brilliant contributions at Regional & European level. 

His selection last weekend was totally non sensical; how could it have been based on form - Liam Williams, Tipuric at 6 instead of the man who made the team of the 6 nations at 6. If Samson is fit to be on the bench he's fit to start & finally we revert to that wonderful defensive 10. 
 
 
tbh as big a fan as  I am of shingler he got mullered at the breakdown by Ireland do did navidi we only did better in that area when tupric came on in that game.
 
I like the sound of a shingler tupric/cubby toby f back row but I also like the sound of a moriarty warbrton , toby f back row.
 
As for the backs I really don't want to see Biggar at 10 anymore, even less so when we have halfpenny full back and we don't need his goal kicking.
 
Pick one of patchell priestland or anscombe and give them all 3 tests at 10 this summer.
 
I'd be tempted to play aled d 9 as well, some of Gareth's passing is dreadful at times.
 
 
for the next test I'd go with this line up (resting those who played for the lions test team)
 
1) rob 2) dee 3 Sampson
4) ball 5) s davies
6) shingle 7) cubby 8) moriarty
 
9 aled 10) rhys patchell
 
12) parkes 13) scott w
 
11 ) stef 14 North 15) halfpenny
 
 
 
I agree with a lot of comments about Gatland and howley and co
 
TBH Edwards aside I'd be happy to see the lot go , but nothing will change until the world cup now and that's the hard truth of the matter
 
 
 
 
 

RR 1972 I agree with your ongoing selection for the next test. With regard to the breakdown against Ireland & France the issues as I see it are balance. Navidi is not a breakdown operator like Cubby neither is Tipuric. Shingler when playing for the Scarlets is usually the man who leads the defensive line close to the breakdown. His job is to get the carrier to ground for others - Cubby, Barclay, Beirne, Werne, Wyn Jones to achieve the slowing of the ball/turnover. He can do this job for Wales with support. Warburton could also do this job very effectively but not playing at 7 if we want our 7 to be a genuine link & comfortable in the open spaces.

As I've said multiple times both Navidi and Tipuric are class operators but they don't tick as many boxes as Cubby does. He has got to be given games in the summer to show if he can transfer his regional game to test level. If the WRU had any sense they would announce very soon that they had contracted Pivac, Stevo & Humphries as replacements for Gatland, Howley & McBryde from 2019 onwards. 


Posted By: roy munster
Date Posted: 19 March 2018 at 4:37pm
Originally posted by SA14 SA14 wrote:

Did the other coaches have a 100 games?

they deserved them more than gatland , the man has lost a world record 48 matches


-------------
ROYMOND MUNTER MBE (FOR SERVICES TO THE COMBOVER)


Posted By: Fscarlet
Date Posted: 19 March 2018 at 4:41pm
Originally posted by RR1972 RR1972 wrote:

[QUOTE=GPR - Rochester]Most of what is being said is spot on lads. I am tired of waiting for the WRU leaders to run the game properly. Offering this coaching set up extended contracts was the final straw for me. Where on Earth is the long term planning? Gatland & Co. have no plans in place - they just stagger from one game to the next. 

They don't analyse & think about opposition in the way Schmidt does; the extent of their thinking is " Oh Ireland have the best kicking half backs in World Rugby so tell you what Warren lets pick our no 10 based on his ability in the air so that we won't be beaten by too many". 

The breakdown has become the most important phase of play so your back row selection is fundamental. Irelands lads - Leavy, Stander & O'Mahoney bossed England, Scotland & Wales. These 3 guys are the same people who were given a lesson at the breakdown last season by Aaron, Cubby & Barclay. I don't think replacing Barclay with Faletau would have weakened that trio but Gatland insisted on not seeing what was in front of him evidenced by consistently brilliant contributions at Regional & European level. 

His selection last weekend was totally non sensical; how could it have been based on form - Liam Williams, Tipuric at 6 instead of the man who made the team of the 6 nations at 6. If Samson is fit to be on the bench he's fit to start & finally we revert to that wonderful defensive 10. 
 
 
tbh as big a fan as  I am of shingler he got mullered at the breakdown by Ireland do did navidi we only did better in that area when tupric came on in that game.
 
I like the sound of a shingler tupric/cubby toby f back row but I also like the sound of a moriarty warbrton , toby f back row.
 
As for the backs I really don't want to see Biggar at 10 anymore, even less so when we have halfpenny full back and we don't need his goal kicking.
 
Pick one of patchell priestland or anscombe and give them all 3 tests at 10 this summer.
 
I'd be tempted to play aled d 9 as well, some of Gareth's passing is dreadful at times.
 
 
for the next test I'd go with this line up (resting those who played for the lions test team)
 
1) rob 2) dee 3 Sampson
4) ball 5) s davies
6) shingle 7) cubby 8) moriarty
 
9 aled 10) rhys patchell
 
12) parkes 13) scott w
 
11 ) stef 14 North 15) halfpenny
 
 
 
I agree with a lot of comments about Gatland and howley and co
 
TBH Edwards aside I'd be happy to see the lot go , but nothing will change until the world cup now and that's the hard truth of the matter
 
 
 
 
 


I don't think Halfpenny & North will tour.


Posted By: GPR - Rochester
Date Posted: 19 March 2018 at 4:51pm
Originally posted by Fscarlet Fscarlet wrote:

Originally posted by RR1972 RR1972 wrote:

[QUOTE=GPR - Rochester]Most of what is being said is spot on lads. I am tired of waiting for the WRU leaders to run the game properly. Offering this coaching set up extended contracts was the final straw for me. Where on Earth is the long term planning? Gatland & Co. have no plans in place - they just stagger from one game to the next. 

They don't analyse & think about opposition in the way Schmidt does; the extent of their thinking is " Oh Ireland have the best kicking half backs in World Rugby so tell you what Warren lets pick our no 10 based on his ability in the air so that we won't be beaten by too many". 

The breakdown has become the most important phase of play so your back row selection is fundamental. Irelands lads - Leavy, Stander & O'Mahoney bossed England, Scotland & Wales. These 3 guys are the same people who were given a lesson at the breakdown last season by Aaron, Cubby & Barclay. I don't think replacing Barclay with Faletau would have weakened that trio but Gatland insisted on not seeing what was in front of him evidenced by consistently brilliant contributions at Regional & European level. 

His selection last weekend was totally non sensical; how could it have been based on form - Liam Williams, Tipuric at 6 instead of the man who made the team of the 6 nations at 6. If Samson is fit to be on the bench he's fit to start & finally we revert to that wonderful defensive 10. 
 
 
tbh as big a fan as  I am of shingler he got mullered at the breakdown by Ireland do did navidi we only did better in that area when tupric came on in that game.
 
I like the sound of a shingler tupric/cubby toby f back row but I also like the sound of a moriarty warbrton , toby f back row.
 
As for the backs I really don't want to see Biggar at 10 anymore, even less so when we have halfpenny full back and we don't need his goal kicking.
 
Pick one of patchell priestland or anscombe and give them all 3 tests at 10 this summer.
 
I'd be tempted to play aled d 9 as well, some of Gareth's passing is dreadful at times.
 
 
for the next test I'd go with this line up (resting those who played for the lions test team)
 
1) rob 2) dee 3 Sampson
4) ball 5) s davies
6) shingle 7) cubby 8) moriarty
 
9 aled 10) rhys patchell
 
12) parkes 13) scott w
 
11 ) stef 14 North 15) halfpenny
 
 
 
I agree with a lot of comments about Gatland and howley and co
 
TBH Edwards aside I'd be happy to see the lot go , but nothing will change until the world cup now and that's the hard truth of the matter
 
 
 
 
 


I don't think Halfpenny & North will tour.

You may be right so a chance then for Amos at FB and Adams on the wing. Great experience for these young guys with almost a dozen Lions waiting in the wings. 



Print Page | Close Window

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Copyright ©2001-2021 Web Wiz Ltd. - https://www.webwiz.net