• This topic has 7,395 replies, 232 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by WillH.
Viewing 40 posts - 601 through 640 (of 7,396 total)
  • 2015-16 rugby, world cup year
  • anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    How did the front 5 go. Any 7 looks good behind a winning tight five.

    DanW
    Free Member

    Gethin was looking a bit more like his old self and had a pretty decent game. When James came on Wales did seem to lose a little punch around the park. For some reason Paul James lacks a little something but you can see he is close but just not quite there. Francis and then Jarvis were a little anonymous but that also means they didn’t stand out as awful! Owens had a great game and should easily be the first choice 2. I didn’t even realise Baldwin came on. Only one lineout lost from Owens throws and that was more exceptional reading on Henderson’s part and really strong tackling and ball carrying away from the set piece from Owens. Davies did OK but was a bit quiet but that was just exemplified more with AWJ being a machine…. again 😀 Charteris looked ok but didn’t get too much time. Scrum for Wales was going forward 9 times out of 10 and only one lineout lost I think. Wales were smart at the breakdown and generally had their way with Ireland. Henderson did put in some monster clearouts though!

    So, yes, Wales had the upper hand in the front 5 but it wasn’t outstanding and I think Tipperich’s performance would have stood out in almost any game- lots of individual brilliance when Wales were turned or on the back foot. MOM and a try too.

    IdleJon
    Full Member

    So, yes, Wales had the upper hand in the front 5 but it wasn’t outstanding and I think Tipperich’s performance would have stood out in almost any game-

    And importantly, Wales showed almost nothing out of the ordinary. No little tricks, no new moves, no weird backline moves. They gave few clues to the forthcoming opposition. Ireland once again tapped hands in the line-out, wheeled scrums, came in from the side at rucks. All food for coaches to work with and refs to ping.

    Priestland btw was dreadful. Looked nervous every time he had the ball and almost lost the game for his team in the last 2 minutes by juggling the ball, which his forwards sorted, and then only making 20m clearance. If Biggar is injured and Priestland comes in Wales are doomed.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    DanW
    Free Member

    Doesn’t the Maul full of backs for the try count as a typical Welsh move? 😀 Very good point though that they pretty much dominated by being solid and unspectacular and didn’t give much away.

    I wouldn’t worry. Someone like Hibbard can always come in and do a better job at 10 😯 😆 I do feel for Priestland. 4 years ago he was one of Wales’s best players and he’s had nothing but Achilles problems and intermittent, stuttering game time since then really.

    namastebuzz
    Free Member

    wrecker – Member

    eastmond now????
    He isn’t good enough.

    Well BOD reckoned he should be at 12 for England but what does he know?

    I’m not saying now. I’m saying he should have been given a decent opportunity alongside JJ to see if it could have worked.

    wrecker
    Free Member

    Well BOD reckoned he should be at 12 for England but what does he know?

    Yeah, his coaching credentials speak for themselves.
    Martin Johnson won a world cup as a player……

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Martin Johnson won a world cup as a player……

    No he didn’t, he played within team that won the world cup, there is a difference.

    wrecker
    Free Member

    Martin Johnson won a world cup, as did jonny wilkinson, Jason Robinson etc. they all did.

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    and Dan Luger dont forget him!

    namastebuzz
    Free Member

    ALL BLACKS SQUAD:-

    Hookers: Dane Coles (Hurricanes/Wellington), Keven Mealamu (Blues/Auckland), Codie Taylor (Crusaders/Canterbury).

    Props: Wyatt Crockett (Crusaders/Canterbury), Charlie Faumuina (Blues/Auckland), Ben Franks (Hurricanes/Hawke’s Bay), Owen Franks (Crusaders/Canterbury), Tony Woodcock (Blues/North Harbour).

    Locks: Brodie Retallick (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty), Luke Romano (Crusaders/Canterbury), Samuel Whitelock (Crusaders/Canterbury).

    Loose forwards: Sam Cane (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty), Jerome Kaino (Blues/Auckland), Richie McCaw – captain (Crusaders/Canterbury), Liam Messam (Chiefs/Waikato), Kieran Read (Crusaders/Canterbury), Victor Vito (Hurricanes/Wellington).

    Halfbacks: Tawera Kerr-Barlow (Chiefs/Waikato), TJ Perenara (Hurricanes/Wellington), Aaron Smith (Highlanders/Manawatu).

    First five-eighths: Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes/Taranaki), Daniel Carter (Crusaders/Canterbury), Colin Slade (Crusaders/Canterbury).

    Midfielders: Malakai Fekitoa (Highlanders/Auckland), Ma’a Nonu (Hurricanes/Wellington), Conrad Smith (Hurricanes/Wellington), Sonny Bill Williams (Chiefs/Counties Manukau).

    Outside backs: Nehe Milner-Skudder (Hurricanes/Manawatu), Julian Savea (Hurricanes/Wellington), Ben Smith (Highlanders/Otago), Waisake Naholo (Highlanders/Taranaki).

    Naholo the slightly surprise inclusion having relied on traditional Fijian medicine to heal his broken leg. Piutau, Sopoaga, Dagg and Jane all miss out.

    namastebuzz
    Free Member

    wrecker – Member

    Yeah, his coaching credentials speak for themselves.

    I’m not saying he’s a great coach but he’s one of the greatest centres of all time, clearly analyses the game very well (if you’ve heard him in commentary) and has probably played against all of the contenders so – he should know.

    DanW
    Free Member

    Crazy the amount of depth they have. You could almost roll a dice to pick the team and be pretty certain of being stronger on paper than anyone else. They just have to wake up a bit sometimes rather than relying on cruise control to take them through.

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    3 Hookers, Hansen is a simpleton too!

    Piutau, Sopoaga, Dagg and Jane all miss out.

    Christ thats scary!!

    IdleJon
    Full Member

    Not much room for injury in these squads. Milner-Skudder, lovely player that he is, injures himself in every game he plays. That leaves Smith, Savea and Naholo (plus Fekitoa?) to fill the back 3.

    namastebuzz
    Free Member

    Barrett can cover full back and Slade wing/full back. That’s how Hansen exlplained it anyway.

    I think Sopoaga was very unfortunate as he’s a better kicker than the others, had a very assured debut against the Boks and is more like Carter than anyone else.

    I’d rather have seen Dagg in there as a 2nd top class full back and I think Naholo is a risk in terms of injury/ experience but I’ll bow to Hansen’s greater coaching credentials (on this occasion).

    jambalaya
    Free Member
    IdleJon
    Full Member

    Barrett can cover full back and Slade wing/full back. That’s how Hansen exlplained it anyway.

    True. Although I’m not a fan of Slade in any position.

    wrecker
    Free Member

    I’m not saying he’s a great coach but he’s one of the greatest centres of all time, clearly analyses the game very well (if you’ve heard him in commentary) and has probably played against all of the contenders

    And yet in this case; clearly wrong.
    You’d have to be stark mental to play ford, eastmond and Joseph in a rugby World Cup. They won naff all last season and were embarrassed by Glasgow.

    namastebuzz
    Free Member

    Well he did pair Eastmond with Tuilagi TBH. Bath may have won nothing but they did play some great rugby and did also rip apart some pretty decent sides themselves.

    Anyway, looking at the AB’s squad – how many of the England 31 would get into that?

    wrecker
    Free Member

    Bath may have won nothing but they did play some great rugby and did also rip apart some pretty decent sides themselves.

    Bare cupboards though. Saints and Saracens were both better teams.

    how many of the England 31 would get into that?

    I doubt any would.

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    They might like Billy V type 8 in the squad as they dont really have a big carrying 8

    DanW
    Free Member

    how many of the England 31 would get into that?

    Farrell is a guaranteed starter*

    *Assuming daddy is coaching in NZ too

    DanW
    Free Member

    Just watched the Scotland highlights…..

    LOL @ Italy 9 trying to shoulder Lamont out of touch on the first try
    Great to see Scotland score so many points
    Great to see Mark Bennett playing again
    Would be great if Matt Scott could return- I think he has the potential to be something special. I guess he is unlikely to feature at the RWC???
    When did a kick to the head be worthy of just a yellow?
    Tartan under the collar makes many players (especially Big Jim Hamilton) look like they are wearing an old ladies silk scarf 😀

    onehundredthidiot
    Full Member

    Glad Scotland got the win worried about a growing reliance on interceptions for scores. Oppositions will be watching, throw a dummy or pop pass instead of the long one and we have a dog leg whole in the defensive line.

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    Wales squad day today isnt it.
    Gethin, James, Evans, Samson, Francis, Jarvis
    Owens, Baldwin, Dacey
    AWJ, Charteris, Bradley
    Lydiate, King or Moriarty, Warburton, Tipuric, Faletau

    Webb, Davies, Lloyd
    Biggar, Priestland, Anscombe
    Roberts, Scott Williams, Allen
    North, Cuthbert, Amos
    Halfpenny, Liam Williams

    King/Moriarty or take an extra lock in Ball seem main choices up front. I expect they will risk Samson even though he is still unfit, same with Liam Williams. If Anscomb doesnt make it due to his ankle we may see Morgan. Will be Gethins 4th world cup past Jason Leonards record for most caps by a prop on saturday. 115 for wales 5 for the Lions

    namastebuzz
    Free Member

    Glad Scotland got the win worried about a growing reliance on interceptions for scores.

    Well the interceptions certainly flattered the scoreline but Scotland still played well.

    I seem to remember Italy gettting a few interceptions at Murrayfield once upon a time!

    Nel gave Castro a hard time at the scrum it seemed.

    What’s happened to Sean Maitland? Is he injured?

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    Eastmond was a contender but had an outside chance of being in the squad, he’s a bit short on experience and IMO Lancaster wanted the bulk of a Burgess style player. I watched Bath in the premiership final and their midfield was very slick, any club getting to the final has played good rugby all year and been string at the tail end of the season.

    IdleJon
    Full Member

    When did a kick to the head be worthy of just a yellow?

    I didn’t see that game but watched Barbars v Samoa. 16 minutes in the Samoan 5 knocks Faingaa, Barbars hooker, over with a roundhouse punch. Obvious red. (Faingaa got yellow for causing the incident basically.) Both walked off shaking hands, chatting, no ill feelings, nobody hurt.

    I have mixed feelings about this. Barbars games have always been exhibition games, not really serious, and I’m not sure how I’d have felt about paying for a ticket for a meaningless game which becomes even more meaningless because of an unsympathetic ref.

    Cards, especially red, have become an exercise in ticking boxes, not applying common sense.

    DanW
    Free Member

    I understand the sentiment and largely agree. However, you’d have thought kicking a prone player in the head studs first and not even being subtle about it is hard to not give red. If it had been Hartley then most would be calling for a long ban 😉

    DanW
    Free Member

    Maitland played last week didn’t he? So just a rotation of players?

    The interception tries were more due to Italy being very static and running out of ideas. I think Scotland would have done just fine without them. They actually looked half decent 🙂 false sense of hope maybe 😉

    IdleJon
    Full Member

    Italy being very static and running out of ideas.

    +

    Scotland ….. actually looked half decent.

    Were the two linked? (I must watch the game… 🙂 )

    DanW
    Free Member

    Looked like a bit of both from the highlights. Italy didn’t look too hot and most things went Scotland’s way (besides a softish early try). Scotland did seem to play well though and deserved the score line (again as far as I can tell from the highlights)

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    Two Hookers!!! LOL
    Wales’ Rugby World Cup squad

    Forwards: Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Paul James (Ospreys), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Racing Metro), Bradley Davies (Wasps), Dominic Day (Bath), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons), James King (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues).

    Backs: Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Ospreys), Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Cory Allen (Cardiff Blues), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), Scott Williams (Scarlets Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon), Matthew Morgan (Bristol), George North (Northampton Saints), Liam Williams (Scarlets).

    Intended to take 3 but AWJ knee has meant Day goes! A lot of injured players in that squad. But thats Gatland, he’s always bold! Cant see the point in Morgan. I suppose he will be played v uraguay in an effort to rack up tries.

    namastebuzz
    Free Member

    There’s a good XV in that squad. Just the depth isn’t strong. Francis could do with being a bit fitter but he seemed to go OK against Ireland.

    You’ve got to play both your 7s against England – surely?

    Now Wales are ranked above England too – so you’re favourites.

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    You’ve got to play both your 7s against England – surely?

    Why?

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    Its like raiiaaaan on you wedding day

    but they were clinging quite deep and not letting go of players and the referee wasn’t really on top of that,” said Murphy.

    “That’s the way he refereed it and we’ve got to adapt to it quicker.

    IdleJon
    Full Member

    😆 That’s very funny. Do rugby players do irony?

    DanW
    Free Member

    That squad is two extremes. Half have all the experience you could wish for and the other half have virtually no experience. Unlike England though the talent isn’t there to compensate for the inexperience beyond the choice 15.

    Anscombe isn’t in a_a, the squad is:
    Props: Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Paul James (Ospreys), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Samson Lee (Scarlets).
    Hookers: Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Ken Owens (Scarlets).
    Locks: Jake Ball (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Racing 92), Dominic Day (Bath), Bradley Davies (Wasps), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys).
    Back-rows: Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons), James King (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues, capt).
    Scrum-halves: Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues).
    Fly-halves: Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Matthew Morgan (Bristol), Rhys Priestland (Bath).
    Centres: Cory Allen (Cardiff Blues), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), Scott Williams (Scarlets).
    Wings: Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), George North (Northampton Saints).
    Full-backs: Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon), Liam Williams (Scarlets).

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    Morgan as 3rd choice outside half is scary. The bloke whose club dumped him for Robinson when the knock out games came along

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    How does Rhys Preistland keep getting into the squad?

Viewing 40 posts - 601 through 640 (of 7,396 total)

The topic ‘2015-16 rugby, world cup year’ is closed to new replies.