Wales XV v South Africa?

Hello fellow 606v2 thingy peoples,

Arghhhghghghg! Selection headaches? Do Wales actually have a decent defence again for the first time in 3 years? Lineout back to being awful? So much to talk about!

The good news is that if we look at the the 2 Wal v Eng matches on an aggregate score we have:

Wales 38 - 32 England

Wales 4 tries
England 2 tries

Wales played 20 minutes of the game with 14 men against an almost full strength England.

Negatives are:

Lineout was diabolical and embarrassing although Lloyds Burns & Charteris may not feature at the World Cup
Wales still struggling to get out of first gear in the first half and are very lucky England didn't take more kicks at goal yesterday
Henson yet again will probably miss a world cup

I was extremely happy with the Welsh defence over the 2 matches bar the Haskell try in Twickenham. It's very nice to see such an aggressive approach to defence and a lot of nice turnovers. Also great to see patience and going through the phases until an opportunity presents itself.

What has impressed me most is that during the past 4 years, Gatland has brought through a hell of a lot of youngsters into the fold. It hasn't always worked, but it has given some talented kids some priceless experience at a very young age and we are now producing class players putting in regular monster performances like Sam Warburton, Jamie Roberts & Bradley Davies. Other players like Faletau, Lydiate, Knoyle, Priestland, Bevington, Mitchell & Jon Davies are not far behind. British & Irish Lion Leigh Halfpenny is likely to return next week and he offers a ridiculous range of skill sets. I seriously think that during the next few seasons Wales will be a much stronger force & will be a very close unit for years to come due to the low ages of a lot of the players. In the dark days of the 90's and early noughties, the few stand out Welsh players were all reaching the ends of their careers and were quite old.

Obviously there is still one warm up match left, but if a 22 for the SA game was to be chosen now I would have to choose:

(this is based on certain players making recoveries from small injuries)

15. Rhys Priestland
14. George North
13. Scott Williams
12. Jamie Roberts
11. Shane Williams
10. James Hook
9. Mike Phillips

8. Toby Faletau
7. Sam Warburton
6. Dan Lydiate
5. Alun-Wyn Jones
4. Bradley Davies
3. Adam Jones
2. Huw Bennett
1. Gethin Jenkins

16. Paul James
17. Lloyd Burns
18. Ryan Jones
19. Josh Turnbull

20. Tavis Knoyle
21. Jon Davies
22. Leigh Halfpenny

Too soon to discuss junior. It's only been two warm-up games and you've included players we haven't seen play yet.

from what i have seen wouldnt jamie roberts be better at 13?

welshy824 wrote:from what i have seen wouldnt jamie roberts be better at 13?

Possibly,

Scott Williams has impressed me and I would choose him over JD2 based on defence.

Even though whenever Hook plays 10 Wales beat England, I still believe Gatland will make many more monumental errors on selection. I can see him picking:

10. Jones
12. Hook
13. Roberts

Could still work, but Hook is happier at 10 and players ten times better there. How simple did he make his try look yesterday even though he had to evade FOUR English players to score?!

krusty wrote:

welshy824 wrote:from what i have seen wouldnt jamie roberts be better at 13?

Possibly,

Scott Williams has impressed me and I would choose him over JD2 based on defence.

Even though whenever Hook plays 10 Wales beat England, I still believe Gatland will make many more monumental errors on selection. I can see him picking:

10. Jones
12. Hook
13. Roberts

Could still work, but Hook is happier at 10 and players ten times better there. How simple did he make his try look yesterday even though he had to evade FOUR English players to score?!

if he was putting hook at centre then priestland at 10 would make things better =)

and it was poor defence from england but it was hooks trade mark dummy and step

If everyone is fit and firing for SA our best team imo should be sommat like this. Honestly with players like smiler a doubt and Stoddart, Henson and Peel, this is a strong team with a good bench, we now know who the fourteen backs Gats is taking are.

1. Gethin.
2. Hibbard (assuming Rees is out)
3. Adam Jones
4. AWJ
5. Charteris
6. Lydiate
7. Warburton
8. Faletau
9. Phillips.
10. Hook
11 Shane
12. JD2
13. Roberts
14. Halfpenny
15. Byrne

16. Paul James
17. Huw Bennett (Hibbard if Rees is fit)
18. Mitchell
19. Ryan Jones
20. Tavis
21. Priestland
22. George North

Squad

Wellies, Brew, Scott Williams, Lloyd Williams, Mitchell, Burns, Turnbull, Delve

Seems harsh having Charteris starting and on the bench!

Only Warbuton can cover the bench and play in the pack in the same game

Taff.
It does make sense really. If he's not playing well, you can always bring him on!!!
Crusty. Can't say I remember the last time Bradley Davies had a monster game. Charteris was superb yesterday and as usual gets the blame for poor throwing in by burns. He's the form 2nd row.
Tycroes. I think that's our strongest team. But whoever makes the 30 could be called on. We have a few with knocks and are bound to get more, especially with 2 pacific island teams in our group.

weve had a few chances to check the players out and so now i reckon i could pick a decent XV. it has a familiar look to it.

1-15

paul james
bennett(i know, who would have thought it)
adam jones
chartris
brad
lydiate
warburton
faletau (he is still quite green but carries more than ryan)

phillips
jones
shane
hook
roberts
north
preistland

that is our best xv, personnel and positions

Id say our strongest 22 is

1. Gethin Jenkins (depending on form)/ Paul James
2. Richard Hibbard (depending on form)/ Huw Bennett
3. Adam Jones
4. Alun Wyn Jones
5. Luke Charteris
6. Dan Lydiate
7. Sam Warburton
8. Ryan Jones
9. Mike Phillips
10. James Hook
11. Shane Williams
12. Jonathon Davies
13. Jamie Roberts
14. George North
15. Rhys Preistland (Byrne depending on form?)

16. Paul James/Gethin Jenkins
17. Huw Bennett/Richard Hibbard
18. Bradley Davies
19. Toby Faletau
20. Tavis Knoyle
21. Stephen Jones
22. Leigh Halfpenny