Wales XV v South Africa.11/09

First topic message reminder :

Here we go then.

WALES:
James Hook; George North, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, Shane Williams, Rhys Priestland, Mike Phillips; Paul James, Huw Bennett, Adam Jones, Luke Charteris, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton (C), Toby Faletau
REPLACEMENTS: Lloyd Burns, Ryan Bevington, Bradley Davies, Andy Powell, Tavis Knoyle, Scott Williams, Leigh Halfpenny

Throwing in aside Bennett can more than hold his own in the front row and James is no weak link - Wales have a solid front row IMO - Not so sure about the back 5:thumbsup:

The second row don't impress much but the Welsh flankers are very good indeed. Lydiate and Warburton have huge work rates and will be a real thorn in South Africas side, of that I have no doubt. James is a decent loosehead but nothing great and I don't really rate Bennet at all, I think Adam Jones makes two decent but rather average players look better than they are.

Bennett isnt the best scrummager (Hibbard and Rees are far better) - But Jones and James are excellent - The Ospreys front row has caused a lot of damage when on form

Also, Bevington bested Carl Hayman in the HC - so they have a good developement of props at the O's.

As long as we win our own ball I.m sure our big backline will put it to good use.

I think James is good and has played very well but this is the SA front row we're talking about - it is a step up and he may struggle, particularly as SA have the better 2nd row and as has been said above Bennett is not as good a scrummager as Rees or Hibbert.

If we were talking about a Front Row or A Jones, Rees and James with a 2nd row of an inform B Davies and AWJ then I'd be a lot more confident, but I don't think we'll get near parity as it stands. But I just hope we get enough to cause damage and our defence holds up

I think we should be okay in the scrums - we won't dominate, but if we get the ball away quickly we should be okay. My concern is the lineout.

i wasn't even thinking about that, now that is a worry...

And my concern is the bench - Burns! Bevington! Powell - Strength in depth my Arse

To be fair Rees and Hibbert are injured and Owens (who should be infront of Bennett) hasn't had game time because of injury. Bevington will be better, but shame he hadn't played Efion more or some other players - but Powell??? I mean why? Some people say because he'll give experience and aggression, but he never uses his size and never uses his experience either, he just gives stupid penalties away and runs straight for contact. at least the backs on the bench offer a bit more (and we've got Bradley on the bench)

On the Byrne inclusion in the squad he is clearly short of form and confidence but all the other options are injured and he got there by default, Halfpenny might have been a good alternative at full back but again he is very short of game time due to injury and starting him against the Boks would have been risky.

Looking at the above scenario the choice was Hook or Priestland at FB , arguments either way on that but Gatland's choice is logical as Hook seems to perform best at OH when being switched there in the last 20 mins in which case Halfpenny will then get his chance . I just hope that Hook has been appointed the place kicking duties.

Charteris one hopes will help in the lineout (yet to be seen this really ) but played well against England .

On no 8 choice again injury has forced this as I wouldn't pick Powell to start. Gatland said in his Western Mail question session that DElve was the preferred choice not Powell when Ryan Jones dropped out of the Argentina game but wasn't picked for "reasons I will not go into " . Anyone know the reasons.

Looks like a good team for the 2015 World Cup up against a very experienced SA team . Will still be supporting them of course but more in hope than expectation.

I noted that Delve comment Pontylad. I don't think he was fully fit and didn't he play the night before against Bath?
No. 8 is my biggest concern, Faletau looks ponderous at the back of the scrum and an easy target for the Saffer back row. He looks a work in progress to me and I would have liked to have seen an old head in Ryan (and then Delve) with our young dynamic flankers.

After four years of planning, it seems a mightily inexperienced team.

Obviously I knew that Charteris was tall but I'm surprised he is over 20st.

Interesting point on Delve - must be the fact that he plays abroad and Gats has a chip on his shoulder about it, or that there's a personality clash.

Either that or Gats is jealous because Delve made a move for Gats fav Bennett and they got a bit fresh!

It's only second hand news but I have heard Delve can be disruptive in training.

I've only heard rumour but heard that Gats likes Yes men, like Bennett, S Jones and R Jones, and Delve and Peel gave their opinions and as a result Gats just cut them off from the squad.

But again as I say this is 3rd hand gossip.

Everyone in Wales is getting excited but we always do when Wales play. Lets be honest Wales have only ever beaten South Africa once, and we won't beat them, lets hope for few injuries and not to be hammered.

i know everyone including alot of welsh fans have now written us off but think about it, S.A are known for tactical kicking so having 3 of your biggest threats in the back three too counter? also about priestland and toby if your good enough you are good enough- am not sure what to expect now but i think they could surprise (maybe not win) but surprise the boks all the same

Nothing will be a suprise in this group, Wales losing to one or both the island teams. Even Wales beating South Africa wouldn't be a total shock, but I think Wales won't beat South Africa, we don't have a line out, and South Africas defence is too strong.

Alyn I did not think it looked strong against NZ it was only the Blacks poor handling that cost them the game,, the Blacks broke through several times.

But obviously we will have to play at our very best.

Of course cymro ,it had nothing to do with the springbok scramble defence or brussow's dominance at the break down or even south africa just being better on the day

Bullsbok no in my opinion it was down to the Blacks unusual poor handling.

Cymro - I think the point is that the AB's play at a lot higher intensity than us, and can we pressurize SA enough to make their defence crack like it did against the AB's?

Thats a big question, as we need to do it while at the same time keeping our defence tight, dealing with their aerial bombardments (sorry Billong, I know you can run it) and trying to get/keep possession at the set piece.

As I said before we will need to play to the best of our ability. We have some big lads in our backs who should cause SA problems.

Toby is the player I am worried about. He seemed nervous in the warm up games and made mistakes. This is a massive occasion, but I pray we see the best out of him.

I'm not sure if it's been discussed here yet. The weather is cold, wet and windy. I think it's going to be a torrid forward game at night. Expect a fair bit of kicking.

Normal Welsh weather then

So what's the latest weather forecast for tomorrow ?

I don't know why everyone thinks Charteris is a lineout specialist, just because he's so tall. Scott Morgan is the main lineout operator at the Dragons with Sidoli, we use Charteris more as a lifter which is what Wales should do.

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/home/matches/match=10927/index.html

Cymroglan wrote:So what's the latest weather forecast for tomorrow ?

Looking outside its calm and cloudy. Prospect is for rain but that hasnt appeared yet. Won't get a lot worse between now and then unless the rain comes on quicker than usual. VERY odd time for a test match for us here. Sunday night at 8.30 the weekends usually over and we're doing our 'if only' posts by that time...

Nice to have something different...

taylorman
Are you going? I reckon out of the neutral games ) non New Zealand) this is going to be a cracker...
This afternoon im off to watch the Italians get a floggin from the Convicts.

Taylorman cheers buddy.

The Welsh players play their league matches in the evenings so it will be nothing new to them.

Hi ya Laurie, I'm going to the NZ Canada and France Tonga matches here in the double header last weekend and the Wales Namibia one in New Plymouth so far.

Mainly because I've never been to New Plymouth and I thought that would be a good time to go there.

I could have got tickets Friday for tonights but turned them down in the end. Probably should have now.

Enjoy today and make sure Genia and Cooper get off the field safely

taylorman
that NZ v Canada game is quite unique,isnt it the first ABs game in nz for 20 years that is being played in daylight?
I went to eden park on friday night, talk about big night out,then this arvo off to watch Italy v Aus, next weekend im going to Aus v ireland, then the Final.
And dont worry,genia and Cooper will be nice and safe in my care.

Looking forward to it,two very good teams,suspect it will be decided by penalty goals ,not tries but we can hope.Neutral on this one just hope we see some back play from the Boks too.

Weather still the same TM ?

Sorry. Answered on another tbread.
Raining now.
The whole countrys wet now!
Anthems are done. Lets get it on!

Just looking at my post above hoping that Hook is appointed to take the place kicks not that I blame him I don't but this was the kiss of death I think.

Ponty!! It's your fault you twxx!

In all honesty Hooks kicking has been very good up until that match - I'm just surprised by how much he missed that last kick, it didn't even threaten the posts. Cracking game though

I was actually surprised how well he did kick in that match, when you take into account how all the other kickers had fared so far this wc! They're all missing by a long way!