Wales Italy match thread

[eirebilly]

First topic message reminder :

Afternoon all,

Well we are soon to kick off. I wish both sides the best of luck but secretly i will be hoping Wales win and go on to win the Slam .

[gowales]

I have to say Tipuric reminded me a lot of Marty Williams today. Even got the cheeky grubber in!

[Cymroglan]

Italy went there to defend today they played the damage limitation game.
If Italy had played a attacking game the scoreline would have been far more favourable to Wales.

[Shifty]

I have to say Tipuric reminded me a lot of Marty Williams today. Even got the cheeky grubber in!

Not quite, Tips hasn't quite learned how to avoid yellow cards yet, but it will come in time, he needs to learn to cheat better.

[gowales]

It'll be hard with that nose of his

[wales606]

I have to say Tipuric reminded me a lot of Marty Williams today. Even got the cheeky grubber in!

Not quite, Tips hasn't quite learned how to avoid yellow cards yet, but it will come in time, he needs to learn to cheat better.

He wasn't yellow carded today?

[Shifty]

He wasn't yellow carded today?

No, no but he is every other week for the Ospreys!

It'll be hard with that nose of his

Jiffy spent an entire career off side with his nose and got away with it most of the time, in fact according to his autobiography it was only 1 little old lady in Neath who noticed it was always off side!

[wales606]

He wasn't yellow carded today?

No, no but he is every other week for the Ospreys!

He could still have seemed like Martyn Williams "Today".

[Shifty]

He could still have seemed like Martyn Williams "Today".

Ok, pint conceded, he was a more than adequate replacement for Warburton.

Bread of Seven, Bread of Seven
We need to start exporting them to Ireland really.

[maestegmafia]

I think the IRB need to pull their bloody socks up with regards to the difference between the good and bad referees and need to level the board a great deal more.

Fans are spending a lot of hard earned cash, players are training as much as they can, then at the game some prat with a whistle ruins either sides chances by reinventing the laws of the game.

Maesteg calm down mate, I can't remember you being so angry before, you'd think Wales didn't win by a 21 point margin.

Clancy ruined that game as a contest. The stadium were in unison in their criticism of his bizarre calls, Italian and welsh side by side. It was like the crowd against the red ruining our sport.

Clancy 1 - 0 Rugby Union

[glamorganalun]

Why bring on Hook with 2 mins to go when Preistland was krap all game also R Jones with 10mins to go when he has been Wales best forward over the first 3 games? We were slow to hit rucks, Italy out played Wales at the breakdown slowing down Wales ball and turned Wales over. For me Gethin is no captain I did not see him speaking to the ref about some of his decisions.

I am a bit concerned about team selection next week, Gatland will go with the same team if Warbs is not fit or worse pick Charteris to replace I Evans who has been great this 6N. 2/3rds of Wales back row were found lacking today at 6 and 8 but our 7 was MOTM in my opinion. Was AWJ playing today like last week he has not had enough time to get back to form hence I worry about Charteris for next week, I would go for I Evans and R Jones in the second row for the all round game.

[nathan]

Its actually funny that people think that shouldn't of been a yellow. He clearly took someone out in the air! He had hold of his shirt dragging him down. Not sure how people think preistland shouldn't of been binned either Against england. He was about the 10th welsh player yo be off side!

[wales606]

Why bring on Hook with 2 mins to go when Preistland was krap all game also R Jones with 10mins to go when he has been Wales best forward over the first 3 games? We were slow to hit rucks, Italy out played Wales at the breakdown slowing down Wales ball and turned Wales over. For me Gethin is no captain I did not see him speaking to the ref about some of his decisions.

I am a bit concerned about team selection next week, Gatland will go with the same team if Warbs is not fit or worse pick Charteris to replace I Evans who has been great this 6N. 2/3rds of Wales back row were found lacking today at 6 and 8 but our 7 was MOTM in my opinion. Was AWJ playing today like last week he has not had enough time to get back to form hence I worry about Charteris for next week, I would go for I Evans and R Jones in the second row for the all round game.

Hook was brought on for Halfpenny after the card.

AWJ was a lot better than last week.

Tipuric was good in the loose, but anonymous around the breakdown - Cuthbert was MOTM.

R.Jones should have come on a lot earlier, well, in my opinion, he should have started somewhere.

Warburton will make a difference next week (if he isn't fit then the French backrow will cause trouble at the breakdown)

Phillips and Preistland need to get the form they showed at the WC (and against Ireland) back, soon.

Ryan Jones deserves to start at 8 next week.

Matthew Rees didn't sort the lineout out, and he looked rusty in the loose - Ken Owens looked good of the bench - Rees shouldn't be gaurenteed a start next week (and should be in a dogfight with Owen and Bennett for the next few years)

[maestegmafia]

Well said W606

Though I thinkFaletau is doing a good job. Tackling is immense great runs good offloads.

[Guest]

Call we cynical but I think some of this blaming of the ref comes from the fact that Wales didn't win by the heavy scoreline that some were wildly predicting (putting 40-50 on Italy).

It was still a convincing win against a decent Italy side.

Oh, and maesteg can you stop swearing? There's some impressionable folk on here reading this

[glamorganalun]

I just watched the game again and Faletau did not hit a ruck or maul until 25 mins, he was too busy away from the action, this is probably why we struggled in the loose. Lydiate had a better game than I first thought lots of good tackling but the number 8 was little or no help most of the game around the breakdown.

[wales606]

I just watched the game again and Faletau did not hit a ruck or maul until 25 mins, he was too busy away from the action, this is probably why we struggled in the loose. Lydiate had a better game than I first thought lots of good tackling but the number 8 was little or no help most of the game around the breakdown.

Faletau can tackle and run well - but R.Jones workrate at the breakdown is superb, he is also a good tackler. We will need Jones against France if Warbs isn't fit.

[maestegmafia]

I just watched the game again and Faletau did not hit a ruck or maul until 25 mins, he was too busy away from the action, this is probably why we struggled in the loose. Lydiate had a better game than I first thought lots of good tackling but the number 8 was little or no help most of the game around the breakdown.

Faletau can tackle and run well - but R.Jones workrate at the breakdown is superb, he is also a good tackler. We will need Jones against France if Warbs isn't fit.

Wouldn't hurt having Ryan Jones in instead of AWJ. I wouldn't drop Faletau.

[wales606]

I just watched the game again and Faletau did not hit a ruck or maul until 25 mins, he was too busy away from the action, this is probably why we struggled in the loose. Lydiate had a better game than I first thought lots of good tackling but the number 8 was little or no help most of the game around the breakdown.

Faletau can tackle and run well - but R.Jones workrate at the breakdown is superb, he is also a good tackler. We will need Jones against France if Warbs isn't fit.

Wouldn't hurt having Ryan Jones in instead of AWJ. I wouldn't drop Faletau.

I though AWJ played well - He secured the turnover that lead to Roberts try, and was doing a lot of work at the breakdown (more than Faletau and Tipuric did).

[maestegmafia]

I just watched the game again and Faletau did not hit a ruck or maul until 25 mins, he was too busy away from the action, this is probably why we struggled in the loose. Lydiate had a better game than I first thought lots of good tackling but the number 8 was little or no help most of the game around the breakdown.

Faletau can tackle and run well - but R.Jones workrate at the breakdown is superb, he is also a good tackler. We will need Jones against France if Warbs isn't fit.

Wouldn't hurt having Ryan Jones in instead of AWJ. I wouldn't drop Faletau.

I though AWJ played well - He secured the turnover that lead to Roberts try, and was doing a lot of work at the breakdown (more than Faletau and Tipuric did).

He did play well as did Ian Evans, Ryan jones, Faletau, Lydiate and even Charteris when he emerged looked good. But there are five back pack positions and Wales need to work out who goes where next week.

I think Jones and Evans are our best combo with Dan, Sam and Toby as lose forwards..

[Taylorman]

Overall I think all is well for next week. In North and Cuthbert (who were both great tioday) youve got some serious strength and pace out wide. Phillips will help against the French back 3. JD and Roberts remain 2 of the toughest around in the middle and at the back Halfpenny is as good as any at the moment.

Priestland needs to keep improving. Was a little better this week but needs to wise up in his option taking.

So in the backs a little more accuracy and option taking and this backline could be as strong as any around.

Despite the pessimism around here there are very good signs around and next week Wales get to avenge their semi final match with the skipper back- hopefully this time for the full 80 with a celebration afterwards.

[Woodstock]

I agree, Wales did enough against a brave and die hard Italian defence. You have to give them huge credit for their work rate. I was the Welsh who were not creative enough and Priestland's options were at time hesitant and I do think he kicked a little too much but I am hoping it is a glitch and he will come good again.

Also think that most had their eye on the game next week which would have been hard to not do.

Our Grand Slam to lose now but with Sam the man back we'll bring slam home (another song in the making I feel hahaha).

[BigTrevsbigmac]

I thought Clancy was consistent but a bit fussy. Too many Welsh posters are criticising him but should look at the error & yes penalty count and reflect on an Italian side that had a good defence.

If your half backs had performed it would have been a lot easier but they were poor.

Another win though but not great watching for most neutrals except for the breakaway tries which were deserved.

[Taylorman]

As a neutral i found it great. If anything Wales were over keen tried too much when they might have got more out of consolidating position more.
But thats minor given down this way we say 6N teams dont try enough it seems.
For me it was fun to see fast ball for a change. More accuracy and better finishing is all thats missing.
The welsh attack is still the difference between it and the other 5 teams and why theyre 4 from 4.
France will be ready though so its up a notch time for Wales. Current form wont cut it next week.

[mystiroakey]

whats up with the welsh- why cant you lot just enjoy a win?

you did the same v england(for different reasons)

be happy ffs

[Woodstock]

whats up with the welsh- why cant you lot just enjoy a win?

you did the same v england(for different reasons)

be happy ffs

Why do you come to a thread that has no english interest in it? Still suffering those Sour Grapes?

Allez France

[eirebilly]

I thought that the match was great myself. Massive credit to Italy's defence that they only allowed their line to be crossed twice. Had they have switched off as they did against Ireland in the last 20 minutes it could have been a lot more but they defended for the full 80minutes.

Huge effort from them considering just how many tackles they had to make.

[mystiroakey]

whats up with the welsh- why cant you lot just enjoy a win?

you did the same v england(for different reasons)

be happy ffs

Why do you come to a thread that has no english interest in it? Still suffering those Sour Grapes?

Allez France

[Cymroglan]

Italy turned up to defend and any side will have problems scoring many tries if the opposition defend with so much passion.
At no stage yesterday did I think that Wales were going to lose this match but I also knew before kick off that Wales were not going to run away with the match but it was still a 21 point margin of victory that puts us in a great position of winning four from four in this competition.

[Taffineastbourne]

I think it speaks volumes about us Welsh fans that we are not ectstatic after that win.We may be 4 from 4 but we still havent clicked.Stuck in third gear at the moment.We will need fourth and fifth next week.

[mystiroakey]

yeah it does speak voumes. but not a good sign. The best teams have to grind out tough wins- wales are doing that- but you have to realise its part and parcel of being a good side- your just not used to it. You think being a good team means you should perform 100% all the time, No thats not the case because you can come up against good sides with good tactics. grinding out games is even more impressive than plaing amazing and crushing bad opposition- then failing next time around!! if you keep grinding these games out- you may even nick a SH game one day- you never know!!

[Taffineastbourne]

Cannot agree less.If we were going overboard now,how would we react if we had a flawless superb performance?We are doing fine with our young side only going to get better.Warm glow and a satisfied smile does it for me at this stage of the team's development.

[mystiroakey]

i mirror your opinion- that i couldnt agree less with your opinion. we are not saying you should jump from the roof tops in extasy with a win at home v italy!!! just that some of your fans need to stop blaming the reff. the reffs performnace was what it was- all rugby fans realise you must just play to the ref and get the win! thats what wales did - job complete, stop whinging!

[Taffineastbourne]

Who is whingeing?

[mystiroakey]

sorry taff not you. Maybe being a bit harsh on you guys, just after reading the 10th or so whinge it got to me. I think it might have been nice to see a few posters praising the italians commitment rather than blaming the ref for a less than flowing game

[Cymroglan]

mystiroakey
The ref did stop the game from flowing but then again he was playing the whistle to the letter of the law.
People are entitled to their opinions and should be able to do that without being accused of whinging.
The vast majority of posters have praised the Italian defence but I don't think it needs to be done on every post.

May I suggest that you stop having these sly little digs at Wales and Welsh fans because more often than not it's not justified.
Quite often you are a very interesting poster but you let yourself down by the unnecessary baiting.

[thebluesmancometh]

I have praised the Italian defence no end.

I actually think the Italian defence yesterday was stronger than any we have faced so far, they were really trying to prove a point, but I don't think anyone is giving Wales enough credit. We scored more points than against England or Ireland against that stronger defence.

Also I don't think the French will defend much better than that if they do at all.

The ref was a bit pedantic but it's not up to him to allow for an attractive game, that had to come from us and we just didn't up the tempo. We should've been working twice as hard to keep the pace high knowing that Clancy was whistle happy, but Phillips doesn't have that about him.

First tap and go penalty was the 75th minute, by our loosehead and well you know how that ended...

[wales606]

My problem is comparing what would happen if Italy had been playing Aus/NZ/SA at home - would they have settled for a 21pt victory?

Gatland was talking about Wales being ruthless, but they were not, too many unforced errors - we won't beat the SH teams consistently until they can cut out the errors and rack up the points when they have the opportunity (no matter who they are playing)

Still, a wins a win - im looking forward to being at the millennium next week.

[maestegmafia]

My problem is comparing what would happen if Italy had been playing Aus/NZ/SA at home - would they have settled for a 21pt victory?

Gatland was talking about Wales being ruthless, but they were not, too many unforced errors - we won't beat the SH teams consistently until they can cut out the errors and rack up the points when they have the opportunity (no matter who they are playing)

Still, a wins a win - im looking forward to being at the millennium next week.

I agree, Wales have an exuberant confidence about them but yesterday they learnt a tough lesson, credit to Italy for that as they played a major part.

Wales looked th better team, looked like the comfortable winners from the offset, they were similar last week against the English. That confidence bellied a lack of intelligence. Italy and England both played really well against Wales, very determined defences, good in the attack when they had chances too. But Wales need to find mor intelligence to look for opportunities to over come these hurdles. Phase play wasn't working against the Italian defence because the referee was so quick to penalise the ball not being released.

Maybe even starting with a better tactic too might have helped, we needed to tire the Italians much more than we did early in the match. We were trying to move the ball around who as possibly sending ball carriers into the Italians at close range would have been more effective, certainly not creating situations where backs could possibly be isolated.

I also have to say that Tuperic needs to adapt to his fellow back rowers and be more Warburton-like to make everything click. Warns is first man their securing ball in attack and winning ball in defence, Tuperic was not there for Wales and we were missing someone performing Warburtons massive role. Tuperic is a very talented player, but needs to work on the basics of his game to fit in when Sam is not there.

Should Sam not be fit next week, I would be tempted to switch Faletau to seven and bring Ryan jones in at 8 for the final match. Tuperic on the bench.

[Liam]

Maes,

Completely agree. What the best sides in the world are able to do is adapt their game. Wales haven't done this yet when plan A isn't working. When Italy were using the blitz defence and rushing at the half backs to reduce time and space, we should have been using the forwards and Faletau to bosh it up the middle, commit the Italian forwards then create space out wide. Jone Davies called it right saying they didn't earn the right to go wide. This is crucial. You have to go up the middle, commit men to the rucks, then move it out wide quick, something Wales did in the world cup. It's important that we do this in future as England and Italy somewhat worked out Wales.

[Biltong]

Itlay looked a hell of a lot better than they did against Ireland.

In my opinion wales were intent to run through the Italian defence during the first half, and Italy somehow managed to hold on for dear life.

Only improvements I see Wales need for the franch is Phillips and Priestland need to make better decisions. Phillips is very dangerous with those runs around the ruck and scrum, but he doesn't look for support often enough and when he does, he takes two steps too many, he should just aim to draw the defender and then offload, but he doesn't he breaks one tackle then wants to breaks the next etc.

Every time you run into someone even if you break the tackle, you lose forward momentum, and make it easier for the next tackler, so break the first fine, but then draw the next and get the ball away before you are brought to ground.

Priestland option taking with his kicks can improve significantly.

[maestegmafia]

Maes,

Completely agree. What the best sides in the world are able to do is adapt their game. Wales haven't done this yet when plan A isn't working. When Italy were using the blitz defence and rushing at the half backs to reduce time and space, we should have been using the forwards and Faletau to bosh it up the middle, commit the Italian forwards then create space out wide. Jone Davies called it right saying they didn't earn the right to go wide. This is crucial. You have to go up the middle, commit men to the rucks, then move it out wide quick, something Wales did in the world cup. It's important that we do this in future as England and Italy somewhat worked out Wales.

Exactly right, we know full well Italy lack defence in the backline so we should have tied the forwards up close to rucks.

Though saying that the Italian backrow were doing a great job of spreading their defence away from rucks leaving the tight stuff around the rucks to the front five.

[Biltong]

Maes,

Completely agree. What the best sides in the world are able to do is adapt their game. Wales haven't done this yet when plan A isn't working. When Italy were using the blitz defence and rushing at the half backs to reduce time and space, we should have been using the forwards and Faletau to bosh it up the middle, commit the Italian forwards then create space out wide. Jone Davies called it right saying they didn't earn the right to go wide. This is crucial. You have to go up the middle, commit men to the rucks, then move it out wide quick, something Wales did in the world cup. It's important that we do this in future as England and Italy somewhat worked out Wales.

Exactly right, we know full well Italy lack defence in the backline so we should have tied the forwards up close to rucks.

Though saying that the Italian backrow were doing a great job of spreading their defence away from rucks leaving the tight stuff around the rucks to the front five.

I think perhaps the reason why wales hasn't adapted well to plan B is because plan A has proven to be successful and in general players struggle to adapt.

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