Wales 6 Nations Squad

First topic message reminder :

Forwards:
Rob Evans (Scarlets), Paul James (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Kristian Dacey (Cardiff Blues), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Racing 92), Bradley Davies (Wasps), Dominic Day (Bath Rugby), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Josh Turnbull (Cardiff Blues), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons), James King (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (CAPT) (Cardiff Blues).
Backs:
Aled Davies (Scarlets) *, Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues) Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Priestland (Bath Rugby), Cory Allen (Cardiff Blues), Jonathan Davies (Clermont Auvergne), Tyler Morgan (Newport Gwent Dragons), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Tom James (Cardiff Blues), George North (Northampton Saints), Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), Matthew Morgan (Bristol Rugby), Liam Williams (Scarlets).

Strange comments, I don't have a vendetta against Sam? But that always seems to be the retort when I give an accurate description of his capabilities (more like limitations), I get attacked by Ospreys supporters and have more strange accusations thrown at me. Your lot are the most biased fans on the planet. And don't get me started on your coaches wayne, Tandy and Rees are two of the worst in Wales!

mikey_dragon wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:Saying Biggar is going to hold onto the No10 shirt for the next 3 and half years is a big shout given how injuries and form can dictate.

The good thing is it seems that Anscombe is the Blues choice at No10 and Patchell is moving to the Scarlets to play 10, so that will mean that 3 of our Regions will have quality players competing for the one shirt - oops sorry I meant the 4 Regions as the great Lyn Jones said that Dorian Jones was in contention as well before his injury.

I don't agree with Lyn on Dorian. He has a few good games but I don't see an international player in him.

Neither do we in Sam Davies. Dragons supporters don't think Dorian is ready, but like I said earlier put him in an Ospreys jersey and you'll get all their fans saying he should be in team Wales.

No that is not what I have said... I think he has started to show potential to be in the reckoning. He has improved massively over two seasons. So has Biggar. When he was first capped I was dead against it, didn't really like him playing for the Ospreys, he was a petulant, trumped up brat of a player.

In time he has cooled off now has a decent temperament and a decent game. I and many others who are not Osprey fans can see the same in young Sam Davies...

bedfordwelsh wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:Saying Biggar is going to hold onto the No10 shirt for the next 3 and half years is a big shout given how injuries and form can dictate.

The good thing is it seems that Anscombe is the Blues choice at No10 and Patchell is moving to the Scarlets to play 10, so that will mean that 3 of our Regions will have quality players competing for the one shirt - oops sorry I meant the 4 Regions as the great Lyn Jones said that Dorian Jones was in contention as well before his injury.

I don't agree with Lyn on Dorian. He has a few good games but I don't see an international player in him.

Neither do we in Sam Davies. Dragons supporters don't think Dorian is ready, but like I said earlier put him in an Ospreys jersey and you'll get all their fans saying he should be in team Wales.

Mikey,

I know we have had our lets say debates over North but on this issue I couldn't agree more.  I mentioned the same thing last week over how Underhill is being fawned over (he does look good) yet if he was in a Dragons shirt like Ollie Griffiths is hardly anything would be mentioned.

Ollie Griffiths has had loads of praise from the press Bedford.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/31900563

There are a good number more if you search.

Unfortunate news about his injury this week. He is a cracking player and someone i think everyone considers a serious prospect. Tough competition though from Cubby at Scarlets and the obvious Tips and Warbs

mikey_dragon wrote:Strange comments, I don't have a vendetta against Sam? But that always seems to be the retort when I give an accurate description of his capabilities (more like limitations), I get attacked by Ospreys supporters and have more strange accusations thrown at me. Your lot are the most biased fans on the planet. And don't get me started on your coaches wayne, Tandy and Rees are two of the worst in Wales!

People have told you and your previous existence on these boards about his Junior WC exploits and you come out with the same rubbish time and time again, he is not atm Welsh squad class, but if he keeps improving at his present rate around the time of the next WC he will make the squad. As I told you in your ill fated topic from last season, our coaches are better than your lot, also they are improving, whereas both of yours reached their pinnacle years ago.
Strange accusations, apart from somebody having gone on an anger management course(s) you are identical to the said poster.

Previous existence???

Griff wrote:Previous existence???

I don't believe in reincarnation so I'm not sure either

maestegmafia wrote:

Griff wrote:Previous existence???

I don't believe in reincarnation so I'm not sure either

I've sometimes wondered if Mikey is 'The Saint', but........ Surely not?!

Mikey??? Can you confirm or deny?

Griff wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

Griff wrote:Previous existence???

I don't believe in reincarnation so I'm not sure either

I've sometimes wondered if Mikey is 'The Saint', but........ Surely not?!

Mikey??? Can you confirm or deny?

Oh I see I thought you were being deeper in your thoughts there.

Probably right. Thee are several posters on here who have been deleted under their former pseudonyms.

wayne wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Strange comments, I don't have a vendetta against Sam? But that always seems to be the retort when I give an accurate description of his capabilities (more like limitations), I get attacked by Ospreys supporters and have more strange accusations thrown at me. Your lot are the most biased fans on the planet. And don't get me started on your coaches wayne, Tandy and Rees are two of the worst in Wales!

People have told you and your previous existence on these boards about his Junior WC exploits and you come out with the same rubbish time and time again, he is not atm Welsh squad class, but if he keeps improving at his present rate around the time of the next WC he will make the squad. As I told you in your ill fated topic from last season, our coaches are better than your lot, also they are improving, whereas both of yours reached their pinnacle years ago.
Strange accusations, apart from somebody having gone on an anger management course(s) you are identical to the said poster.

I thought you were slightly different to be fair, but like the rest you happen to go about slating those who don't think your players are all that. Outside of your first team the Ospreys wider squad is atrocious - the worst it's ever been considering the past squads that Ospreys have had. No doubt I'll get slated for this but it's the truth and sometimes it hurts people. Davies would have to improve by a monumental margin then because he isn't improving. Lyn perhaps isn't suited to coaching rugby any more however I do believe he has a much better record with the Ospreys than Tandy - back then Lyn could even do his tombola and Ospreys would get wins. So whilst I agree Lyn has reached his pinnacle I disagree that Tandy and Rees are improving, they're about the same. Gibbes is a good coach because your forwards despite being a bit underpowered in previous years are very well drilled.

For those asking - I posted on the old 606 as WestWanderer. I am currently residing in my home town of Newport.

mikey_dragon wrote:

wayne wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Strange comments, I don't have a vendetta against Sam? But that always seems to be the retort when I give an accurate description of his capabilities (more like limitations), I get attacked by Ospreys supporters and have more strange accusations thrown at me. Your lot are the most biased fans on the planet. And don't get me started on your coaches wayne, Tandy and Rees are two of the worst in Wales!

People have told you and your previous existence on these boards about his Junior WC exploits and you come out with the same rubbish time and time again, he is not atm Welsh squad class, but if he keeps improving at his present rate around the time of the next WC he will make the squad. As I told you in your ill fated topic from last season, our coaches are better than your lot, also they are improving, whereas both of yours reached their pinnacle years ago.
Strange accusations, apart from somebody having gone on an anger management course(s) you are identical to the said poster.

I thought you were slightly different to be fair, but like the rest you happen to go about slating those who don't think your players are all that. Outside of your first team the Ospreys wider squad is atrocious - the worst it's ever been considering the past squads that Ospreys have had. No doubt I'll get slated for this but it's the truth and sometimes it hurts people. Davies would have to improve by a monumental margin then because he isn't improving. Lyn perhaps isn't suited to coaching rugby any more however I do believe he has a much better record with the Ospreys than Tandy - back then Lyn could even do his tombola and Ospreys would get wins. So whilst I agree Lyn has reached his pinnacle I disagree that Tandy and Rees are improving, they're about the same. Gibbes is a good coach because your forwards despite being a bit underpowered in previous years are very well drilled.

For those asking - I posted on the old 606 as WestWanderer. I am currently residing in my home town of Newport.

Now you're just talkin' out yer rse

To be fair I do think the press hype Sam Davies up massively, I mean Phil Bennett referred to him as Jonny Wilkinson with pace. There's no doubt though hell be a good player for the ospreys, he just needs game time to develop consistency to his game. Only time will tell if reaches the level of biggar

True Raven wrote:To be fair I do think the press hype Sam Davies up massively, I mean Phil Bennett referred to him as Jonny Wilkinson with pace.  There's no doubt though hell be a good player for the ospreys, he just needs game time to develop consistency to his game.  Only time will tell if reaches the level of biggar

I think that concludes exactly what most people think.

To be honest Phill Bennets comparison is not much of a commendation

maestegmafia wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

wayne wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Strange comments, I don't have a vendetta against Sam? But that always seems to be the retort when I give an accurate description of his capabilities (more like limitations), I get attacked by Ospreys supporters and have more strange accusations thrown at me. Your lot are the most biased fans on the planet. And don't get me started on your coaches wayne, Tandy and Rees are two of the worst in Wales!

People have told you and your previous existence on these boards about his Junior WC exploits and you come out with the same rubbish time and time again, he is not atm Welsh squad class, but if he keeps improving at his present rate around the time of the next WC he will make the squad. As I told you in your ill fated topic from last season, our coaches are better than your lot, also they are improving, whereas both of yours reached their pinnacle years ago.
Strange accusations, apart from somebody having gone on an anger management course(s) you are identical to the said poster.

I thought you were slightly different to be fair, but like the rest you happen to go about slating those who don't think your players are all that. Outside of your first team the Ospreys wider squad is atrocious - the worst it's ever been considering the past squads that Ospreys have had. No doubt I'll get slated for this but it's the truth and sometimes it hurts people. Davies would have to improve by a monumental margin then because he isn't improving. Lyn perhaps isn't suited to coaching rugby any more however I do believe he has a much better record with the Ospreys than Tandy - back then Lyn could even do his tombola and Ospreys would get wins. So whilst I agree Lyn has reached his pinnacle I disagree that Tandy and Rees are improving, they're about the same. Gibbes is a good coach because your forwards despite being a bit underpowered in previous years are very well drilled.

For those asking - I posted on the old 606 as WestWanderer. I am currently residing in my home town of Newport.

Now you're just talkin' out yer rse

I think that's a tad harsh, he's got a point about our squad but budget constraints mean we aren't likely to replicate the quality of the squad that we had 2008-2011 and some poor recruitment hasn't helped either. You can't compare the work lyn did though and the work Tandy is doing, it's two completely different squads. In some ways lyn underachieved by not doing better in Europe given the squad he had and we should have put Saracens to the sword in 2008 considering we thumped them 30-3 a week earlier in the edf semi and Tandy is overachieving considering the financial constraints he's under. Steve Tandy works with the exact same budget as the other regions and gets more out of it

True Raven wrote:To be fair I do think the press hype Sam Davies up massively, I mean Phil Bennett referred to him as Jonny Wilkinson with pace.

Good f*cking grief!

Surely it's very clear that Sam Davies is not atrocious. It's quite obvious that he is a young, talented, developing player. That's all. But he fact that he is developing is huge. He does, imo, need to add a lot to his game, the same way most pro players his age do. He has a lot of catching up to do physically but it's great to see that the building blocks of his game are there.
I'm still of the opinion that Patchell and Williams may develop in to better options than Davies.

As for the JWC, despite other players (Clifford and Jordan in particular) lighting up the tournament, I don't think that any other player had as much of an affect on their teams success as Davies. His management and points gathering was awesome.

Comparing past and present Ospreys squads is pointless. Budget differences are unreal. You may as well be comparing Laudrup and Jackett Swans' squads.

RiscaGame wrote:No chance Ruby. Cuthbert is the first name on any of Gatland's team sheets

I don't think that's true anymore, Amos was picked against England in the world cup and other than for injury I think he would have kept his place. That said it still wouldn't me if he did start

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

True Raven wrote:To be fair I do think the press hype Sam Davies up massively, I mean Phil Bennett referred to him as Jonny Wilkinson with pace.

Good f*cking grief!

Phil must have been high as a kite!

bedfordwelsh wrote:

RiscaGame wrote:No chance Ruby. Cuthbert is the first name on any of Gatland's team sheets

I don't think that's true anymore, Amos was picked against England in the world cup and other than for injury I think he would have kept his place.  That said it still wouldn't me if he did start

Williams, Halfpenny and North were all picked ahead of Cuthbert last year.

He was only capped successively recently because we had so many injuries

North is picked above them all for some reason or other (Mikey let's not start that debate again ) .

MonkeyOwain12 wrote:

As for the JWC, despite other players (Clifford and Jordan in particular) lighting up the tournament, I don't think that any other player had as much of an affect on their teams success as Davies. His management and points gathering was awesome.

That has to be a joke right? If you wanted to compare individuals having a great affect on their team, then why did you compare an average player with Clifford and Williams? The latter 2 had a much greater affect on their teams, Clifford especially where he often lead by example.

No joke at all. There was only one kid kicking corners and taking points.
The points that ultimately lead to Wales' performance at the tournament.
The effect being, scoring the necessary points to win games.
(You could even argue that Nicky Thomas won most of those points).

Without him, I'm not sure they would've progressed as far as they did.
I do agree, that he's further behind than others may think at the moment...but he is progressing, and does show, albeit periodically that he's capable against the best.

I'm sure it was the same tournament, but I thought Cowan-Dickie was the player of the tournament, imo.

An inconsistent kicker he was too, I just refuse to believe he was the best fly-half we could put out. Yes you could argue that about Nicky Smith and Thomas. Williams was very much the go-to man when it was a tight match and he could make something happen, a bit like Shane Williams could for Wales.

Was Cowan-Dickie the one with the mullet? He was a good player, looks as if he's still progressing very well.

But very important (if inconsistent), he scored some great kicks and a few very important drop goals in the tournament. I agree that there were better players in the team, but few ended up being as important to any team.

That's Cowan-Dickie, I just remember thinking he was awesome. And he's still killing it with the Chiefs too.

MonkeyOwain12,i missed your earlier 7:44a.m post.i think Sam D is a work in progress but not the finished article.On the plus side he does have pace and a sidestep and can clearly make line breaks.On the minus side his goalkicking is inconsistent and his tactical line kicking a bit unpredictable.His tackling is very poor.All 3 have contributed to games being lost.Yes,he kicked 15 points against CA but those opportunities arose because of the monstrous performance of the O's pack in the last 20+ minutes of that game.Some of his weaknesses can be addressed by practice eg goalkicking but others need effective coaching.I'd hoped and still do his father can help him with his game management and tactical kicking but exposure to the Vale coaching set up could help him with all aspects of his game particularly his tackling which does not stand any comparison with Anscombe,Williams and Patchell.The skill I would like to see him develop is the flat left to right cross field pass.It'll be interesting to see how he goes against the Scottish/Irish Pro 12 boys over the next 2 months.

exile jack wrote:MonkeyOwain12,i missed your earlier 7:44a.m post.i think Sam D is a work in progress but not the finished article.On the plus side he does have pace and a sidestep and can clearly make line breaks.On the minus side his goalkicking is inconsistent and his tactical line kicking a bit unpredictable.His tackling is very poor.All 3 have contributed to games being lost.Yes,he kicked 15 points against CA but those opportunities arose because of the monstrous performance of the O's pack in the last 20+ minutes of that game.Some of his weaknesses can be addressed by practice eg goalkicking but others need effective coaching.I'd hoped and still do his father can help him with his game management and tactical kicking but exposure to the Vale coaching set up could help him with all aspects of his game particularly his tackling which does not stand any comparison with Anscombe,Williams and Patchell.The skill I would like to see him develop is the flat left to right cross field pass.It'll be interesting to see how he goes against the Scottish/Irish Pro 12 boys over the next 2 months.

Excellent, unbiased post , bit of a rarity for the folk down your way. I find myself agreeing with a lot of this. The Ospreys have a good team available (injuries permitting) over the next few weeks so it's a good opportunity for Davies.

mikey_dragon wrote:

exile jack wrote:MonkeyOwain12,i missed your earlier 7:44a.m post.i think Sam D is a work in progress but not the finished article.On the plus side he does have pace and a sidestep and can clearly make line breaks.On the minus side his goalkicking is inconsistent and his tactical line kicking a bit unpredictable.His tackling is very poor.All 3 have contributed to games being lost.Yes,he kicked 15 points against CA but those opportunities arose because of the monstrous performance of the O's pack in the last 20+ minutes of that game.Some of his weaknesses can be addressed by practice eg goalkicking but others need effective coaching.I'd hoped and still do his father can help him with his game management and tactical kicking but exposure to the Vale coaching set up could help him with all aspects of his game particularly his tackling which does not stand any comparison with Anscombe,Williams and Patchell.The skill I would like to see him develop is the flat left to right cross field pass.It'll be interesting to see how he goes against the Scottish/Irish Pro 12 boys over the next 2 months.

Excellent, unbiased post , bit of a rarity for the folk down your way. I find myself agreeing with a lot of this. The Ospreys have a good team available (injuries permitting) over the next few weeks so it's a good opportunity for Davies.

Excile Jack just said exactly the same thing we all said, that you were arguing against. How come you agree with him not everyone else when they all say the same thing. He shows progress certainly not the finished article.

maestegmafia wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

exile jack wrote:MonkeyOwain12,i missed your earlier 7:44a.m post.i think Sam D is a work in progress but not the finished article.On the plus side he does have pace and a sidestep and can clearly make line breaks.On the minus side his goalkicking is inconsistent and his tactical line kicking a bit unpredictable.His tackling is very poor.All 3 have contributed to games being lost.Yes,he kicked 15 points against CA but those opportunities arose because of the monstrous performance of the O's pack in the last 20+ minutes of that game.Some of his weaknesses can be addressed by practice eg goalkicking but others need effective coaching.I'd hoped and still do his father can help him with his game management and tactical kicking but exposure to the Vale coaching set up could help him with all aspects of his game particularly his tackling which does not stand any comparison with Anscombe,Williams and Patchell.The skill I would like to see him develop is the flat left to right cross field pass.It'll be interesting to see how he goes against the Scottish/Irish Pro 12 boys over the next 2 months.

Excellent, unbiased post , bit of a rarity for the folk down your way. I find myself agreeing with a lot of this. The Ospreys have a good team available (injuries permitting) over the next few weeks so it's a good opportunity for Davies.

Excile Jack just said exactly the same thing we all said, that you were arguing against. How come you agree with him not everyone else when they all say the same thing. He shows progress certainly not the finished article.

Quite right MM, his ALL Ospreys fans bigging him up has been shown as a fallacy, as I pointed out yesterday, Do you know who he reminds me of? Mathew Morgan, that's who, because he's good at sidestepping (questions! previous existence) but very little else.

maestegmafia wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

exile jack wrote:MonkeyOwain12,i missed your earlier 7:44a.m post.i think Sam D is a work in progress but not the finished article.On the plus side he does have pace and a sidestep and can clearly make line breaks.On the minus side his goalkicking is inconsistent and his tactical line kicking a bit unpredictable.His tackling is very poor.All 3 have contributed to games being lost.Yes,he kicked 15 points against CA but those opportunities arose because of the monstrous performance of the O's pack in the last 20+ minutes of that game.Some of his weaknesses can be addressed by practice eg goalkicking but others need effective coaching.I'd hoped and still do his father can help him with his game management and tactical kicking but exposure to the Vale coaching set up could help him with all aspects of his game particularly his tackling which does not stand any comparison with Anscombe,Williams and Patchell.The skill I would like to see him develop is the flat left to right cross field pass.It'll be interesting to see how he goes against the Scottish/Irish Pro 12 boys over the next 2 months.

Excellent, unbiased post , bit of a rarity for the folk down your way. I find myself agreeing with a lot of this. The Ospreys have a good team available (injuries permitting) over the next few weeks so it's a good opportunity for Davies.

Excile Jack just said exactly the same thing we all said, that you were arguing against. How come you agree with him not everyone else when they all say the same thing. He shows progress certainly not the finished article.

No he didn't. And you just attack people who don't go down on Ospreys players, you're pathetic.

wayne wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

exile jack wrote:MonkeyOwain12,i missed your earlier 7:44a.m post.i think Sam D is a work in progress but not the finished article.On the plus side he does have pace and a sidestep and can clearly make line breaks.On the minus side his goalkicking is inconsistent and his tactical line kicking a bit unpredictable.His tackling is very poor.All 3 have contributed to games being lost.Yes,he kicked 15 points against CA but those opportunities arose because of the monstrous performance of the O's pack in the last 20+ minutes of that game.Some of his weaknesses can be addressed by practice eg goalkicking but others need effective coaching.I'd hoped and still do his father can help him with his game management and tactical kicking but exposure to the Vale coaching set up could help him with all aspects of his game particularly his tackling which does not stand any comparison with Anscombe,Williams and Patchell.The skill I would like to see him develop is the flat left to right cross field pass.It'll be interesting to see how he goes against the Scottish/Irish Pro 12 boys over the next 2 months.

Excellent, unbiased post , bit of a rarity for the folk down your way. I find myself agreeing with a lot of this. The Ospreys have a good team available (injuries permitting) over the next few weeks so it's a good opportunity for Davies.

Excile Jack just said exactly the same thing we all said, that you were arguing against. How come you agree with him not everyone else when they all say the same thing. He shows progress certainly not the finished article.

Quite right MM, his ALL Ospreys fans bigging him up has been shown as a fallacy, as I pointed out yesterday, Do you know who he reminds me of? Mathew Morgan, that's who, because he's good at sidestepping (questions! previous existence) but very little else.

It's difficult to make sense of this Wayne but I'm going to assume it's aimed at me anyway. I don't just post on here, so wasn't referring to Ospreys fans strictly on V2. Davies, like some more average players in his team, is vastly overhyped by the supporters down that way, and they actually believe their own hype. Morgan is a much better player, I'm quite surprised that he was let go because he is superior in all departments to Davies.

Another good game last night by Tovey BTW. If he had been wearing an Ospreys jersey than their fans would be crying that he's not in the Wales squad. You won't hear a peep from the level-headed Dragons fans. It just goes to show the difference between both sets of supporters in my opinion .

Matthew Morgan is not a good fly half at all. He has no tactical awareness, is awful at kicking from hand and tee, cant get a backline moving and refuses to tackle. However, the guy is electric and can dance round anyone . There's a reason why he plays in the championship and both wales and the blues see him as a fullback and not a flyhalf

TR,Bang on.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree then, although I'm sure you can agree that he is better than Davies . There we go.

True Raven wrote:Matthew Morgan is not a good fly half at all.  He has no tactical awareness, is awful at kicking from hand and tee, cant get a backline moving and refuses to tackle.  However, the guy is electric and can dance round anyone .  There's a reason why he plays in the championship and both wales and the blues see him as a fullback and not a flyhalf

Quite right Raven, and he's not even good enough to even get in an English Premiership team in his preferred position

I would like to see Morgan on the wing. And if he were a bit chunkier he'd be one hell of a scrum half

mikey_dragon wrote:

wayne wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

exile jack wrote:MonkeyOwain12,i missed your earlier 7:44a.m post.i think Sam D is a work in progress but not the finished article.On the plus side he does have pace and a sidestep and can clearly make line breaks.On the minus side his goalkicking is inconsistent and his tactical line kicking a bit unpredictable.His tackling is very poor.All 3 have contributed to games being lost.Yes,he kicked 15 points against CA but those opportunities arose because of the monstrous performance of the O's pack in the last 20+ minutes of that game.Some of his weaknesses can be addressed by practice eg goalkicking but others need effective coaching.I'd hoped and still do his father can help him with his game management and tactical kicking but exposure to the Vale coaching set up could help him with all aspects of his game particularly his tackling which does not stand any comparison with Anscombe,Williams and Patchell.The skill I would like to see him develop is the flat left to right cross field pass.It'll be interesting to see how he goes against the Scottish/Irish Pro 12 boys over the next 2 months.

Excellent, unbiased post , bit of a rarity for the folk down your way. I find myself agreeing with a lot of this. The Ospreys have a good team available (injuries permitting) over the next few weeks so it's a good opportunity for Davies.

Excile Jack just said exactly the same thing we all said, that you were arguing against. How come you agree with him not everyone else when they all say the same thing. He shows progress certainly not the finished article.

Quite right MM, his ALL Ospreys fans bigging him up has been shown as a fallacy, as I pointed out yesterday, Do you know who he reminds me of? Mathew Morgan, that's who, because he's good at sidestepping (questions! previous existence) but very little else.

It's difficult to make sense of this Wayne but I'm going to assume it's aimed at me anyway. I don't just post on here, so wasn't referring to Ospreys fans strictly on V2. Davies, like some more average players in his team, is vastly overhyped by the supporters down that way, and they actually believe their own hype. Morgan is a much better player, I'm quite surprised that he was let go because he is superior in all departments to Davies.

Another good game last night by Tovey BTW. If he had been wearing an Ospreys jersey than their fans would be crying that he's not in the Wales squad. You won't hear a peep from the level-headed Dragons fans. It just goes to show the difference between both sets of supporters in my opinion .

Of course it's aimed at you, and it doesn't surprise me at all that you can't make sense of it, it's a bit too subtle for you

Well, the next couple of months in the Pro12 will go a long way in to seeing how he'll develop and what kind of level we can expect. The same for Patchell and Tovey. Although it does seem at times that Tovey's had his chance. Which is ridiculous given his age. He's still capable, just could never string performances together.

In fact this period of time is huge for a lot of young up and comers.
It's a great time of year, the 6 Nations is rivalled by nothing in terms of passion and the opportunity to watch some of our teams' 'depth' in the Pro12 is great. Hopefully 4-5 will put they're hand up.

As for Davies, he's not there yet, I agree that his tackling is non existent but other areas are developing well and pretty quickly. As for only getting the chance to kick points due to others' performance. Well, yes. But that's their job and that's his job. It is a team sport after all.
Wilkinson and Montgomery won World Cup finals on the back of a team doing they're job. Then they did theirs.

MO12,agree totally.If Sam D consistently runs,passes,tackles,kicks like Percy and Jonny i'll be a very happy rugby fan.

It's a shame that during the six nations a number of our regional prospects are injured. Ollie Griffiths and James Davies both very exciting.

It is a great opportunity for young talent to get some miles. There are some tough games to play.

See that Williams came through ok yesterday but is it still a big risk to throw him in against Ireland next week?

I heard he played well. If he's okay then I would certainly risk it.

I think it's worth the risk as well as he does give us something different. I would go with North Williams and Amos.

Definitely worth the risk. he's a big game if not potentially world class 15 with the aggression of JPR, the ability to hit the line like Lee Byrne and the best available even if Half were fit, in fact he reminds me of Serge, a bit.

He played well considering first game in two months.

I do t think he is a risk at all.

maestegmafia wrote:He played well considering first game in two months.

I do t think he is a risk at all.

IMO the only risk is his foot and that is not going to know whether he is playing club or country.

Strikes me it is a biomechanics issue as much as anything and think the bandy legs might be involved... how his feet are managing because of that?

One more break might be a retirement.

Davies showing his worth with the boot today

I think the back 3 picks itself, and hopefully Gatland agrees with the fans that Cuthbert should be as far away from it as possible. So we're starting to see the team take shape finally. For me there's quite varying degrees of uncertainty about our starting pack. Warburton wasn't released this weekend so to me this indicates he's a certain starter and whilst I think he is a better player than Tips, it is the latter who should be starting. Might both of them start on each flank? There's good depth at lock so it'll be one of Davies or Charteris to partner AWJ - both in great form so they might take it in turns to be starters. Hooker is surely Baldwin with Owens on the bench. Props I have no idea - we need to pick the best scrummagers but I'm not even sure who that is right now. I would like to see Rob Evans as a starter because he's been in great form since last season.

I posted it before but I'll do it again: Sanjay, Junior Doc, Foxy, Doc, North, Biggar, Davies, Faletau, Tips, Warbs, Charteris, Best lock in the world, Francis, Baldwin, Evans.

Gwlad wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:He played well considering first game in two months.

I do t think he is a risk at all.

IMO the only risk is his foot and that is not going to know whether he is playing club or country.

Strikes me it is a biomechanics issue as much as anything and think the bandy legs might be involved... how his feet are managing because of that?

One more break might be a retirement.

Maybe the WRU could invest in transplanting William legs with Cuthberts legs to make a less "bandy" player...?

Anyone watching Scrum V?

I'm no clearer on what Howley is wanting our attack to do. If that's what he conveys to our backs, I'm not surprised we look clueless at times.

Also, very funny seeing the Shaun Edwards interview!

I missed the start, so I'll catch up later on via iPlayer. I was also hoping it would be a good, unbiased episode.

After last years disappointing 6N and RWC I hope we come out firing on all cylinders

The first time we stepped up against decent opposition last year we lost both times. Not to mention the disaster that was losing to England in Cardiff

A Grandslam is a must