Welsh Players We Need To See In Action Next Week.

It maybe our "best current available team", but dont tell me it is our "best team". I think the following players would have a major impact on our best 22.

Henson - time to cut to the chase.
Delve - A rugged ball carrier who has been class in the S15.
Lloyd Williams - 2012, will be the undisputed scrum half, Phillips keeping the spot warm for him.
Adam - Say no more
Gethin - Best open loosehead in the UK.
Rees - Nobody near him in Wales
Hook - quick ball from Lloyd W. will be interesting.

My team for next week

Lee Byrne

Shane Williams
Jamie Roberts
Gavin Henson
George North

James Hook
Lloyd Williams

Gethin Jenkins
Matthew Rees
Adam Jones

Alun Wyn Jones
Bradley Davies

Gareth Delve
Toby Faletau
Sam Warburton

Bench.
Paul James, Lloyd Burns, Ryan Jones, Josh Turnbull, Mike Phillips, Stephen Jones, Morgan Stoddard.

Any thoughts ladies and gents.

Thats a stong team to be fair.

I would have the same, but with Halfpenny at 14 if fit.

I would also have Mitchell rather than James on the bench.

Otherwise, that would be my team.

i would stick with preistland at 15 for the return fixture. the lad needs international gametime, we could well need him in rwc.

the center combo of roberts and henson is gats personal wetdream. we will probably see that next week, although i reckon our best center pair is hook,12 and jd2, 13.

i would be happy to see delve play 8 but i hope faletau make selecting delve a difficult decision.

Will it depend on todays result?

Knackeredknees wrote:Will it depend on todays result?

im not sure it will, or that it should. there is probably (hopefully) a strategy in selection for these three warmups. we need to test some guys (henson) and warm up some others (geth) results are for me a secondary thing. yes, yes, confidence, winning ways and all that...

I think the only way a result will have an impact is if we end up on the wrong end of a 2007 thrashing. As Dogtooth said Gats should already have a plan of who will play in each game and stick to it as much as possible.

Win, win, win, that is the big picture. Win today and confidence will surge through the team. Dont really buy the rest of the stuff, yes combinations, peformance etc are vital but they are secondary to a win. Look back and a W is in the column, nobody remebers the nature of the win. We are a confidence team, we need to go into that first Boks game with our tails up.

But what if some of the players have an outstanding game?
Will you say drop Phillips who plays a blinder(you still lose), but then throw on a rookie for the next game against a stronger England team? Just to give game time someone

Knackeredknees wrote:But what if some of the players have an outstanding game?
Will you say drop Phillips who plays a blinder(you still lose), but then throw on a rookie for the next game against a stronger England team? Just to give game time someone

it will make it difficult. if paul james has a stormer (is he playing today?) do you play him next week and leave a possibly fit and hungry gethin out of the team? it is a tight rope this summer. good results will be helpfull but not as much as a match fit squad of 30.

maybe if someone is playing better than expected, faletau or preistland, gats might choose to give them more time and it might mean gats chooses to drop someone from his rwc plans.

We need to see our strongest team next week. If priestland plays well at 15. Give him another game there. Hook at 10. Knoyle at 9. I wouldn't play Lloyd Williams. I'm surprised he's in the squad to be fair. He's had 8 starts for his region and he's in the welsh WC squad. Wayne evans missed have pranged gatland's car when over face. Charteris has to play. Owens or burns at hooker.

MOG he has only had 8 starts but the boy is class, i thought rhys webb was the future at no 9 then i saw lloyd williams play. Personally whilst I think wayne evans service is superb he lacks physicality. williams has it all, good service good boot, strong around the tackle area and also seems to have the top two inches that so many welsh players have missing.

manofgwent wrote:We need to see our strongest team next week. If priestland plays well at 15. Give him another game there. Hook at 10. Knoyle at 9. I wouldn't play Lloyd Williams. I'm surprised he's in the squad to be fair. He's had 8 starts for his region and he's in the welsh WC squad. Wayne evans missed have pranged gatland's car when over face. Charteris has to play. Owens or burns at hooker.

Why are you selecting Hook then?, surely even you wouldn't have selected him after his performance in the French game. Its going to be a tight restrictive game in the MS, it must be apparent now to you that JH cannot perform in non-open play. If you don't like Jones fair enough but at least select a 10 that can defend, attack, and make the right calls when the opposition in already on his shoulder, if Priestland plays well today then give him the opportunity to play in the flyhalf channel.

Posters suggesting a rookie at 9, and probably the worse defender in the Welsh squad at 10...... well TBH it makes you wonder if they watch rugby. I think whoever plays inside centre and blindside will be rubbing their hands next week if the see young Williams and Hook as the halfbacks.

Then again perhaps you should play Hook at 10............

Flyhalf. Agree on the Lloyd Williams comments. Hes obviously impressed to remain in the squad ahead of teammate Richie Rees, but next week isn't for tinkering. We have 2 home to put the right combinations together. When we lose this afternoon. Our woeful 12 month record will be, played 14. Won 3. Dire.
Flyhalf. I know we disagree on hook and Stephen jones. Many are split. But hook i's the guy who played at 10 in 3 of our 4 successful games in the 6 nations. Biggar played in the draw v Fiji and Stephen jones has played in every other. So in the last 12 months at fly half. Our stats read.

S. Jones. Played 8. 0 wins.
Biggar. Played 1. 0 wins.
Hook. Played 4. 3 wins.

You may not like hook's defence. Personally, I couldn't give a toss about his defence. I'd rather play a guy who i's creative, even one who i's flawed, than a guy who looks like he's trying to run with his boots trapped in a bag of cement. The guy should be sponsored by Wickes!!! Seriously. If he's struggling to keep up with the mascot again when he runs out today, I'll have to turn off. Jones makes Ryan jones look like usain bolt.
Flyhalf. I know you're gonna come back with the French game. But look at the stats. We simply don't win with jones at 10 anymore. His kicking i's poor. His restarts are dire. He runs like an arthritic poodle. The guys finished. His stats after today will read. 0 wins in 9 attempts at 10. We've scored 16 tries in our last 12 internationals. He doesn't get our talented backs going. I know Phillips doesn't help, but he's not the player he was.
My major problem i's with the coach. He's constantly picked players who haven't played well and now it's too little, too late.
England will come to Cardiff next week with their full strength team and beat us again. We'll go into the WC with no confidence and little idea of our best team.
One word to sum up warren gatland. Inept.

flyhalffactory wrote:

manofgwent wrote:We need to see our strongest team next week. If priestland plays well at 15. Give him another game there. Hook at 10. Knoyle at 9. I wouldn't play Lloyd Williams. I'm surprised he's in the squad to be fair. He's had 8 starts for his region and he's in the welsh WC squad. Wayne evans missed have pranged gatland's car when over face. Charteris has to play. Owens or burns at hooker.

Why are you selecting Hook then?, surely even you wouldn't have selected him after his performance in the French game. Its going to be a tight restrictive game in the MS, it must be apparent now to you that JH cannot perform in non-open play. If you don't like Jones fair enough but at least select a 10 that can defend, attack, and make the right calls when the opposition in already on his shoulder, if Priestland plays well today then give him the opportunity to play in the flyhalf channel.

Posters suggesting a rookie at 9, and probably the worse defender in the Welsh squad at 10...... well TBH it makes you wonder if they watch rugby. I think whoever plays inside centre and blindside will be rubbing their hands next week if the see young Williams and Hook as the halfbacks.

Then again perhaps you should play Hook at 10............

Seriously mate your thoughts on james hook are becoming warped....!

He is nothing like you describe at all

Start with Knoyle and have lloyd williams on the bench, we know what phillips can do, he played well AGAIN today, just as he did in the last game.

Hook at ten but also more game time for priestland would be good, at ten and fifteen.

Henson needs a run out, as does scott williams

Fist choice front row need some game time now, as does charteris in the second row.

Tuperic can wait until Argentina but Turnbull needs a run out and Delve deserves a chance at 8

RRE,

I agree with you on all counts bar the positioning of Delve.

For me if he plays he has to play at No8, I am not saying he can't play No6 but give him a chance to stake his WC place in his prefered position.

If you are gonna put someone at No6 other than Lydiate then I would rather it be R Jones though for me he is now more of a 2nd row.

15 Gavin Henson -
Do or die game, show Wales you still got it in Cardiff or forget the World Cup.

14 George North -
Young kid, our best right wing, the more experience the better.

13 Jonathan Davies -
Did ok at 13 today. During the 6 Nations was forced into the 12 shirt and it didn't suit him. Roberts is better at 12, so the centers are the right way round.

12 Jamie Roberts -
Best game for Wales for ages today, needs to build on it and get confidence.

11 Shane Williams -
It's Wales Vs England and we need him to be honest, he is World Class.

10 Rhys Priestland -
Got the back line moving, took good options and played the best any fly half has for Wales for a long time. He doesn't deserve to be dropped.

9 Mike Phillips -
Took pressure off Priestland and was aggressive and nasty. He's lacked confidence recently and if he can build on today;s game it will help Wales a lot. Clearly he is Gatlands first choice, as we will need his aggression and self belief and the though matches against the Islands at the World Cup.

8) Gareth Delve -
I just said he shouldn't play England, but against Argentina. However Iv;e realised Faletau can play blindside also so Delve should be put in the same position as Henson. One game to prove to Wales you can transfer your Super 15 form into International rugby, or no World Cup.

7) Sam Warburton -
Rees is going to be injured so another chance to be Captain and get more experience for Wales.

6) Toby Faletau
works his backside off, but Warburton, Lydiate and Toby are a lightweight back row, we need a ball carrier in there somewhere.
Lydiate has a terrible habbit of not pushing in the scrums and throwing his loose head to the wolves a bit. He did it to Bevington against the Barbarians, and again against James today.

5) Bradley Davies -
He's nasty and agressive and normally stamps his authority on the game, if Wales are going forward he will act as a ball carrier also. His strength was sapped today as a result of going against the bigger English pack so he didn't show in the loose much. But he can still do it.

4) Alun-Wyn Jones -
Takes his lineouts, is influencial in the pack and contributes around the field.

3) Adam Jones -
We need him to shore up the scrum and have his presence in our pack.

2) Huw Bennett -
Rees won't be fit, and I never thought I'd ever say it but Bennett was brilliant today. Give him another chance to show he isn't the shambles most Welsh and Ospreys fans think he has become over the last few seasons. If he goes back to bad old habbits don't take him to the World Cup.

1) Gethin Jenkins -
We need him to shore up the scrum and have his presence in our pack.