wales team

Wales team
Byrne, Halfpenny, Davies, Roberts, North, Hook, Knoyle, James, Hibbard, A Jones, Davies, AW Jones, Lydiate, Williams, R Jones Reps: Bennett, Bevinton, Powell, Tipuric, lloyd Williams, Stephen Jones, Brew

not sure how Powell has crept back into the squad. must be a last chance surely...

Where the Jeff is Delve ?

Surely they should be resting North too ? Saying that, him and Half penny on the wing could be a very exciting combination

i am slightly worried now, to think last season we were compalining about the lack of depth we had now gatland has made 9 changes and the squad still looks pretty good- WHATS GOING ON!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Charteris -> Wyn Jones

Im hoping this means hes seen enough of Priestland/Charteris to decide hes taking them to the W-Cup? Dont think he ever really had a choice with the options available but would have been nice to see a Charteris/Davies combo in the 2nd row. Brew on the bench again? think he should have had a shot with North on the bench. Understand the need for some continuity mind with all the changes made.

Fingers crossed the scrum goes somewhere other than backwards this week.

Backrow looks...... undynamic, experienced though.

A mixed bag for me! Nice to see Halfpenny/A jones back.

Will be interesting to see what Hibbard can do against a gnarly Agrentinian front row, hooker is becoming a bit of a problem.

Yep Charteris doesn't seem to get a fair rub of the green but maybe Gatland has seen enough of him to know he's going but Bradley and Alun wyn need to up their game.

I believe that Delve has been released back to the rebels...

mckay1402 wrote:Yep Charteris doesn't seem to get a fair rub of the green but maybe Gatland has seen enough of him to know he's going but Bradley and Alun wyn need to up their game.

I believe that Delve has been released back to the rebels...

I wanted to see Davies/Charteris but if he isnt selected at all then hopefuly it means hes in like flyn

munkian wrote:Where the Jeff is Delve ?

Who knows where Gareth Delve is. I can't believe we haven't played him. How poor must he have been in training for them to conclude he's not good enough? Or is something else going on that we don't know about?

Powell? Seriously? - No second row cover again

Tipuric rather than Turnball is also odd.

Good team though, I just hope there are no more injuries this week.

Its dissappointing to hear that Gethin Jenkins may miss the South Africa game - Paul James needs to up his game this week, no excused with A.Jones at THP.

From the BBC website:

"Criteria for selection has been about putting together a side to win the game, but also about giving some players the opportunity to impress and, therefore, bid for selection for the world Cup," said Gatland.

Yet Delve gets no opportunity at all.

Ryan'll cover 2nd row I'd imagine.

Just hoping like hell Lydiate/North doesn't get an injury.

Oh, and I had forgotten how good Lee was - check this out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOVbIwKhs_o

i guess we can conclude delve isint in then, back has experience but i think martyn williams in all honesty is past it, would be better to give someone such as turnball a game at 7.

I like it, going to be some disappointed back rowers come world cup selection, nice to finally have some strength in depth though.

Delve has failed fitness tests and was sent back to the Rebels. I can't see him making the final World Cup squad now. Our No.8's for the W.C look like being Faletau and R.Jones.

Gatland has sent Delve back to the Rebels as he was not as fit as others due to his injury. Was not even in contention to play this game.

Draigoch, Thanks for posting that link, I too forgot how good Byrne was

For Flip Sake - what was the Flip point of adding Delve to the Flip squad I despair sometimes, I nreally do

Not very disappointed, great back line, glad to see Adam back in the front row and Hook at 10.

Worry is with the bench, would like to see Tipuric get some game time, Martyn will really have to have a stormer to get to the world cup as hes in direct competition with the "modern day flankers" of Turnbull, Tipuric and Warbs.

Likewise hope Lloyd Williams gets a good run, I see him being Wales' 9 more than Knoyle but Knoyle did have a good game against England.

I'm a bit annoyed that Jon Davies is playing outside Jamie Roberts again rather than inside him. I hope he gets enough ball to show what he can do, he's such a good player but has never shown it on the international stage (due to being outside Jamie Roberts when he hasn't been passing the ball).

strong looking side, I can't see the reason for playing the 2 flankers picked when Turnbull and Tipuric haven't been given a chance, and I don't see the point in playing North again when Brew hasn't been given a chance to impress, strange decisions.

Looks a very decent team to be fair, lots of attacking flair, solid defence and a combative pack.
I'm a bit suprised Lydiate and North aren't having a break though, might of been worth giving Brew a game. I'm guessing Lydiate will come off after half time with Ryan at 6 and Powell at 8?

Turkster, it doesn't seem fair either that Lloyd Burns got the chance to show what he could do but Ken Owens doesn't.

Not a bad team. I agree about Roberts and Davies positioning but other than that i'm happy. I think North is starting for some continuity and i'm sure Brew will come on in the second half. Will be interesting to see how long A Jones lasts, lets hope he doesn't get injured.

I've also heard from some sources that the prognosis on Gethin isn't good at all. There are even talks of him having to finish! I seriously hope this was just worse case senario talk.

If he's having recurring calf problems now, even after the toe being fixed it is a worry about Gethin.

Not happy that Brew and Turnbull aren't getting a shot. Lydiate and North are shoo-ins for their starting shirts in my opinion and so Gatland should look at the other two guys.

It's a strong side and I expect us to do okay on Saturday.

Agree with Lucky about Roberts and Davies should be the other way around.

A bit disappointed Turnbull hasn't had another chance, and hope Tipuric gets game time. Not too happy that Delve hasn't been given a chance either, surely even as a bench option he is better than Powell?!

It's not too bad a team though really, and the backline for the most part is good. Hope Knoyle and Williams put in good showings at 9.

luckless_pedestrian wrote:Turkster, it doesn't seem fair either that Lloyd Burns got the chance to show what he could do but Ken Owens doesn't.

I don't think Gatland rates Owens at all, I remember him saying Owens wasn't so hot on his lineout darts after the Scarlets had been mullered in just about every way against Leicester, especially in the lineouts though, strangely enough Owens is known for his good darts, it was an off-day for him, but that's probably how Gatland will think of him from now on.

Turkster, I remember him saying that, too - he only mentioned the game against Leicester. Surely we're all entitled to a bad day at the office?

But as I've said on another thread, Ken Owens's time will come.

Impossible Standards wrote:

I've also heard from some sources that the prognosis on Gethin isn't good at all. There are even talks of him having to finish! I seriously hope this was just worse case senario talk.

Thats not good at all. Especially as a Blues fan since we have real problems at Prop and no money, if Gethin is faced with retirement or a long layoff it would be disastrous for the Blues, for Wales and for Gethin as he is young enough to make the next WC aswell.

If Geth is out who'll be the 2nd choice L/H at th world cup? Bevington? Yapp?

Is it still too late to call up Iestyn?!

Interesting explanations to the team selections from Stan Howley here on wru site;

http://www.wru.co.uk/matchdaytv/Index/index/id/8965

wales606 wrote:Thats not good at all. Especially as a Blues fan since we have real problems at Prop and no money, if Gethin is faced with retirement or a long layoff it would be disastrous for the Blues, for Wales and for Gethin as he is young enough to make the next WC aswell.

Yeah it's an awful thought, Wales aren't short of loose heads but Gethin is only 30 and it would be terrible to lose him so early.
Though saying that the Ospreys have Duncan Jones, Ryan Bevington and Paul James who are all good enough for Wales, if Gethin isn't fit.

AlynDavies wrote:

Yeah it's an awful thought, Wales aren't short of loose heads but Gethin is only 30 and it would be terrible to lose him so early.
Though saying that the Ospreys have Duncan Jones, Ryan Bevington and Paul James who are all good enough for Wales, if Gethin isn't fit.

Bevington isn't, Duncan used to be, but now isn't, Paul James is.............so the Ospreys have got one good enough for Wales.

Thats not good at all. Especially as a Blues fan since we have real problems at Prop and no money, if Gethin is faced with retirement or a long layoff it would be disastrous for the Blues, for Wales and for Gethin as he is young enough to make the next WC aswell.

There are a number of people quite concerned about his injuries. But lets hope he does recover. Like I say it may just be all talk. I hope so.

That's harsh on Bevington no?
He did nothing wrong when he came on against England and has been great for the Ospreys all season.

Turkster wrote:Bevington isn't, Duncan used to be, but now isn't, Paul James is.............so the Ospreys have got one good enough for Wales.

Duncan has had a long term injury but from what Iv'e seen of the highlights on the Ospreys V Lyon game, he was all over the place and looking good. I won't get a proper look at the Ospreys until Sunday when they play Russia though.
My gut feeling is Duncan will be better off from the extended break and may break back into the Wales team this year, especially if Gethin is going to be out for a long time.

Realistically, if Bevington is 2nd choice for Wales at this world cup (fearing the worst for Geth world-cup-wise), shouldnt he be getting some game time from the start against the argies?

Whats his scrummaging like? I know hes decent in the loose, but.....

....could we expect to start him against say Ireland/Australia and him do a job? (assuming we make the QF of course!)

How about Iestyn Thomas? He's been pretty solid this season...

Draigoch wrote:Ryan'll cover 2nd row I'd imagine.

Just hoping like hell Lydiate/North doesn't get an injury.

Oh, and I had forgotten how good Lee was - check this out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOVbIwKhs_o

great bit of football at 2.21 in the video.

hope we see byrne playing as well as we know he can on saturday. problem is he has been off the boil for a long time now.

Draigoch wrote:That's harsh on Bevington no?
He did nothing wrong when he came on against England and has been great for the Ospreys all season.

yes, I suppose it was a bit harsh on Bevington, he's young and has got plenty of time to mature, he's not a strong scrummager though, almost a Gethin Jenkins-lite type of player. I just can't , for the life of me, see why Iestyn Thomas can't be called up now Gethin may be out. Even as 3rd choice if need be, at least he'd be there if worst comes to worst and Bevington is called upon because of an injury to James.

He has been off the boil, that's true. But I do think people have been harsh on him - even at his worst he is solid at full back. His main weakness was maybe missing two touch finder penalties against France - stop him taking them!
At his best he is fantastic. Cmon Lee!

I've never seen Bevington be destroyed in the scrum, and he is outstanding in the loose. A front row of Bevington-Hibbard-Jones is one I'd be pretty happy with.

Turkster wrote:yes, I suppose it was a bit harsh on Bevington, he's young and has got plenty of time to mature, he's not a strong scrummager though, almost a Gethin Jenkins-lite type of player. I just can't , for the life of me, see why Iestyn Thomas can't be called up now Gethin may be out. Even as 3rd choice if need be, at least he'd be there if worst comes to worst and Bevington is called upon because of an injury to James.

I think that's a very unfair assessment of Bevington, people have based their whole opinion of him on the Barbarians game when he was against Carl Hayman, and yes he came off second best to one of the strongest and most wily old props in the game, but Wales were only using 5 men in the scrummage, he had no support from Lydiate at all in that match. Going up against Hayman is bad enough as a 21 year old on your first cap, but with Flankers who don't support you must of been horrific.
Sadly most people won't realize this and have now labelled Bevington as a scrumaging liability which is grossly unfair.

well, we'll soon find out, Bevington's going to be 2nd choice for Wales against South Africa as Gethin's confirmed as out of the 1st game.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/14546077.stm

i hope i havent been to harsh on byrne. when he was off form, or injured, i have said we should try other players- stoddard and preistland in particular, certainly not hook because he belongs in the center.

this is the perfect game for byrne to make his come back. i hope we see some of his fantastic angles of running, that get out of jail boot and his ability under the high ball.

happy also to see hook at fh. in my mind he is wales' best 12 but he will be required at stand off at rwc at some point ive no doubt.

loads of pressure on 7 and 8 to perform, more than warbs and faletau had on them.

looks like another 1st choice wales side. how many do they have???

Very good team, on paper the best so far, I just hope we don't pick up more injuries. The comment about the pressure on 8 to perform I find strange, R Jones has never made the number of mistakes as made in the two previous games and when he came on in the first game against England he steadied the ship and he could have scored but he made North's second try drawing the last man unlike a certain England royal centre last Sat!

My only concern is Powell on the bench, how many chances does this guy get, I would prefer McCusker or Turbull (looked good on Sat) or J Thomas. Maybe they should try Powell at prop!

The problem I've got with M.Williams & R.Jones in the backrow is that there wont be any real ball carrying threat in our pack.

Lydiate has the ability, but we havent really seen it internationally as hes too busy doing the dirty work.

Althought Toby made dropped some clangers the last couple of weekends Id back the stats to say he carried the ball for more metres in those 2 games than R.Jones did last year for Wales. That threat keeps defences honest, R.Jones hasnt provided that threat since 2005.

glamorganalun wrote:My only concern is Powell on the bench, how many chances does this guy get, I would prefer McCusker or Turbull (looked good on Sat) or J Thomas. Maybe they should try Powell at prop!

Well only 2 number 8's are going, Faletau is a shoe in after his 2 performances in the England game ,so we need 1 more.
Ryan Jones is captain for the Argentina game, and I think it's highly unlikely Gatland will let Warburton be captain for the world Cup in case it all goes títs up on us, I can see Ryan getting the nod.

AlynDavies wrote:

glamorganalun wrote:My only concern is Powell on the bench, how many chances does this guy get, I would prefer McCusker or Turbull (looked good on Sat) or J Thomas. Maybe they should try Powell at prop!

Well only 2 number 8's are going, Faletau is a shoe in after his 2 performances in the England game ,so we need 1 more.
Ryan Jones is captain for the Argentina game, and I think it's highly unlikely Gatland will let Warburton be captain for the world Cup in case it all goes títs up on us, I can see Ryan getting the nod.

are you an Ospreys supporter perchance?

to be fair though players such as byrne, jones, ryan, martyn, halfpenny must be eager to play after being out last few games- same to a lesser extent with bradley and jon davies

Alyn:

I did not realise Ryan Jones is captain for Sat hence I understand the comment earlier about Powell coming on for Lydiate. This makes it even more annoying that Turbull etc is not selected for the bench.

I hope you are correct regarding the captain going forward ,Jones lost the captain position due to injury and the strange selection of Powell at 8 and he is still being considered with Turnbull only having 20 mins last week in the second row!