Lee or Leigh?

I know we haven't seen Halfpenny return from injury yet, but I feel that he has more to offer than Byrne.

Byrne is one of the best 15's on his day, but his day is becoming less & less frequent. When on form Byrne is a great finisher & in the right place at the right time. He seems to be one of Gatlands favourites along with Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips & Huw Bennett. It doesn't matter if they are off form, they only miss a match if injured.

Halfpenny has barely put a foot wrong when in a Wales shirt. He has great gas, awareness & a massive boot. After what I have seen this year I would not want to drop either North or Williams off the wings, but I would still want to include someone as talented as Halfpenny. We will just have to see how well him & Byrne play on Saturday? If Hook isn't in the starting XV against SA then Wales run a risk if they pick Stephen Jones as their only goal kicker.

My personal choice for a starting backline against SA with subs

9. Mike Phillips
10. Stephen Jones
11. Shane Williams
12. James Hook
13. Jamie Roberts
14. George North
15. Leigh Halfpenny

20. Tavis Knoyle
21. Rhys Priestland
22. Lee Byrne

after 50 minutes I would give this a bash...

9. Phillips
10. Hook
11. Williams
12. Roberts
13. North
14. Byrne
15. Priestland

Byrne is a Fullback and Halfpenny is a winger, why would they be competing against each other?

Obviously never watched the Cardiff Blues then?

krusty wrote:Obviously never watched the Cardiff Blues then?

Yes I have watched Cardiff Blues many times, I have seen Halfpenny playing at Fullback once. He has had less game time their than Shane Williams.

maybe we should just play Shane at fullback!!


for me though Krusty, I would pick your 'after 50 minutes' backline to start against SA, but I would have given Priestland some time at fullback. Byrne is solid internationally even at his lowest mind, we could do a lot worse, excluding finding touch from penalty's.

Halfpenny is useful as an emergency fullback, but he runs a winger's lines in attack and in support.

Byrne, when he is on form, runs sublime lines and is easily the best fullback we have. Stoddard was developing nicely, and Priestland is also more than useful cover at XV, but we need Byrne to be firing on all cylinders if we are going to surprise anyone in the WC.