andy powell what does he bring to the table

imo nothing much,his big plus point is supposed to be his physicality,well i didn't see this strength today,i want to see a no 6 tackle with his shoulder and put people down or driven back,hit rucks with aggression and carry strongly,we tried to use him on a short crash ball and he knocked on under no pressure,ruining a promising position,his first few caps were very encouraging,but imo he is no longer international standard,turnbull would have been a better option,lydiate is twice the player,lets hope his injury isn't serious.
rant over.

A golf cart

Nothing,

There were far better players than him left behind who would have offered far more

Well he invented Buggy jumping and apparently it's all the rage during this world cup.

Powell had a poor game but we know he is better than that.

Powell brings a heck of a lot of enthusiasm and seems to be a good guy to have around for team spirit. He's always the first one to jump around like a madman off the bench when something goes well.

As a player, not that much. Wales have better options.

I think Powell did great in defence today, I would of been worried if he wasnt there, he was on the side of every ruck bringing players down, I saw hit Samoan players on 4-5 phases in a row, smacked the man, jumped up, and smacked an other one.
A lot of you may not like him, but I suggest some of you watch the game again, he was brilliant in defence today.

He was great at tackling Alyn, but offered little to nothing at the breakdown, which as a backrow player, he really should be doing a lot better.

Don't doubt his commitment to the cause, but he has to bring more to the game for him to be worth a place in the starting 15.

Alyn,

He done no more than Lydiate would have done if not injured but Lydiate does far more work on the floor than Powell ever will.

If, (heaven forbid) Lydiates' injury is bad then I wouldn't like to have to rely on Powell from the off

I agree we have better players but Wales played like they did in the 6 Nations today, tackle the opposition to a stand still until they run out of ideas, which is pretty much what happened.

Teams like Scotland, Italy and Samoa lack the skill to split defences often, stop Tuilagi and you stop Samoa basically.

What does andy powell bring to the team?

A lot of knock ons.

2 pints of lager and a packet of crisps as usual. I was thinking of writing a new thread entitled:

"Is Powell the new Huw Bennett"

- his one cameo against SA was a few years ago, he remains a liability IMO and I'd take anyone over him.

A bad hairdo, dodgy facial hair, a few knock ons and some mistimed runs? That and tackles that are more like judo throws.

He does sometimes have some good, direct runs, but that just isn't enough, and I didn't see him working much on the floor.

SafeAsMilk wrote:Powell brings a heck of a lot of enthusiasm and seems to be a good guy to have around for team spirit. He's always the first one to jump around like a madman off the bench when something goes well.

As a player, not that much. Wales have better options.

Great, he is hugely influential off the pitch so lets keep him there

AlynDavies wrote:I think Powell did great in defence today, I would of been worried if he wasnt there, he was on the side of every ruck bringing players down, I saw hit Samoan players on 4-5 phases in a row, smacked the man, jumped up, and smacked an other one.
A lot of you may not like him, but I suggest some of you watch the game again, he was brilliant in defence today.

Alyn
100 CORRECT

Posters jump on the "one trick pony" tag

They really don't watch the game. He was everywhere, no more evident than when he got the ball at the very end of the match

bedfordwelsh wrote:Alyn,

He done no more than Lydiate would have done if not injured but Lydiate does far more work on the floor than Powell ever will.

If, (heaven forbid) Lydiates' injury is bad then I wouldn't like to have to rely on Powell from the off

Bedford, two things here

1. Powell is no longer the penalty machine he used to be, in fact Lydiate has been more of a liability (in the aspect of giving away penalties) in the last four game than Powell has ever been

2. Whilst Powell is not as hard tackling around the rucks and mauls, to me he seems more aware in loose play and is a much more destructive runner as was evident in his try in the "warm ups"

A dirty pint?

In all seriousness, I thought he defended very well at times, and offered himself as well as a ball carrier. Sadly, whereas Lydiate is a world class player, Powell is an average one, and so the impact was marked.

Lydiate does not throw the ball about with no direction or awareness of whether it is a good idea. He also makes more ground going forward, despite Powell often taking the ball at pace (he goes in hard, but is often stopped dead or pushed back, negating the whole idea of front foot ball). Lydiate will just smash the 3-4 yards necessary to produce something.

What Lydiate offers in defence is obvious.

I thought Powell did alright, he made a few mistakes, but not through his usual indiscipline. It's difficult to criticise someone so average compared to the preferred choice, so I will just say I thought he played competently.