Wales Must Drop Jonathan Davies

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I am a big fan of Jonathan Davies at regional level. His performances for the Scarlets over the last 2 seasons have been superb and that has led to his caps for Wales. However having watched Davies's performances for Wales it's clear that he's not good enough for this level yet. I think international rugby may have come too soon for him. The centre partnership with Jamie Roberts just isn’t working. People say this is because Roberts and Davies are too similar but is this really the case? Jamie Roberts has very good basic handling skills, he can catch, he can pass and he can draw the man in before he releases the man outside him. Jonathan Davies however cannot do that and has not yet done that for Wales and this was shown yesterday morning by him butchering an brilliant break by Halfpenny, only for Shane swoop up and save JD’s blushes. Shane was lucky he had a good bounce of the ball otherwise there would have been no try. This is not the first time JD has done this. Against England in the Six Nations he made a good break but very nearly messed up with an awful pass to Stoddart which way beyond him and in the end Stoddart did very well to collect the pass and score. Against the South Africans He missed a lot of tackles, knocked the ball on a couple of times and looked like a weak link defence. JD is a player who can’t pass, can’t catch and can’t defend and yet he is an first choice starter. For the next game I would like to see James Hook or Scott Williams in the centre with Roberts. Hook would be the best choice moving to centre and bringing Halfpenny at Full back who was very good when he came on and his brilliant break led to our try. I just don’t see how much longer we can continue to pick a player who can’t pass, can’t catch and can’t defend. Please don’t be offended Scarlets fans as I say I do like Davies but in my opinion JD is not yet ready for international rugby. Does anybody else feel the same?

Why has this thread gone away from JD2 being dropped, Hook is not a threat as he is probably out of the RWC which should make some posters very happy, I don't know why?

Anyway back to JD2, I can't see him being dropped as Scott Williams has not had enough game time (it is a shame Bishop was not selected instead but that is another subject) but Williams must get some game time as he is the only realistic centre cover (please don't say S Jones can cover centre I would rather Gethin Jenkins, he is faster). Byrne must be at 15 if we are going anywhere in this RWC.

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For me 1/2p must start at 15 on Monday and Byrne should have a chance off the bench,

In the Samoa game Wales looked far more dangerous when 1/2p was at fullback because he held his depth giving the backs more space to attack James Hooks positional awareness at full back was very poor giving the backs little depth and left them standing to flat,
this may i add is not Hooks fault because he isn't a fullback that blame must fall on Gatland.

Byrne hasn't played to well in a while for Wales but with his notable dip in form we also must address that Byrne hasn't played along side Shane Williams in a Welsh jersey for a while,
Shane and Byrne do have a good understanding when they attack.

Interesting statement about Byrne and Shane not playing together much - I haven't looked into it but surely most of the times Byrne has played for Wales in the last year Shane has been playing, and the same (more or less) for the Ospreys as well.

I do agree that Halfpenny needs gametime at 15, S Williams needs game time (off the bench or starting), as the options after that are move Phillips or North into the centre or call someone up (for the possibly injured centre) who won't be able to train/play for at least 48 hours.

Actually it's a good point about Shane and Byrne; look at out best piece of attacking rugby in the 6N, against Italy. Who created it? Shane and Byrne. Their timing and knowledge or each others' runs is perfect, similar to Jon Davies and Stoddart. If we get that axis working again, tries may be a little easier to score.

miaow wrote:Actually it's a good point about Shane and Byrne; look at out best piece of attacking rugby in the 6N, against Italy. Who created it? Shane and Byrne. Their timing and knowledge or each others' runs is perfect, similar to Jon Davies and Stoddart. If we get that axis working again, tries may be a little easier to score.

A lot of Wales' memorable tries in the last 4 years have involved moves with those 2

Bryne must play for game time as he has good defence, runs good lines that creates or scores tries. The problem we have is our two centres don't work together in attack, how many tries have they scored when they have played together, not a great strike rate. I believe we scored a lot more with Hook in the centre with Roberts, they are very different players and a better skill mix. Back to the thread, JD2 for me does not create with Roberts, as Roberts is smashing the doors down we need some creativity in midfield if we are going to stick with JD2 then Bryne or 1/2 penny must be in the team as seen on Sunday.

jd2 is there to stay with roberts and rightly so. their type of play together needs a good full back to inject pace and create options.
Hook would have been mashed at this rwc in the centre. we really needed a top form gavin henson, but there you go we haven't.
i think its sad really that hook,a player with so much talent, hasnt been coached successfully to make a position his own. There was a time when posters were saying Hook would have been first name on the team sheet.
people have said he hasnt had time in one position, well they are wrong i'm afraid he was the 10 at the ospreys. it was his shirt to lose.

JD2 speaks up
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2011/09/21/rugby-world-cup-latest-jonathan-davies-hits-out-critics-of-jamie-roberts-partnership-91466-29462950/

I'd agree with the comments about Byrne if he was anywhere near good form, but he's not - when he last played yes he still had good defence but his confidence had an effect on him under the high ball, he was kicking the ball out on the full which was undermining any pressure/possession we'd have, and that was again knocking his confidence so he was hesitant coming into the line (which is his big skill).

As a result I think it will be a risk bringing him in as his flaws (missing occasional high balls and gifting terriotory and possession with kicks out on the full) over ride the positives, and hoping he finds his form.

By all means give him 20 mins, but I think he's got to be seen as a back up

I think with Byrne, he'll always be good defensively, if not the quickest (Dan Carter making him look like a prop), and I also think he's one of these players who rises to the occasion and when playing for Wales, plays better (Phillips being another) than their club form.

But pretty much all his decision making has been dire, and this comes from confidence. He tried to play himself into the Argentina game by using his assets; his big boot. Unfortunately, he was trying too much and when simple rugby was required, he was either kicking away good attacking possession or kicking it out on the full (or both).

He's still the best 15 in Wales, and that's part of the problem in the past, he knew it.

No, he was the best 15 in Wales. He could be again, but if others are playing better, one of them should start.

I'd say Stoddart is the best FB in Wales currently and Halfpenny and Priestland have showed better form. Saying that Byrne could be our best, but only if he rediscovers some form.

I agree that it didn't help that it was guarenteed that Gats would pick him regardless of form and he knew it. If a replacement (even one not as good, Prydie would have been perfect) had been brought along to challenge him, then I think we would have seen a lot better from Byrne.