Welsh Probables v Possibles to take place on 30th May

At the Liberty Stadium according to Twitter. Not seen it elsewhere yet.

Will be interesting to see who is available for selection and who they think are possibles

From a Dragon's point of view I'd like to see Amos, Rees, Lewis Evans, Cudd, Dixon and Tyler Morgan given a run.

Jordan Williams needs a run too ! Would like to see Gavlar too, shirts and skins, swit swoooo   

EDIT

Its yer

http://www.wru.co.uk/eng/news/30400.php

Bradley Davies @6 for possibles? We have a plethora of international standard locks but limited resources in back row. Lewis Evans @7? Would love to see.

Cudd is better 7 than Lewis. Lewis at 6 ? Shingler ?

Oh FFS, its my works leaving do on the 30th, typical !

Tickets £5 for adults and £1 for under 16's

Greedy!   

The profits going to a rugby charity.

"Thank you for registering your interest in the Wales Senior Trial match being held at the Millennium Stadium. You will recieve an email explaining how to apply for tickets."

Got that after pre registering my interest for tickets. Guess it's a mistake. Couldn't see a K/O time though.

I reckon so, says Liberty everywhere else. Hope its televised.

Another player who needs a game - big ginger 8 at the Ospreys, Baker is it ?

Scrumpy wrote:Tickets £5 for adults and £1 for under 16's

Greedy!   

Glad you were so certain this game would never take place hey Scrumpy

From a Dragon view point I think Faletau and Coombs will be involved in the probables side and would like to see Lewis Evans, Amos, Rees and Prydie in possibles set up but everyone will have their view point.

We can't agree on one side let alone two, do we know if any of the exiles will be allowed to play/available given that its not in the IRB window etc though it is at the end of the season

If anyone comes across the kick off time, please point it out to me. Really worried they'll do something daft with it.

*edit* Not sure why, but i thought the 30th was a thursday. . . Not so worried now. Assuming Friday 19:45 K/O now.

Yeah, not seen one yet either, should be at 2000 to give people time to get over

Nice to see this has come through after what was quite frankly one of the most embarrassing regional seasons yet, which says a lot given the frailties of past seasons.

At the very least this'll bridge the waiting period, help keep the players sharp and be inclusive i.e. give a fairly wide pool of players a chance to be involved in the selection process.

Here's hoping it's not as messy as a great many regional derbies.

bedfordwelsh wrote:

Scrumpy wrote:Tickets £5 for adults and £1 for under 16's

Greedy!   

Glad you were so certain this game would never take place hey Scrumpy

It hasn't happened yet!  

Even if it does go ahead it will be a watered down version of what was being talked about on here.   

Well, as your predictions so far have been as likely as Bath getting a proper stadium I'm going to wait and see   

How will it be watered down, the WRU has agreed to it which means they will give the Regions a bit of extra cash if need be so the only thing would be the exiles availability.

So we could possibly not see James, Charteris, Lydiate and Roberts involved oh and Hook (no great loss).

There is established cover for James, Charteris and Roberts so if would give someone a crack at the 6 shirt

It will be watered down, some of you were so excitied by the thought of it you were like kids in a sweet shop!

Again, how ?

Maybe he means it will be more along the lines of a Baa-Baa's match in terms of play. People may not go 100% in to things for fear of hurting themselves or the players on the other team.

From my point of view I’d like to see them go at it hell for leather. The players who play and go will need a tough match to prepare for South Africa. Also, I cannot see a player who is presented with a chance to impress against someone ahead of him in the pecking order going out there and taking it easy. Like I said, I'm hoping for hell for leather.

Howley's team talk should read like "They want your slot, go prove why it's your shirt!"
Mcbryde's team talk: "Go smash em' and prove why you should be on the plane! This is your chance!"

Don't put words in the troll's mouth.

I can see this being brutal which is a great spectacle but dangerous in the long term

The way some of you envisaged the game it was going to be 1st team players mixing in with the possible and hopefuls, Gatland already knows most of his squad, this game is just to fill a few spaces left on the plane.

Gatland and Co have had all season to decide who is good enough to tour why they feel the need for an extra meaningless exhibition game is beyond me!
I just hope no one picks ups an injury in this pointless game.

Amos, Dixon and Tyler Morgan will hopefully be left to U20 duty, it is our 2nd team so it needs to be as strong as possible.

Surprised nobody is mentioning Henson as a possible!

This is a bit off-topic but is James Hook going to come back to Wales next season? I see Lyon are interested in keeping him in the Top14 but he'll surely be leaving Perpignan now.

Perpignan are done for the season now so I don't see any reason their Welsh contingent can't be released for this game especially since they are likely o their way out of that club.

It's not just an exhibition game. As none of our regions are in any of the end of season playoffs we have 2/3 of our squad not playing a real match until they land and play SA. We need players to be ready for the physical challenge of playing South Africa. One game is better then none.

Exactamundo.

Henson should def be in the possibles, Baarf will be knocked out of the Jeff title hunt this weekend

Yeah, that frees up Paul James too, good old baarf! Charteris and Hook should be available, Perp are gone with the wind. Perhaps we'll also see Byrne and Brew. And also Roberts and Lydiate unless Racing are playing extra games that aren't dead rubber?

But whats the benefit of risking these guys, we all know what they can do.(on their day  )

Scrumpy, take your boat shoes off, put your feet up and listen to some Tears for Fears eh ?

On their day they could even beat Bath RFC.

Just Bath Rugby these days Saint!

Muckian I have yet to hear a logical reason as to why this game needs to go ahead, apart from the fact that some Charities will benefit from it.   

Because as the regions were cack this season and didnt get into play offs the players will need gametime before South Africa would be my main reason.

It will also see whose worth a punt for the AI games and in the long term the world cup

I'm not convinced!

Contact the WRU, I'm sure they'll value your input

Scrumpy wrote:I'm not convinced!

It's yet another Wales game mun. Wales v Wales in fact. Double joy. Can't lose either. Rejoice and all that.
Also I understand the touring squad is to be announced at the post match press conference which possibly/probably means Gatland and his gang won't be analysing the game or the players who took part, much.

Scrumpy wrote:It will be watered down, some of you were so excitied by the thought of it you were like kids in a sweet shop!

Not sure where you're getting this from. Nobody is necessarily expecting a spectacle of champagne rugby or every star Wales could muster turning up on the day (though if it was and if they did it'd be a nice bonus). This game was intended, from the time it was first proposed, primarily to keep players sharp and mix things up a bit giving fringe players a game against the more established members of the squad.

Would you not be interested if England had a widely inclusive Probables vs Possibles game?

No I wouldn't.

I understand why NZ do it they have so much talent and competition available that there is a need too, if the only reason is to stay match sharp then there is other ways to achieve this without the need for a exhibition match at the end of a long season that gives falsh hope to some players.

And what other ways are these? Hastily arranged fixtures for the regions against any opposition that's available and agrees to play? Doesn't sound quite so appealing to me.

At least this way a large portion of the squad will be together and with a little luck a healthy competition for places will commence and carry into the actual tour.

As I said, it's not ONLY for the sake of match-fitness. The intention is to give a raft of players a chance to impress. A couple of potential bolters here and there never does any harm, especially in Wales. As long as there are enough players to fill two sides, which we apparently do as the WRU have sanctioned the game, I say why not? The positives outweigh the negatives imo.

Can't wait to see Tips in action in SA.

So now you're taking the urine out of injured players ? Classy

Is he injured?

The Ospreys team to play Connacht at Liberty Stadium on Saturday 10th May 2014, KO 6.30pm, is as follows:



15 Sam Davies

14 Hanno Dirksen

13 Ashley Beck

12 Andrew Bishop

11 Jeff Hassler

10 Dan Biggar

9 Tom Habberfield



1 Nicky Smith

2 Scott Baldwin

3 Aaron Jarvis

4 Alun Wyn Jones (Capt)

5 Ian Evans

6 Sam Lewis

7 Justin Tipuric

8 Dan Baker

He's having a shoulder op and will not be touring. Gives a chance for Josh or Lewis Evans to have a crack. Cudd looked good at Judgment Day aswell.

Hmmm..since when have you ever been excited about a Welsh player ? (except when they are playing for Bath, you're Ok with them then)

Coleman wrote:He's having a shoulder op and will not be touring. Gives a chance for Josh or Lewis Evans to have a crack. Cudd looked good at Judgment Day aswell.

Cheers fella.

So I was right he is playing this weekend.
Munkian I know a class player when I see one.  

Now Tipuric is out and Ryan is seen as a doubt due to Bristol commitments we look low on stock.
We are really limited now that nearly all starting or second favorite flankers are out injured. All these players names are being branded about and Gatlands stupid idea to put Bradley at 6 to match the physicality of Alberts is ridiculous. Players like Shingler, Josh Turnball are really good club players but i don't think they are international standard. They aren't spring chickens anymore either which is why we give this chance to Dan baker who is in form and has heaps of talent. Players like Nicc Cudd, Sam Lewis, Josh Navidi, Ellis Jenkins, are promising but wont compete with a strong South African pack. I do think Lewis Evans could be a good shout but doesn't seem to be under the radar of gats. Lewis deserves the chance to tour and should defo be in the probables team. I would like to see Dan at 6. Falateu at 7. and Baker at 8. We can't compete with the South African back row physically, but we can with the great vision and skill set of players like Toby and Baker.

Were not low on stock we have Navidi, Ryan Jones, Lewis Evans, Shingler, Baker then you have the likes of Lydiate and Faletau who could play along the backrow.

surprised no one has put the two xv's up yet

GavinDragon wrote:surprised no one has put the two xv's up yet

GD,

I said somewhere earlier in the post that us lot can never agree on 1 Wales side so god help us all trying to pick 2

They should mix the teams, first choice forwards and second choice backs or mix the combinations; first choice front row with second choice locks, second choice half backs with first choice centres etc.

Playing a scratch second team against an established first team who have been playing together for a number of years will prove nothing.

I like it. Old school ideas where players can prove themselves equally against each other within a coaching set up of the national side. Will it be televised?

The skippers should pick using the favored BBC selection policy

Eenie meanie miney moe, catch a flanker by his toe, if he squeals he is definitely not a possible

Looks like English based players will not be allowed to take part

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/27356468