Wales - 2019/20 - Pivac, Grand Slams, and beyond - Post-RWC '19 and 2020 6Ns build up

First topic message reminder :

Wales' 2020 Six Nations Squad:

Forwards (21)

Rhys Carre (Saracens) (6 Caps)
Rob Evans (Scarlets) (36 Caps)
Wyn Jones (Scarlets) (22 Caps)
Elliot Dee (Dragons) (29 Caps)
Ryan Elias (Scarlets) (9 Caps)
Ken Owens (Scarlets) (73 Caps)
Leon Brown (Dragons) (6 Caps)
WillGriff John (Sale) (*uncapped)
Dillon Lewis (Blues) (22 Caps)
Jake Ball (Scarlets) (42 Caps)
Adam Beard (Ospreys) (20 Caps)
Seb Davies (Blues) (7 Caps)
Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys) (134 Caps) (CAPTAIN)
Will Rowlands (Wasps) (*uncapped)
Cory Hill (Dragons) (24 Caps)
Aaron Shingler (Scarlets) (26 Caps)
Aaron Wainwright (Dragons) (18 Caps)
Taulupe Faletau (Bath) (72 Caps)
Ross Moriarty (Dragons) (41 Caps)
Josh Navidi (Blues) (23 Caps)
Justin Tipuric (Osprey) (72 Caps)

Backs (17)

Gareth Davies (Scarlets) (51 Caps)
Rhys Webb (Toulon) (31 Caps)
Tomos Williams (Blues) (16 Caps)
Dan Biggar (Northampton) (79 Caps)
Owen Williams (Gloucester) (3 Caps)
Jarrod Evans (Blues) (3 Caps)
Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets) (25 Caps)
Nick Tompkins (Saracens) (*uncapped)
Owen Watkin (Ospreys) (22 Caps)
George North (Ospreys) (91 Caps)
Josh Adams (Blues) (21 Caps)
Owen Lane (Blues) (2 Caps)
Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) (*uncapped)
Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester) (*uncapped)
Jonah Holmes (Leicester Tigers) (3 Caps)
Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets) (85 Caps)
Liam Williams (Saracens) (62 Caps)

This again. I guess you didn’t look up irony and narcissism. I don’t speak for everyone but I assume it’s this that annoys them. If you keep ‘upsetting’ other posters with this odd behaviour around 6N time when the forum gets heated then I suspect action will be taken. It’s got to that point where I try and avoid articles with you, and watch how I post ‘my opinion’ so you don’t follow up. Time to cut it out now.

You're a nasty piece of work and I regret signing back up to this forum.

With every post you post at me you lie about something I did or said. You didn’t follow up a debate a few days ago with LT because you were wrong, you just avoided it for a few days after saying he was wrong (when he was right). You accuse me and Dragons’ fans of being toxic and driving people off the site when we never. All of this because people don’t agree with you and that’s not even the half of what you do. Now your final comment to try and get the last word in again. Please just go because your behaviour certainly brings out the worst in me (and everyone else according to Cyril).

Mikey/guestalt please please please can you stop this back and forwards.

Guestalt can you reply to my PM? Would be good to have an offline discussion.

Englishman here in peace.

Wales have played a blinder by getting Tompkins to pledge allegiance to the Dragon. He is one of the best performing centres in the Premiership at the moment, and looks good at either 12 or 13. My guess is that Eddie Jones is happy with his lot despite injuries to Slade and Tuilagi.

Wasn't aware that Rhys Patchell was still injured. Shame - great player.

I haven't heard many, if any, negatives about Tompkins from English / Premiership fans. There's no guarantee he'll succeed at Test level, of course, but it sounds like we've got a very good player on our hands.

I wonder how he'll be received at HQ if he plays!

Apparently Tompkins has tweeted his support for both England and Wales during the six nations regularly this past few years as he has Welsh family that he’s close to. I don’t have twitter so I can’t verify that, but if true, it’s nice to know that he’s well aware of his Welsh ancestry.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:I haven't heard many, if any, negatives about Tompkins from English / Premiership fans. There's no guarantee he'll succeed at Test level, of course, but it sounds like we've got a very good player on our hands.

I wonder how he'll be received at HQ if he plays!

Something tells me there may be a few boos

England's loss is Wales' gain. Hope Will Rowlands gets some game time too as he's been class for Wasps.

guestalt_physicality wrote:The midfield options are...

Parkes (not in form, 32 years old, slow)
Owen Williams (long term injury, never that impressive at either English club or Wales)
Tompkins (looks good but English)
Owen Watkin (currently injured, still developing)
George North (not a centre)

Owen Williams looked very good for Tigers hence why Gloucester gave him such a whopping contract.

Thompkins is more Welsh than Parkes. Better player as well. Rare knack of scoring tries, runs very good support lines.

Mr Bounce wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:I haven't heard many, if any, negatives about Tompkins from English / Premiership fans. There's no guarantee he'll succeed at Test level, of course, but it sounds like we've got a very good player on our hands.

I wonder how he'll be received at HQ if he plays!

Something tells me there may be a few boos

England's loss is Wales' gain. Hope Will Rowlands gets some game time too as he's been class for Wasps.

Good to know that about Rowlands, I think most of us were completely unaware of him. Now that he’s called yo I’d like to see him given a shot. That might also give Beard the kick up the rear he needs.

It’s also now clear and obvious that Tompkins is in better form that Scott Williams.

mikey_dragon wrote:

Mr Bounce wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:I haven't heard many, if any, negatives about Tompkins from English / Premiership fans. There's no guarantee he'll succeed at Test level, of course, but it sounds like we've got a very good player on our hands.

I wonder how he'll be received at HQ if he plays!

Something tells me there may be a few boos

England's loss is Wales' gain. Hope Will Rowlands gets some game time too as he's been class for Wasps.

Good to know that about Rowlands, I think most of us were completely unaware of him. Now that he’s called yo I’d like to see him given a shot. That might also give Beard the kick up the rear he needs.

It’s also now clear and obvious that Tompkins is in better form that Scott Williams.

Rowlands looks good not exception when I’ve watched them and to be fair I’ve only seen a few of Wasps matches too hard to tell from highlights reels.

But that doesn’t mean he won’t perform well at international level. I really look forward to finding out. He is a hell of a unit.

Gets Saracens off the hook for some salary cap if he has to be released too ...winners all round.

If he doesnt get capped though hes not actually tied to Wales right? Obviously it would be a bit ridiculous if England named him in their squad too But he certainly isnt one that was high up the endless list of centers who aren't Tuilagi or Farrell that England have, although a name thats been chucked around as one of the possible "wild cards" in the squad.

Sorry for going off topic and talking about walesQ'ed players in the Jeff before anyone has a meltdown.

Gooseberry wrote:Gets Saracens off the hook for some salary cap if he has to be released too ...winners all round.

If he doesnt get capped though hes not actually tied to Wales right? Obviously it would be a bit ridiculous if England named him in their squad too But he certainly isnt one that was high up the endless list of centers who aren't Tuilagi or Farrell that England have, although a name thats been chucked around as one of the possible "wild cards" in the squad.

Sorry for going off topic and talking about walesQ'ed players in the Jeff before anyone has a meltdown.

Apparently Cardiff Blues have been trying to sign him for a while.

BigGee, if that post was not suitable (it was hardly offensive or argumentative) please do the same with maestegmafia’s posts on England threads. His constant wind-ups and antagonising posts (and veiled insults) are just ignored.

Play fair, eh?

Blues were after Tompkins? Now we know some names I imagine it was Rowlands that Cardiff Blues were after, and maybe Sam Moore was another. The other one is probably John if his contract runs out in 2021.

Cyril wrote:BigGee, if that post was not suitable (it was hardly offensive or argumentative) please do the same with maestegmafia’s posts on England threads. His constant wind-ups and antagonising posts (and veiled insults) are just ignored.

Play fair, eh?

If that’s the case you should report it. You and some others do seem to target him quite often Cyril, maybe keep that in mind? Anyway this thread has had enough derailment today which I played my part in and apologise for .

Reporting just gets ignored, especially if you report a moderator. The feedback thread was locked because any criticism of the forum is frowned upon. Double standards.

Anyway, I’ll leave it there.

Carre banned for 3 weeks, will be available for selection against Ireland in Dublin.

mikey_dragon wrote:Carre banned for 3 weeks, will be available for selection against Ireland in Dublin.

Misses one game.

mikey_dragon wrote:Blues were after Tompkins? Now we know some names I imagine it was Rowlands that Cardiff Blues were after, and maybe Sam Moore was another. The other one is probably John if his contract runs out in 2021.

What’s the latest on Sam Moore haven’t heard his name in a while..?

Not getting into the Sale squad despite being highly rated. He could be lured away with first team rugby. Who needs a No.8?

mikey_dragon wrote:Not getting into the Sale squad despite being highly rated. He could be lured away with first team rugby. Who needs a No.8?

Ospreys and Scarlets could both do with another eight option.

Are we all sure Tompkins has a real Welsh grandmother born in Wrexham?

Blueschief wrote:Apparently Tompkins has tweeted his support for both England and Wales during the six nations regularly this past few years as he has Welsh family that he’s close to. I don’t have twitter so I can’t verify that, but if true, it’s nice to know that he’s well aware of his Welsh ancestry.

He's apparently deleted his Twitter account, hopefully that isn't because he was getting abuse

Although it would be amusing if the opposite of your post were true and he had tweeted unfavourably about Wales! Apparently he only found out he was Welsh eligible this past summer

I'm sorry but that stinks.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:I haven't heard many, if any, negatives about Tompkins from English / Premiership fans. There's no guarantee he'll succeed at Test level, of course, but it sounds like we've got a very good player on our hands.

I wonder how he'll be received at HQ if he plays!

He's done very little to generate negative comments really LP- he's an absolutely solid player both going forward and in defence. As gutted as I am as an England fan, i'm chuffed for Tomkins to finally get some recognition for all his hard work. As one poster already mentioned (can't remember who, apologies), he has seemed to play second fiddle at Sarries to the likes of Barritt, Farrell, Taylor, Loz, and Bosch, despite always playing well when given his chance. I think Wales have got themselves a diamond in the rough here. 

As an Englishman, I'm annoyed that EJ didn't recognise his performances more and get him capped. Certainly with some of the misguided loyalty he has shown to some players it would have made sense to cap someone who's shown the pedigree throughout the ages group that Tomkins has.

BamBam wrote:
Although it would be amusing if the opposite of your post were true and he had tweeted unfavourably about Wales! Apparently he only found out he was Welsh eligible this past summer

Keeps being chucked around but we need more proof. It would be very surprising if he didn't know who his grandmother was - unless of course she was deceased when he were young, but again we don't know. It just seems to be another rumour that worried English have been chucking around since the announcement.

This has been posted on another thread, it's very good, especially on England's apparent prioritising of Joe Marchant:

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/how-big-of-a-loss-to-english-rugby-is-new-wales-capture-nick-tompkins

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:This has been posted on another thread, it's very good, especially on England's apparent prioritising of Joe Marchant:

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/how-big-of-a-loss-to-english-rugby-is-new-wales-capture-nick-tompkins

The link to the bit on Wainwright by Gats is good too. Mcbride and Gats go through the welsh forwards for the BaaBaas

I watched that Baabaa's documentary yesterday. Pretty good, to be fair. Their description of Ball made me laugh, as it reminded me of how my coaches would describe me.

RiscaGame wrote:I watched that Baabaa's documentary yesterday. Pretty good, to be fair. Their description of Ball made me laugh, as it reminded me of how my coaches would describe me.

Ha ha ha..! Yes that’s a good description by McB

Looks like Aled is off to pastures new, good luck to him and thanks for all the hard work.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/wales-world-cup-player-linked-17573089

Quick question gents.....

Does anyone know if the WRU will release tickets for the Scotland match to the general public nearer the time (through their website)?

RDW wrote:Mikey/guestalt please please please can you stop this back and forwards.

Guestalt can you reply to my PM? Would be good to have an offline discussion.

Hi RDW I'm not sure how to reply sorry.

TightHEAD wrote:Are we all sure Tompkins has a real Welsh grandmother born in Wrexham?

No she is fictional and a doctor who character...

I'm sure that proper checks are now in place since the last time.

maestegmafia wrote:

RiscaGame wrote:I watched that Baabaa's documentary yesterday. Pretty good, to be fair. Their description of Ball made me laugh, as it reminded me of how my coaches would describe me.

Ha ha ha..! Yes that’s a good description by McB

I found it a bit strange t be honest as they said Shingler was just a physical player who they could challenge. It does explain some of their tactics over the years because Shingler is a very classy player with great handling and pace. I do think Gatland pigeonholed too many players and it took some players too long to break out of that in his mind, and some players never really recovered. I think Gatland's ideal rugby team would be 13 beastly workmen with a good 10 and a Shane Williams or Cheslin Kolbe on one wing.

We are not short on scrum halves. Aled D is 27 and Wales have 4 better scrum halves already. Kieran Hardy will be good enough for Wales next season and that will make Aled 6th choice. There are lots of very good young 9s in Wales and the conveyor belt will keep moving so it's the right move for him. I think he has won his last cap.

No 7&1/2 wrote: I'm sure that proper checks are now in place since the last time.

I heard she was born in Chester.

maestegmafia wrote:Looks like Aled is off to pastures new, good luck to him and thanks for all the hard work.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/wales-world-cup-player-linked-17573089

Good luck, and good riddance?

guestalt_physicality wrote:

RDW wrote:Mikey/guestalt please please please can you stop this back and forwards.

Guestalt can you reply to my PM? Would be good to have an offline discussion.

Hi RDW I'm not sure how to reply sorry.

If you click on the PM there should be a button above saying 'post reply'

Poor Aled, scapegoat springs to mind.

He'll do well at Bath.

TightHEAD wrote:Poor Aled, scapegoat springs to mind.

He'll do well at Bath.

Good luck with that, honestly.

Tattie Scones RRN wrote:Quick question gents.....

Does anyone know if the WRU will release tickets for the Scotland match to the general public nearer the time (through their website)?

I thought Wales v Scotland had sold out already?

As an aside, does any Scottish supporter know when Scotland tend to release Six Nations tickets, as a few of us want some for the game in Feb 21?

RiscaGame wrote:

Tattie Scones RRN wrote:Quick question gents.....

Does anyone know if the WRU will release tickets for the Scotland match to the general public nearer the time (through their website)?

I thought Wales v Scotland had sold out already?

As an aside, does any Scottish supporter know when Scotland tend to release Six Nations tickets, as a few of us want some for the game in Feb 21?

It varies, they like to sell them in packages these days and not many end up on general sale. The autumn international packages are already on sale as the ABs are over this year and that always makes them an attractive buy. I would guess that there will be 6N packages in early autumn then general sale late autumn.

You might be better trying to get some through the WRU allocation. Back in my playing days, they were always sold through the clubs, assume it is still the same.

Keep an eye on SRU social media, they give the heads up when sales are happening

RiscaGame wrote:

Tattie Scones RRN wrote:Quick question gents.....

Does anyone know if the WRU will release tickets for the Scotland match to the general public nearer the time (through their website)?

I thought Wales v Scotland had sold out already?

As an aside, does any Scottish supporter know when Scotland tend to release Six Nations tickets, as a few of us want some for the game in Feb 21?

Back in November to the general public - both games are sold out. It's really difficult to get a 6N ticket on public sale.

RDW wrote:

RiscaGame wrote:

Tattie Scones RRN wrote:Quick question gents.....

Does anyone know if the WRU will release tickets for the Scotland match to the general public nearer the time (through their website)?

I thought Wales v Scotland had sold out already?

As an aside, does any Scottish supporter know when Scotland tend to release Six Nations tickets, as a few of us want some for the game in Feb 21?

Back in November to the general public - both games are sold out. It's really difficult to get a 6N ticket on public sale.

This years are sold out, 2021 not on sale yet!

Ah I read that as 21st Feb not the year 2021!

Thank you both.