Wales - post mortem

I thought I would do a post mortem for yesterday's game in Dublin, but perhaps we can keep it going as I'm sure there will be a lot to discuss over the coming weeks.

A lot of people seem to finally agree on North; yesterday was a game that certainly reaffirmed my view that he is better utilised at 13 and in this form should not be on the wing ahead of J-mac, Rees-Zammit, Lane, maybe Holmes even. Tompkins at 13 didn't do too well in defence either but I feel he's a player we should continue with and see if he grows into the role (whatever that may be).

For me AWJ and Tips played out of their skins but sadly this wasn't reciprocated by the rest of the team. There were a lot of uncharacteristic knock-ons which just gifted Ireland more possession. We weren't too accurate either, Parkes is just one example. Something else I noticed in the Italy game was that Wales were too slow getting to the breakdown and this continued into round 2. Going forward I think we need Navidi at 6 or 8. Faletau is a bit off the pace and should probably have had a spot on the bench rather than the starting team.
Ireland and Leinster are particularly good in the opposition 22. I've always admired how their tight 5 can force their way over the try line in attack. With players like Carre, Brown and John coming in I think it's something we should look at doing. For me those props are the future - mostly guesswork with John at this time but he seems to fit the bill. Hopefully he's involved in the next round as this tournament also seems to be about transitioning in our new players and trying out new tactics.

On the tactics... Who decided that we should defend so narrow and attempt to push the opposition into touch? Was it Hayward, or Pivac? Hayward didn't exactly have any ringing endorsements coming into this role, quite the opposite in fact and he wasn't first choice. Can you imagine the horror show if a team is defending like that against NZ...
Our game plan certainly has the NZ blueprint but not sure what's up with the defence. It's good to watch but Wales probably need a couple more games to adapt. So there is good potential in Pivac's Wales but some defence and personnel are required if we're hoping to beat a good France team.