Gareth Delve - How does he stack up?

I just finished watching the Super 15 match between Melbourne and Western Force. And having watched a number of Melbourne matches, the player on that squad which most impressed me was Gareth Delve. He was strong on defense and powerful with the ball. Appeared to me to really exert all over the pitch. And he went there to up his game and I think he was terrific. So, my question to the group is how you feel he will fit in the Wales squad. He is in the training squad, but what about his chances to go to NZ and eventually starting? Based upon what I observed, he would be a big plus at the RWC.

Chances? 50/50 - Gats seems to have a dislike of playing him

Should be first choice, possibly even captain imo

Agreed, doctor, he's looked pretty handy all season imo. Despite the blooding of Faletau, I think that 8 is a potential weak spot for Wales - neither Powell or Ryan ones really cut it for me at the moment, so maybe Delve is the experienced alternative to Faletau's youthful exuberance?

i would like to see him get some game time for wales. He has never really impressed me when playing in the red shirt but others have a very high opinion of him so I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt (not that my opinion is all that important).

He has never really shone in a Wales shirt - so probably shouldnt start against SA, but I would definetly take him and give him time at 8/6 against Samoa and Nambia.

It will be interesting to see if Gats selects him for any of the warm-up games ahead of Faletau.

Seen Delve in a couple of the Rebels games. He has looked good, his experience in the S15 will be invaluable going to the WC. Should be there, ahead of J Thomas IMO.

I reckon we should take him to the world cup. he's a better 8 then both R Jones and J Thomas this season. Plus he has inside knowledge of playing against the SH players etc, I reckon his experience alone would be a huge benefit.

I'm amazed that he hasn't had more caps to be honest. Always seems to play well, has good leadership qualities, and is the sort of ball carrier Wales need. I think he's been unfortunate to have Ryan Jones the captain in his way as coaches (especially in Wales it would seem) seem reluctant to drop the captain. Even then, why he couldn't/didn't make the bench is confusing.

I've heard a number of good reports about him from S15 reports, even when he's been on the losing side. I hope he makes the world cup squad.

Griff - to be fair, when Delve has been in with a proper chance with the Wales squad, he's often picked up injuries which have got in his way of really having a proper go at cementing his place in the Welsh side. I reckon now could be the right time though, and the Welsh management are obviously seriously considering him, otherwise he wouldn't be in the training squad. Fingers crossed he can make it

rugbydreamer, I forgot about the injuries! Yes, they have really hampered his career. Hopefully he goes. Seems like a nice bloke too which is a change from the recent trend of drunk idiots tarnishing the jersey!
*cough* Mike Phillips *cough*!

Anybody think that Wales will look at him as 6 rather than an Number 8?

I think a backrow of Warburton,Faletau and Delve would be very good.

I know thats a little harsh on Lydiate who has looked good this season but i think his weakness is his ball carrying which he does a lot of but without gaining to many metres.

I too have watched him in the S15 this year. Looks to have lost some weight and has been impressive with ball in hand and defense, has reminded me at times of Nick Easter for England (only with more pace!) with some of his play, especially his off loading which is useful to have as a ball carrier. As an Englishman looking in, a Wales back row Warbarton, Lydiate and Delve looks potentially very strong, with good balance.

From what I've seen this season of Jones, Thomas & Powell he should be first choice for the WC by a mile (haven't seen Faletau so can't comment on him).

speaking as a blindside flanker myself i would no way swap lydiate for any other back row player in wales at this moment in time, while he may not be a big ball carrier himself his work rate and tackle rate is unbelievable, and although he doesnt carry much he supports warbs and no. 8 (whether its RJ, big Toby etc) who are the big ball carriers.

delve should be given a game against argentina see how he does, however we need to blood Toby f more as against the Ba bas he looked class.

overall just good to see we are getting a bit off depth, to be fair to RJ he is playing alot better this season and will go to the WC as second row/back row cover

Delve's problem is that he's never had a run of games for Wales. Injury or circumstance has always got in the way. Whenever he has played it's been in a bum game, or I think he's almost been trying too hard to impress. Would dearly love to see him on the plane to NZ. Met him last year just before he left for Oz and had a few drinks with him - really nice guy, who would be a top role model for Welsh rugby if he was only given the chance.

By the way, met his brother a couple of times - he's a body builder, and absolutely huge!

Delve is going to the World Cup if for no other reason than he will help be a guide for the players, he's based in Australia and goes to New Zealand regularly so it will be helpful to the squad to have someone who knows their way around.

Evan back as far as his Bath days I said he should be number 8 and tipped him as future captain.

He had terrible run of injuries and was never really given a run of games.

Speaking to friends at Kingsholm he virtually carried them single handedly last season. Gutted he went down under but there is no way Gatland should leave him behind come September.

Mpc28. Lydiate was Wales top ball carrier in 2 of the 5 6n games. He's An out and 6. The reason Wales struggle with ball carriers is that we haven't had an 8 who can get over the gain line since Scott quinnel. You can't blame lydiate for Ryan jones falling to his knees everytime he sees a member of the opposition. You can't blame lydiate for Ryan jones being one of the worst welsh players in recent years. if you pick a mobile 8 like faletau, then lydiate can do what he does best. Don't back up gwyn jones!!!

A back row of Lydiate Delve/Faletau and Warburton would do very nice for me thank you

Bang on Bedford. A remember delve saying something about the cliques in the welsh squad. No wonder he jumped on the first plane he could. Still think gatland will pick sideways jones at 8 because of his leadership and how he refers to everyone as mate.you can take the boy out if Newport........

Manofgwent, I havent got a clue what Gwyn Jones said so hardly backing him up im just giving my opinion, im a big fan of lydiate and said he had a good season. But if i was picking the Welsh team a backrow of Delve/faletau/warburton is what i would go for.

I dont doubt that Lydiate was top ball carrier in 2 out of 5 games in the six nations but he just doesnt seem to ever break the gain line, in total during the 6 nations he made 52 metres which for such a big lump 6,4" 18st i dont think is good enough, so i think Delve will offer you everything that Lydiate does but will bring leadership and the ability to break the gain line which is going to be essential.

Also im not a huge Ryan Jones fan but there have been plenty of worse players than him over the last few years for wales.

mog,

Have to diasagree with you on that, if Delve plays then it has to be at No8, He has played 99% of his games there.

I can understand why people say Danny doesn't go forward enough but his work in defence is huge and with someone at 8 to do most of the go forward work then he will improve.

In fact his best bally carrying display was against the BaaBaas when you had Toby at No8.

Id have no problem if Delve started at 8, but think we would be better off using him at 6 and sticking with Faletau at 8

Most international teams have a go forward type of blindside like Haskell, Elsom, Juan Smith, Kaino, O'Brien and Ferris all of which do a huge amount of work around the field aswell.

I dont want to be to critical of Lydiate because i think he is a massive talent, but i do think that his ball carrying is something that he needs to work on.

Well we will have to agree to dis-agree on this point mpc .

With a genuine ball carrier at 8 (Delve or Faletau) then Lydiate would benefit hugely from that.

I know Gatland doesn't always pick form players but Lydiate has been the form 6 over the past two seasons now.

My worry, despite thinking Jones ended season quite well is that Gatland still sees him as our first choice No8.

Bedford I never said I'd play delve at 6. I too would play him at 8 with lydiate and warburtom, but he'd struggle to get in front of faletau. I just think that come south Africa he will pick sideways jones. I wouldn't personally, but our inept coach will.

Yeah i guess we will Bedford but its nice to have a discussion where we are talking about form players pushing for a place and not out of form players like Jon Thomas.

I think Ryan Jones will end up on the bench covering 2nd row and 8, guess we shall find out soon enough.

I really hope he is the Wales 8 going into the world cup. He will give much more to our game than Ryan Jones and to me Faletau is too inexperienced for such a big tournament. We have a player of Delve's quality, so why take the risk of starting Faletau? I think he would be great to bring him off the bench if needs be.

I really hope Gatland goes with Delve, but i just can't see it. He is too stubborn and will stick to his usual players.

the thing is with faletau when he played the ba bas he didnt look at all out of depth considering the callibre of back row he was playing against (yes martyn is dwindling but still not a bad player) Toby F just looked completely at home and was making excellent runs with lydiate supporting him.

i havent seen delve but if he is as good as people say he is, stick him in there instead of jon thomas as at least ryan jones offers second row option.

Oh and does anyone know if delve can play second row because that would be an extra benefit to try and intise gatland

the thing is with faletau when he played the ba bas he didnt look at all out of depth considering the callibre of back row he was playing against (yes martyn is dwindling but still not a bad player) Toby F just looked completely at home and was making excellent runs with lydiate supporting him.

I agree he did look at home and I think he will be one of the top number 8's around for years to come. I still think it would be a heavy load to put on him, especially against teams like Samoa Fiji. I would rather see Delve there with his leadership.
To beat these teams we need structure and a tight gameplan to grind out the wins.

Well faletau didn't struggle against Collins or rush. The guys so laid back. Darren Edwards said he didn't know who Collins was. Apparently he doesn't watch much rugby. Just his brother for pontypool.

Where does his brother play is he younger or older

bedfordwelsh wrote:Where does his brother play is he younger or older

Tight head I hope. Cant see it being there though.

i guess the thing would be to see how well the back row with delve would work as lydiate and faletau play week in week out and warbuton is very proffessional and works well with anyone and him and lydiate have a good working relationship.

Full back would be good Dicoco.

I remember many years back before Regions we had Josh Taumololo (sp) up at Ebbw Vale and he was a class act at XV.

There were calls then for some of our local lovely ladies to 'do it for Wales' so to speak so that in years to come we might have had a Josh cast off at XV.

Yeah I remember him. Suprised we have not had more players like Faletau thinking about it.

With all the foreign players we have here now, surely in 15-20years we can start seeing the benefits! Jerry Collins seemed to enjoy the Swansea nightlife, alledgedly.

The Chiefs boy is Ponty born so who knows in years to come

It's great to have the option and I am glad that Gatland has kept a door open to Delve.

I don't think Gats has been hard on him. He hasn't had many caps due to injury and his previous clubs often refused to release him when he was requested.

Dominic Dicoco wrote:Yeah I remember him. Suprised we have not had more players like Faletau thinking about it.

With all the foreign players we have here now, surely in 15-20years we can start seeing the benefits! Jerry Collins seemed to enjoy the Swansea nightlife, alledgedly.

There used to be rumour that the foundations of the great generation of welsh players from 66 to 80 was due to an All Black tour in the forties

if thats the case, shane williams fire away
and i think jon thomas, ryan jones, huw bennet need to be castrated to save the future wales squad

Welshy. Funny!

welshy824 wrote:if thats the case, shane williams fire away
and i think jon thomas, ryan jones, huw bennet need to be castrated to save the future wales squad

Not a very nice thing to say.

ok use a condom?

The comments from some posters are in poor taste and not remotely funny, they guys have young families.

glamorganalun wrote:The comments from some posters are in poor taste and not remotely funny, they guys have young families.

am sorry took the joke too far. didnt mean to offend anyone, meant it in a light hearted way =/

as i feel i have taken it off subject i shall try to make ammends
do people think we should give delve gametime against england twice and argentina or focus on getting big T completely blooded?

i feel for one he should start against the pumas and be on the bench for the other two depending on how he does (assuming puma game is first)

Pumas game is last

GD is immense in club rugby, has been for several years. A real star player, but, whilst it is true that injury has blighted his career, he has 11 caps for Wales and has been anonymous at best in a red shirt. He has never produced anything like his best game for us.

I am glad to see he is in the 45 (oooops 46 now) man squad, but I have a feeling that he wont make it to the final 30 because Felatau is ahead of him as an 8 and Ryan Jones will get the nod because he can play 8, 6 and 5 (at a pinch).

I think he would have to be sensational on the training paddock to force his way into the 30 now, but he is only 28 and his time may yet come.

ML,

Delve has never really been given his chance a an otherwise fully fit Welsh team.

He has always seemed to play during tours/friendlies/AI games when it has usually been a bit of mix n match.

For me he has to start at least one of our warmup games and given game time in the others.

glamorganalun wrote:The comments from some posters are in poor taste and not remotely funny, they guys have young families.

Cmon mate enjoy a bit of banter their only messing around. Wasnt it Graham Henry himself who was talking about "getting the Quinell's breeding"?

AlynDavies wrote:

glamorganalun wrote:The comments from some posters are in poor taste and not remotely funny, they guys have young families.

Cmon mate enjoy a bit of banter they're only messing around. Wasnt it Graham Henry himself who was talking about "getting the Quinell's breeding"?

Hmmm, Graham Henry was never much of a comedic either....!!!

bedfordwelsh wrote:ML,

Delve has never really been given his chance a an otherwise fully fit Welsh team.

He has always seemed to play during tours/friendlies/AI games when it has usually been a bit of mix n match.

For me he has to start at least one of our warmup games and given game time in the others.

Delve has had his fair share of injuries and he hasn't made selection easy with his choice of clubs he has played for. I think he is lucky to be considered for the squad after obviously turning down opportunities to play for a regional side in preference of the super 15.

Not that I think he has made a bad decision and I think Gatland is wise to include him. He would most likely be a bench player in one of the England matches and a Starter in another. I would like to see Toby Faletau against a drilled back row like Englands.

I think he is lucky to be considered for the squad after obviously turning down opportunities to play for a regional side in preference of the super 15

It was only the Blues that came in for him and then once the rumours started flying about Rush staying maybe he thought he wouldn't get the game time.

I def think we should share the starts between him and Toby, Gats and Co what Jones can/cant do so lets see our other options.

bedfordwelsh wrote:I think he is lucky to be considered for the squad after obviously turning down opportunities to play for a regional side in preference of the super 15

It was only the Blues that came in for him and then once the rumours started flying about Rush staying maybe he thought he wouldn't get the game time.

I am positive that all the regions took a look at him but the press reported the obvious link to the Blues as Rush, at the time had left. Rush changed his mind after Delve had signed for Rebels.

bedfordwelsh wrote:I def think we should share the starts between him and Toby, Gats and Co what Jones can/cant do so lets see our other options.

I agree, though by Delve moving so far abroad he put him self out of contention for the six nations where we could have used him well. Ryan jones played well at eight but it is great to have options. Faletau was exciting all season and played well in his first cap. Delve has always been a consistent performer.