So, i had a little re watch...
I think we were a little harsh on Mann, yes on the whole he was useless, and made errors, but he reminded me of a young Moriarty, he just seems to find himselfnon the wrong side of the law too many times, and doesnt offer enough to counter that, whereas Moriarty absolutely did. Mann was still a 4 for me, but thats up from 2. I actually think id perservere with him for this autumn (now Jacks out).
The big problem with Beard, andnive heard it over and over by those who have worked with him, is that he is the core of the scrum and maul, Asserati will absolutely get mullered without him, and i thiught the scrum was ok against a very good Argy scrum.
The lineout however, Beard and Jenkins can hang their heads in shame, the speed off the floor was Penallta U14s type stuff!!! Lakes throwing is still dodgy, but when your men cant get up then it doesnt matter.
I agree on Ben Thomas, not only is he poor around the park both directions, he rakes the kicking from a developing Edwards, and he is shockingly bad.
Same with Murray, needs dropping, he cant cope in international rugby with high balls, wherever he is he will be targeted, and well absolutely exploited like sunday. In the first half i counted 14 ariels, and Wales lost 12 outright, with 2 going to touch for Wales throw. Not 1 win!!!! Thats a huge problem!
Id keep the front row the same, Carre especially needs long term game time, drop Jenkins, he looks 38 years old ffs. Beard and Fender for me, Jenkins on the bench.
Reffell needs calling up, and starting 7, Wainright and Mann stay in.
Tomos tried way too hard Sunday, but 17 mins in was blowing because he was carrying the load way too much, he has no trust in players or system i think. Edwards forever at this point, no other options, he needs 15 more caps before RWC.
Inside centre is tough, Johnny Williams excels at club level, but he has never had a real run and trust at int, he slips into half teams and untried combos all the time. Id still call him up, at least he has steal. Llewellyn did ok, nothing to play off, no trust in Thomas, however the times Argies attacked his outside shoulder he looked super confident and adapted really well.
Id go Dyer and Rogers wings, LRZ FB.
Japan could easily win this game, dont over play, kick high balls and catch and drive, they wont do that, and we should capitolise from their mistakes, but if they just went tight and low risk id say Japan by 10+.
Ultimately though, players are weak, but the reall issue compounding that is that Tandy has come in, and seemingly just had Sheratt run the team. Wales played exactly how Cardiff did, too wide and exapansive, and left a soft under belly to concede on transition.
Tandy needs to tighten the game up, get tough to beat first, before trying to inclide overly intricate wide plays from 1st and 2nd phase. I counted 5 tries conceded alone from transition, including that massive restart embarrassment. Twice Jac Morgan was caught out on the wing in transition.
Wales will spend the week now working on high balls and lineouts, because that was embarrassing, instead of following the long term build, itll be all reactionary and no progression, which was exactly Pivacs problem. Chasing wins and trying to stay employed.
Thats why when i picked a team before the anouncement last week i went with size, grunt and dynamism off the bench, i would have played super pragmatic, then could talk about the green shoots post loss.
That thumping was the last thing Tandy needed, and well is proving a regular occurance for Sheratt!
