Wales Team, Six Nations 2013

[Draggs]

I don't think we will risk both Hook and Biggar, or I would agree there.
Davies would be better if he had someone inside him to know when to pass.

Liam Williams will be on the bench, but I really wish we had better options. I'd prefer to bring Lee Byrne back. I do realise that he is injured, however.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Bradley Davies may well be a doubt for Wales after damaging ankle ligaments in training.

 

[dullonien]

Bradley Davies may well be a doubt for Wales after damaging ankle ligaments in training.

Says on the BBC that he requires surgery.

We really need Alun-Wyn Jones and Ian Evans to recover now. Otherwise we'll be heading into the Ireland game with a second-row pairing of Lou Reed and Lloyd Peers, or maybe with Ryan Jones moved forwards.

 

[Draggs]

I'll blame James Percival now.

Can Gav play second row?

 

[Draggs]

Alun Wyn Jones: Possible return for final two games
Bradley Davies: Unknown return date
Luke Charteris: Out for season
Ian Evans: Possible return for start of tournament

Other options:
Ryan Jones
Aaron Shingler
Lou Reed
James King
Lloyd Peers
James Percival

Take your pick, I suppose. Evans/R Jones for me, Shingler on blindside/bench, King bench (assuming Tipuric and Warburton start).

 

[Big Ewis]

Wales starts off hosting Ireland
then in Paris
then in Rome
then in Scotland
and finally hosts England.

Just like France and Ireland, 3 away matches and only two at home...while ITA ENG and SCO have 3 at home and 2 away.

What do you predict guys ? How many wins or...which ones in particular ?...
I know it's a horrible question, coz you're afraid of jinxing it lol, but as your honest opinion...do you Welsh fans see this as a continuation of disappointment or the 2011 form returning ?

 

[Draggs]

Pretty tough schedule. If we are able to beat Ireland and not suffer any injuries, I think/hope we would have our tails up. From there who knows. We never perform in Rome, and the Scots will be looking to turn a corner. They held on against the Springboks, but lost to Tonga so they are tough to call. England in Cardiff, ugh, very tough. We have only lost to them at MS once since the 2003 WC, so we have that...

 

[dullonien]

What's the news on Shingler's injury, will he definitely be back in time for the Ireland game?

Although earlier I said that throwing Ian Evans straight back into international rugby isn't a good idea as he takes time to regain form, if he's fit for Ireland then we need his bulk and experience. Ryan Jones will probably have to make the switch, which opens up the dual openside experiment in the back-row which I like. I would then have Peers on the bench, so:

if Evans is fit: 04 Ryan Jones, 05 Ian Evans, 06 Warburton, 07 Tipuric, 19 Peers, 20 Shingler/King

Not sure which way to go if Evans isn't fit. Is Peers ready to start? Should we get Percival in there for some bulk? Reed is the likely choice though after the Autumn.

Wales starts off hosting Ireland
then in Paris
then in Rome
then in Scotland
and finally hosts England.

Just like France and Ireland, 3 away matches and only two at home...while ITA ENG and SCO have 3 at home and 2 away.

What do you predict guys ? How many wins or...which ones in particular ?...
I know it's a horrible question, coz you're afraid of jinxing it lol, but as your honest opinion...do you Welsh fans see this as a continuation of disappointment or the 2011 form returning ?

I cannot predict anything tbh. I think the Ireland game could go either way, so long as we don't play as poorly as we did against Argentina and Samoa. If we win, then we could go on to do really well, although I feel France away this year is too big an ask. If we don't beat Italy and Scotland then the wheels really will have come off. Both are decent on their day, but we should have too much for them. England are on a high, but they haven't enjoyed visiting the MS over the past decade. That game will depend on the ones beforehand, if Wales go in with 3/4 wins then I'd be confident of edging the game, but if we go in with 2 or less, then I can see England turning us over.

In summary, who the hell knows lol. Lowest position of 4th, but could regain some confidence and form and win the thing. If I had to stick my neck out, I'd have to predict a 3rd place finish.

 

[Draggs]

Not sure about Aaron, actually.
Baptism of fire for King/Peers? I'd prefer to avoid Lou Reed if possible.
The return of Ian Gough? I bet he'd bloody dominate, given one more chance.

 

[dullonien]

The return of Ian Gough? I bet he'd bloody dominate, given one more chance.

Not for me. He's become an all or nothing player over the past couple of seasons. Still capable of putting in some big hits (mostly without the use of arms), but is just as likely to miss the tackle completely or give himself a stinger.

I'd have Reed ahead of him, but I would also prefer to avoid Lou Reed if possible.

It is so frustrating to have our four front-line locks injured.

Edit. What have you made of Andrew Coombs in the second-row Draggs? Seems to be more suited to a role there than in the back row.

 

[Draggs]

Not for me. He's become an all or nothing player over the past couple of seasons. Still capable of putting in some big hits (mostly without the use of arms), but is just as likely to miss the tackle completely or give himself a stinger.

I'd have Reed ahead of him, but I would also prefer to avoid Lou Reed if possible.

It is so frustrating to have our four front-line locks injured.

I suppose so. I just was a massive fan of Gough's

Apart from King and Peers, we don't seem to be producing young second rows. I've yet to see anything from Ball except turk hype, and I won't go on about the Blues anymore.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Lou Reed wouldn't be a bad option, shows plenty of heart last time out and wasn't bad at all. Although he was blowing out of his arse at the end of the game, he really put himself about. If not then you would look at Lloyd Peers in there.

 

[j'nuh]

A potential pitfall for Wales is in the lineout. Without your locks, the height of the pack becomes pretty limited. Tipuric, Warburton and Faletau are all 6'2. Ryan Jones is 6'5 and Shingler and Reed are 6'6. This might have to play a factor in selection, especially against Scotland (Gray: 6'10 and Hamilton 6'8). Evans would be a big (pun unintended ) boost here.

 

[psychic duck]

Foxy at inside centre is the thing of nightmares. His lack of passing is simply not a trait of a first five (well, recently one could argue otherwise).
The same goes for Scott Williams.

Oh, for an inside centre that could set up his outside backs and time his runs to perfection...

Jonathan Davies is a good centre, but one thing he isn't good at is drawing the full back. Most of the time he does a dummy then non pass, or passes too late. Luckily for Wales he got away with a poor pass (aimed for Halfpenny) setting up Shane's try against Samoa.

As for Scott Williams, well passing isn't really his strength. Sometimes he simply doesn't pass (see left), and sometimes his passes are just poor (see right) where there is a tricky pass to make but the for an international centre you would have hoped he would have got closer to finding North rather than at his toes and a metre in front.

Now this guy knows how to pass ...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/m4qRqaZLjPU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

Wales' best passing centre they have had in my memory, such a pity his talents have not achieved what they could have.

I suppose so. I just was a massive fan of Gough's

Me too. He was a very dependable player. I remember watching an interview with Edwards after the 2008 Grand Slam and him mentioning the unseen hard work he does and that he hit more rucks than any other player on the pitch. Gough went in for a tackle with the wrong side just once lately for the Ospreys, not regularly as Dullonien suggests.

Lou Reed wouldn't be a bad option, shows plenty of heart last time out and wasn't bad at all. Although he was blowing out of his arse at the end of the game, he really put himself about. If not then you would look at Lloyd Peers in there.

I thought I noticed he was carrying a bit of timber against Toulon this afternoon. I doubt Gatland likes this in his fitness based regimes.

 

[Big Ewis]

Draggs:
yeah man, good points...didn't realize England hadn't won in Millennium in so long !...interesting stat. They just won in Paris last year !! :lol:
About Scotland: I think there's a lot of good hiding in them, but a lot of bad too unfortunately. And yeah they held on against the Boks, but who didn't this past November !...Boks were utterly disappointing.

dullonien:
yes, tough call in deed !...GOD KNOWS wtf is goin down in Feb/March this year....at this level, and it seems it's only getting more and more competitive, there's no telling. In fact, it's interesting that we'd all think that it is getting more competitive and tight as the competition goes, but we've had a Grand Slam in 2008, 09, 10 and 12 !...so sides do find the way to dominate...

And yeh, all in all, the only things that would really surprise me would be something like Italy winning the GS or England getting the Spoon...just about all the rest is acceptable. I exaggerate a bit of course...

Personally, no offense to the Welsh but I see the Irish in top form this year despite key injuries...I'd imagine Ireland bettering the Welsh, but I may be horribly wrong.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Duck I agree. The same could be said with Hibbard and Adam. Both comeback from Welsh duty looking trimmer. Personally I don't think Welsh regions look after their players as well as they should. But that's another argument for another day.

 

[Big Ewis]

P.S.:
oh uh...just checked though. England won in MS just in 2011...
In fact, in horrible circumstances: Chris Ashton turned into a rooster not once but TWICE that match to score a couple of tries...

 

[Draggs]

Ryan Jones going in for an operation on his thumb.
Hope that it is minor.

 

[Thingimubob]

Oh god that Scott Willias GIF of him not passing against England... that still makes me so angry. He did make up for it obviously, but, bloody hell, Im not his biggest fan of him because of that.. also he did the same useless 'just lob it in my teammates general direction pass' in the 2011 friendly against Australia

 

[Draggs]

Oh god that Scott Willias GIF of him not passing against England... that still makes me so angry. He did make up for it obviously, but, bloody hell, Im not his biggest fan of him because of that.. also he did the same useless 'just lob it in my teammates general direction pass' in the 2011 friendly against Australia

Must be a turk thing, Davies did it against Samoa.
Davies has got a good pass on him, but as Duck has shown, he can't draw and pass. Basic skills (or lack thereof) is so noticeable these days all around rugby. It kills me to see players decide to go it alone when they have an overlap. I feel that teams focus too much on elaborate moves, size, and speed too much. Kicking and passing seems secondary.

 

[psychic duck]

Must be a turk thing, Davies did it against Samoa.
Davies has got a good pass on him, but as Duck has shown, he can't draw and pass. Basic skills (or lack thereof) is so noticeable these days all around rugby. It kills me to see players decide to go it alone when they have an overlap. I feel that teams focus too much on elaborate moves, size, and speed too much. Kicking and passing seems secondary.

You would have thought Regan King might have been able to pass some of his ball skills onto one of them. But I agree, one of the Scarlets downfalls I think is that the Davies/Williams combination doesn't really seem to work as well as the Davies/King combination used to. That centre combination in the 2010/11 season seemed to have North getting better involved as well.

 

[pete82]

15. Leigh Halfpenny (Blues)
14. Alex Cuthbert (Blues)
13. Jonathan Davies (Scarlets)
12. Ashley Beck (Ospreys)
11. Eli Walker (Ospreys)
10. James Hook (Perpignan)
9. Tavis Knoyle (Scarlets)

1. Paul James (Bath)
2. Matthew Rees (Scarlets)
3. Adam Jones (Ospreys)
4. Bradley Davies (Blues)
5. Lou Reed (Blues)
6. Justin Tipuric (Ospreys)
7. Sam Warburton (Blues)
8. Toby Faletau (Dragons)

16. Ken Owens (Scarlets)
17. Ryan Bevington (Ospreys)
18. Scott Andrews (Blues)
19. Aaron Shingler (Ospreys)
20. Josh Navidi (Blues)
21. Mike Phillips (Bayonne)
22. Dan Biggar (Ospreys)
23. Jamie Roberts (Blues)

 

[dullonien]

15. Leigh Halfpenny (Blues)
14. Alex Cuthbert (Blues)
13. Jonathan Davies (Scarlets)
12. Ashley Beck (Ospreys)
11. Eli Walker (Ospreys)
10. James Hook (Perpignan)
9. Tavis Knoyle (Scarlets)

1. Paul James (Bath)
2. Matthew Rees (Scarlets)
3. Adam Jones (Ospreys)
4. Bradley Davies (Blues)
5. Lou Reed (Blues)
6. Justin Tipuric (Ospreys)
7. Sam Warburton (Blues)
8. Toby Faletau (Dragons)

16. Ken Owens (Scarlets)
17. Ryan Bevington (Ospreys)
18. Scott Andrews (Blues)
19. Aaron Shingler (Ospreys)
20. Josh Navidi (Blues)
21. Mike Phillips (Bayonne)
22. Dan Biggar (Ospreys)
23. Jamie Roberts (Blues)

Ashley Beck will miss the first few games of the 6 nations. Bradley is also out, possibly for the whole tournament.

Shingler is currently injured, but might be back for the Ireland game.

Personally, I wouldn't move Tipuric to 6, he's an out and out 7. Moving Warburton makes more sense.

Hibbard is another who looks like he'll miss the Ireland game after aggravating the shoulder injury he picked up against Samoa.

Any news on Gethin Jenkins? He missed Toulon's last game.

 

[Draggs]

Tipuric and Warburton could wear front row kits, number don't matter in today's game. How we decide to use our flankers is more important.
The turks fail miserably at this. They think than shifting McCusker, Turnbull, and Shingler through the back row kits it will magically work some day. It's about style.

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

Can I ask what the squad is likely to look like against Ireland? (Including injuries from the HCUP weekend)

 

[psychic duck]

After Percival, another English lock we never knew was eligible is hoping to become the next Will James.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21020111

Also a good round up of injuries on that article:

Should be available for first game
Ian Evans
Richie Hibbard
James Hook
Gethin Jenkins
George North
Aaron Shingler

Could be available for start of 6 Nations if rushed back, most likely back in the middle of 6 Nations
Huw Bennett
Dan Lyidiate

Out until middle of the 6 Nations
Ashley Beck
Alun-Wyn Jones
Ryan Jones

Ruled out for entire 6 Nations
Luke Charteris
Bradley Davies
Aaron Jarvis
Rhys Priestland

So bearing that in mid I would go with for Ireland:

15. L Halfpenny
14. A Cuthbert
13. J Davies
12. J Hook (not realistic though)
11. G North
10. D Biggar
9. M Phillips (unfortunately)
1. P James
2. R Hibbard
3. A Jones
4. L Reed
5. I Evans
6. S Warburton
7. J Tipuric
8. T Faletau

16. K Owens
17. G Jenkins
18. C Mitchell
19. J King
20. A Shingler
21. T Knoyle/L Williams (unfortunately)
22. J Roberts
23. R Fussell

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Could do worse than calling up Kohn.
However he's 31, English, and yeah...not going to happen.
I imagine this is more that the interviewer found out he's qualified and asked, rather than him coming out and saying it.

 

[dullonien]

After Percival, another English lock we never knew was eligible is hoping to become the next Will James.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21020111

Also a good round up of injuries on that article:

Should be available for first game
Ian Evans
Richie Hibbard
James Hook
Gethin Jenkins
George North
Aaron Shingler

Could be available for start of 6 Nations if rushed back, most likely back in the middle of 6 Nations
Huw Bennett
Dan Lyidiate

Out until middle of the 6 Nations
Ashley Beck
Alun-Wyn Jones
Ryan Jones

Ruled out for entire 6 Nations
Luke Charteris
Bradley Davies
Aaron Jarvis
Rhys Priestland

So bearing that in mid I would go with for Ireland:

15. L Halfpenny
14. A Cuthbert
13. J Davies
12. J Hook (not realistic though)
11. G North
10. D Biggar
9. M Phillips (unfortunately)
1. P James
2. R Hibbard
3. A Jones
4. L Reed
5. I Evans
6. S Warburton
7. J Tipuric
8. T Faletau

16. K Owens
17. G Jenkins
18. C Mitchell
19. J King
20. A Shingler
21. T Knoyle/L Williams (unfortunately)
22. J Roberts
23. R Fussell

An unfit (6'6" and 21st 10lb!) 31 year old, with a Welsh grandparent, no thanks!

As for the side, personally I'd go with Roberts at 12 as he's always played well against Ireland. I'd also start Ian Evans and King in the second-row, with Peers on the bench. I know it is more than likely that Lou Reed will start, but I'd prefer him not to. I really want to put Eli Walker straight into the side, but I know that is just me rushing things slightly. With decent quality ball North and Cuthbert are still lethal.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Kohn's not unfit, he's just a tank.
Great scrummaging lock, he's one of the main reasons Quins scrum is as good as it is (obviously Johnston helps, but when Kohn isn't there it's nowhere near as good).

 

[psychic duck]

An unfit (6'6" and 21st 10lb!) 31 year old, with a Welsh grandparent, no thanks!

As for the side, personally I'd go with Roberts at 12 as he's always played well against Ireland. I'd also start Ian Evans and King in the second-row, with Peers on the bench. I know it is more than likely that Lou Reed will start, but I'd prefer him not to. I really want to put Eli Walker straight into the side, but I know that is just me rushing things slightly. With decent quality ball North and Cuthbert are still lethal.

Leave Eli to work on some of the elements of his game with the Ospreys which are still weak in my opinion.

I think he needs to learn the wingers art of being on the shoulder of a player who makes a break, wingers like Ashton do this and end up at the the right time right place often, Walker could boost his try scoring stats by doing this, currently he is a magic runner in space but not a top poacher type wing. He also needs to get involved a bit more in games, go and get the ball for himself a bit more. If he can do that it will improve him lots and I haven't even mentioned defence yet.

Where's WelshGlory btw? He wanted Eli shipped out to the Dragons after his shaky start to regional rugby last season.

Re Roberts, I personally think it's about time he got a wake up call from the Welsh selectors and realises that he needs to do contribute more in attack in matches and not just live off the Lions tour/RWC. If you were an alien rugby fan come from Planet Pluto and just saw him this season with the Cardiff Blues and didn't know about his previous history, you wouldn't think he was that much better than Andrew Bishop tbh.

Also Hook at centre would be great, and gives some variation to Wales' predictable backline.