[2015 RWC] Quarter Final 1: South Africa vs. Wales (17/10/2015)

[wayevs]

With Liam being fit he was chosen on the wing last time which allowed North to go in the centre in front of Morgan. We no longer have that option but I think Gatland would have picked North as centre still. Gats has little choice now but to put North on the wing which leaves Morgan as the fall back. Quite like Morgan as a centre and given a couple of years might be ready.

Yes I do, bit he's only a young lad , surely an 80capped James hook should be starting this match, he brings him onto the team just to warm the bench , why would anyone pick tyler Morgan in front of hook is beyond me, I understand hook being behind in the pecking order to , Williams , Roberts , Davies and north (if played there) but I cannot understand why he's behind the likes of tyler Morgan who is unproven and just a prospect its a disgrace to be honest

 

[Bradsa]

This bok side is what I've been hoping for. JdV is a legend but the DdA and Kriel offer more as a combo. With Matfield out Lood de Jager has thrived alongside Etzebeth, he has made 50 tackles this tournament, even though he played from the bench for a couple of games (please correct me if I'm wrong).

At ****ing last Jannie is out, Malherbe is a better bet. He can scrum and tackle, and is less likely to get himself 10 minutes in the sin bin. This is more than I can say about du Dr. du Plessis. While on that topic, Bismarck too can be a liability but can also turn crucial ball over.

Best starting team we have at our disposal at this stage IMO.

 

[AzaMatt]

Yes I do, bit he's only a young lad , surely an 80capped James hook should be starting this match, he brings him onto the team just to warm the bench , why would anyone pick tyler Morgan in front of hook is beyond me, I understand hook being behind in the pecking order to , Williams , Roberts , Davies and north (if played there) but I cannot understand why he's behind the likes of tyler Morgan who is unproven and just a prospect its a disgrace to be honest

I can understand the frustration but didn't hook play at inside centre rather than outside? And most of those caps were at 10 and some 12, so all that experience counts for almost nothing. Morgan has been playing well at 13 for club (although admittedly the dragons arnt the best of teams) he deserves the shot, I think he'll cope well thrown in at the deep end and if he does start to struggle we can bring hook on. But based on Morgan's performance against Fiji I think he will do quite well, I seem to remember Roberts missing the most tackles in midfield in that game although he was understandably tired after the turn around. Don't have any qualms with the rest of the selection apart from Jenkins instead of James, scrum will struggle even more than last week, relying on falatau to save us again. Cannot wait for this game

 

[RedCard]

Yes I do, bit he's only a young lad , surely an 80capped James hook should be starting this match, he brings him onto the team just to warm the bench , why would anyone pick tyler Morgan in front of hook is beyond me, I understand hook being behind in the pecking order to , Williams , Roberts , Davies and north (if played there) but I cannot understand why he's behind the likes of tyler Morgan who is unproven and just a prospect its a disgrace to be honest

Totally agree but Gats doesn't like the risks that comes with Hook. We have all seen quite a few intercepts taken by the opposition when Hook is trying to throw a miss-pass. I think that is what many see as the downside which outways the breaks he often makes. Fiji we saw Hook break the line 5 times I think and every single one resulted in turnover or lost ball. Against Ireland in the warm matches he was fairly poor although he was behind a beaten pack and surrounded by rookies as it was experimental. This hasn't helped him and he rarely gets a good run of top notch perfomances going. He can be hit and miss which results in a love him or hate him scenario debate that is never ending in Wales. I think Hook is another one of those "could have been an all time Great" type of player that it never quite happens for. Just like another centre named Orange Gav. Wasted talent we never got to see in their full potential for whatever reasons.

I would personally have Hook before Morgan right now if I was picking.

 

[wayevs]

Azamatt I get what your saying but tyler is a prospect and should not be thrown in a qf against the boks, hook regardless of position has big match experience and that counts for a lot, in the Australia game we were crying out for a hook /Henson type who would have the vision to throw that pass , to inject some creativity .. I've always rated hooky, and athem turnovers and mis pass intercepts you've seen is just snapshot management , the guy has never had a fully blown opportunity under gatland because gats has never believed in him, he doesn't conform to warrenball

 

[The Jones Boy]

Watch out for the Welsh... they will not give in without a fight.

 

[Chistera]

Eddie Jones' advice for Wales to beat South Africa :
-Keep the ball in play and try to get at least 40mins of effective play, the tire out the Springbock veterans
-Warren's mind games and motivational abilities
-Pace, get the ball out of set pieces as quick as possible, outrun SA's rush defense
-Give Faletau the ball, the "best eight in the tournament so far"-
-Run Roberts at Pollard, target Fourie as well
-Keep up on the scoreboard until the 60s/70s, SA doesn't cope well with late-game pressure
-Attempt to throw Bismarck du Plessis of his game, especially in the lineout where SA won't have Matfield and where the Welsh have Wyn Jones

Fairly sensible advice, no daunting feat by itself but Jones implies that Wales must do all of these to win it.
Definitely doable though.

 

[Ospervat]

Watch out for the Welsh... they will not give in without a fight.

 

[Jaguares]

Boks by 7

The Rugby Championship is coming!

 

[AlanJ]

Going to be tight tomorrow, looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. Cuthbert picked again? Needs a massive performance and he knows it, he can be brilliant and he can be awful. Tomorrow it's got to be "run Forrest, run"

 

[ABs2011]

This is a really interesting game - perhaps the most interesting of the QFs.

My main concern is that the Welsh may be too beaten up and drained from pool play and SA might just have too much in the tank for them. That being said if Wales can continue to play the Rugby they have so far then they are every chance for an upset as I'm not sure anyone has that great a handle on where SA are at right now: A Loss to Japan followed by some goodish wins but against effectively Scotland B, USA B, and an average Samoa side doesnt really give me that much to go on. And before the RWC SA were pretty average by their standards with losses to OZ, NZ, and Argentina!

I genuinely think this is the place for a big upset to occur in the QFs!

 

[The Jones Boy]

Wales stopped the try scoring machine of Oz, can they manage that against the Bokke?
Who won the last encounter between these two teams

 

[ABs2011]

Wales stopped the try scoring machine of Oz, can they manage that against the Bokke?
Who won the last encounter between these two teams

Haha, mmm, I reckon its tough to make an argument for Wales based on historical results between the 2 countries

 

[ncurd]

Wales stopped the try scoring machine of Oz, can they manage that against the Bokke?
Who won the last encounter between these two teams

Their style of play is conducive to less tries being scored and tight looking scorelines. Personally think it'll close because of that but ultimately SA will win.

 

[corny]

Wales have to survive the set piece to be competitive but i can't see it. Gethin Jenkins, mighty man he is, has a tendancy to get noticed by referees when going backwards and South Africa are a team who go for the jugular when they see a weakness. Expect scrum penalties and kicks at goal to put them in a commanding position.

In general play? 4-8 for Wales will keep them competitive against every team in the competition but it won't be enough when your backs are disorganised.

It'll be an even game in general play but Wales just won't score enough to win. SA by 8.

 

[rgman]

South Africa will win imo (this match and the world cup too...Australia fans in 3,2,1); they are so focus and Bryan Habana now got a new skill. ..to create yellow card from nothing haha (check at min `53 against Scotland, he was Amazing)

 

[wayevs]

Going to be tight tomorrow, looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. Cuthbert picked again? Needs a massive performance and he knows it, he can be brilliant and he can be awful. Tomorrow it's got to be "run Forrest, run"

When has Cuthbert ever been brilliant ? Even when inform, he was not brilliant he's picked because of his size and bulk , there are much better talented wingers in wales but because they are not 6" 5 , 210 pounds they don't get a look in , instead they pick a horse with no ball skills and no vision

 

[RedCard]

When has Cuthbert ever been brilliant ? Even when inform, he was not brilliant he's picked because of his size and bulk , there are much better talented wingers in wales but because they are not 6" 5 , 210 pounds they don't get a look in , instead they pick a horse with no ball skills and no vision

That horse had a very good knack of scoring tries. His strike rate was why he used to get selected. Just totally lost all ability right now. Agree that he doesn't have a great skill set but being a very good finisher for a wing is top of them all. Don't think he is going to recover any form though during rwc and we are stuck with him. Even if we win this weekend I don't think Walker will then come in for the semi.

 

[korn1]

If we make school boy mistakes it could be our downfall against Wales.

 

[PacDuran]

That horse had a very good knack of scoring tries. His strike rate was why he used to get selected. Just totally lost all ability right now. Agree that he doesn't have a great skill set but being a very good finisher for a wing is top of them all. Don't think he is going to recover any form though during rwc and we are stuck with him. Even if we win this weekend I don't think Walker will then come in for the semi.

EEEEEEP!! It's happening! Can't wait for these matches to start. I'm rooting for a Northern Hemisphere clean sweep to shake rugby up a bit. Hopefully someone who hasn't won it before will go all the way this time.