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[2018 November Tests] Wales vs South Africa (24/11/18)

It looked like a tired Bok team. End of year fever. They had the chances but made a lot of mistakes.
 
mdaclarke said:
It looked like a tired Bok team. End of year fever. They had the chances but made a lot of mistakes.
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Once again, if Wales beat a major team it must be that the other team were bad, not that Wales were good. A prime example of this is the Summer tour of Argentina - when an under-strength Wales won there twice, many people just dismissed it as Argentina being poor, yet when an under-strength England won their twice the previous year, most people hailed it as evidence of England's talent and strength-in-depth!
 
Tooting Carmen said:
Once again, if Wales beat a major team it must be that the other team were bad, not that Wales were good. A prime example of this is the Summer tour of Argentina - when an under-strength Wales won there twice, many people just dismissed it as Argentina being poor, yet when an under-strength England won their twice the previous year, most people hailed it as evidence of England's talent and strength-in-depth!
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mda's a plant... it's hilarious!
 
Wales had a good 20min spell in that first half, coupled with outstanding defence throughout. Ellis Jenkins was superb, such a shame to pick up such a nasty injury in the final few seconds. That will probably put him out of WC contention given the quality we've got, and the quality to come back into the back row.

I was pleasantly impressed with Beard. Seemed to be everywhere, and was excellent at disrupting the SA maul. Impressive for a 22y/o up against the monsters SA have in the second row.

Thought Gareth Davies was really poor, other than some good defensive blitz work. His kicking is still appalling, and he's gone the entire autumn without threatening ball in hand once. If he's not getting the ball in his hands / sniping then I don't see the point of him playing. Aled Davies basics are far better, and Thomas Williams made a huge difference today, with his box kicking far more accurate.

Anscombe had a mixed game. Looked really strong going forwards, with a couple of half breaks + lovely floated try scoring pass. His kicking out of hand was very poor though. Missed touch twice and struggled to relieve any pressure in the second half. Biggar made a huge difference in this regard. I'd still like to see Patchell start, his big boot could be just the pressure releaving ticket we need + he's got the attacking threat. Biggar was the perfect player off the bench for this game though.

10 wins on the bounce is starting to feel like something very meaningful. France away to kick off the 6 nations could be huge, a win there and it could set-up the 6 nations nicely.

Still lots to work on though. We're still having to survive on far too little ball for my liking. We can be dangerous ball in hand, but we don't have enough field position and possession to show it enough in games.
 
ragerancher said:
The way things are going, talk of the "big 3" SH scalps will be reduced to just NZ. I hope things turn around
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Ignoring the thinly veiled and hard hitting dig at Wales but somehow not England despite it being the same sentiment either way, I almost agree with this but it's gone beyond what you say. The NH's best three should absolutely expect to beat Oz and SA at home right now.

I think after this test period Ireland, England and Wales will all be thinking very positively, none of them played a perfect game but they all achieved what was really the maximum to be expected. (England could have beat NZ but it would have absolutely been unexpected) This is really positive going into the next world cup and it would actually be quite difficult to derail what's going on on the next ten months if the coaching teams tried.
 
First off great win best I've seen us so far this year. Anscombe for me was feeling the pressure and failed to secure touch twice , I remember berating Lee Byrne for the same thing years ago. Bigger was was immense and anybody that doesn't think he deserves a place on the bench needs to take a look at themselves.

Parkes was poor imo and Watkins would slot in perfectly with JD2, Williams showed why we don't need 1/2penny.

Losing lydiate hours before the match was a blow but Ellis Jenkins was immense stepping in and it really shows the depth we have in this squad.

Not a perfect performance but good enough to beat a bok team that should of beaten England (and beat them in the summer)and beat the all blacks this year , this really shows how far we have come when in the past it would of had to be a perfect performance we are beating the top sides with semi half decent performances and that certainly cements our Third in the World ranking .
 
As I said after the game yesterday, it was a really good performance against a side that many deemed (at least before we beat them) would be the 'acid' test of where Wales currently stand. It's pretty clear we are currently leading the peloton in an attempt to hold on to the coat tails of New Zealand and Ireland.

Special mention to Adam Beard... yes he was nowhere near man of the match but his selection has come in for some flack on here and elsewhere... but he has never really put a foot wrong for me. Also we can debate the positives/negatives of his body position during mauls but what we can't debate is how effective the maul has been with him in it these last few games. Will he be first choice come World Cup... probably not but he is up to the task and that's a job well done from the coaches.
 
bushytop said:
As I said after the game yesterday, it was a really good performance against a side that many deemed (at least before we beat them) would be the 'acid' test of where Wales currently stand. It's pretty clear we are currently leading the peloton in an attempt to hold on to the coat tails of New Zealand and Ireland.

Special mention to Adam Beard... yes he was nowhere near man of the match but his selection has come in for some flack on here and elsewhere... but he has never really put a foot wrong for me. Also we can debate the positives/negatives of his body position during mauls but what we can't debate is how effective the maul has been with him in it these last few games. Will he be first choice come World Cup... probably not but he is up to the task and that's a job well done from the coaches.
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With another 8 months of playing and therefore coaching before squads are selected there is no reason why he cant be first choice. He should progress and be a better player by the WC.

I had reservation on here, i wouldnt call it flak, as i felt there were better options. Now Parkes...i give him flak!

I genuinely think Roberts would be a better option atm. Not a great difference in age, Roberts is faster, stronger, better in defence, better leader, his hands and offloads have improved at Bath.....If Watkin isnt to be given a chance then do something else....
 
oj121 said:
With another 8 months of playing and therefore coaching before squads are selected there is no reason why he cant be first choice. He should progress and be a better player by the WC.

I had reservation on here, i wouldnt call it flak, as i felt there were better options. Now Parkes...i give him flak!

I genuinely think Roberts would be a better option atm. Not a great difference in age, Roberts is faster, stronger, better in defence, better leader, his hands and offloads have improved at Bath.....If Watkin isnt to be given a chance then do something else....
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Not singling you out bud, there has been a lot of negativity across the internet around Beard's inclusion for Oz and SA... just thought it was worth giving the guy (& the coaches) a little credit for how he has performed. It is a level above anything he has had to deal with previously and while no James Ryan, has risen to the occasions well.
 
mdaclarke said:
It looked like a tired Bok team. End of year fever. They had the chances but made a lot of mistakes.
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Out of their feet. PSDT was the best example. Dropping off tackles, knocking on the ball. It was the guys' last game for the year, and it was an extended season due to the new coach. We had 2 more international games than most other teams. We played Wales in June in Washington outside the test window, and also England during this tour. We travelled to North America. South America, Australasia and Europe during our international tests, while our Super Rugby players also made a trip to Japan.

But Credit must be given to Wales, they were better than us, throughout the game. Congrats.

I have a question though for my fellow Welsh posters. Has Justin Tipuric ever been sanctioned for his grass-cutting tackle technique?
 
bushytop said:
Not singling you out bud, there has been a lot of negativity across the internet around Beard's inclusion for Oz and SA... just thought it was worth giving the guy (& the coaches) a little credit for how he has performed. It is a level above anything he has had to deal with previously and while no James Ryan, has risen to the occasions well.
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I was critical of selection but i think it was fair. He hadn't shown as much promise as Seb Davies, who wasn't in the squad (granted that was injures) and his performances were decent but he was always outshone by both Hill and Ball when they were on the field.
It was a very good performance from Wales a number of players played out their skin. However there is one big question mark after the game, which caused problems in the Aus and Scotland game too. Gareth Davies' negatives are now starting to outweigh his positives. Poor box kicking that neither allows Wales to compete or was long enough to get some field pressure put Wales under pressure. I would also shoulder some blame on Ascombe for this as the 10 could have helped ease some of the pressure when he clearly was struggling. How much would cost to bring Webb back from Toulon?
 
bushytop said:
Not singling you out bud, there has been a lot of negativity across the internet around Beard's inclusion for Oz and SA... just thought it was worth giving the guy (& the coaches) a little credit for how he has performed. It is a level above anything he has had to deal with previously and while no James Ryan, has risen to the occasions well.
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We must assume the coaches no matter how bad we think they are probably know more than us so I try and keep my powder dry until it is glaringly obvious that he is the wrong call. But this is a forum of opinions and we all have them, wonderful game cant say I wasn't nervous, but apart from that sublime pass out to the SA wing which no team would have stopped SA didn't look to be superior we creaked a little in the scrum, not a great deal but we will have to do something about it for the 6N. Ireland and England will be a lot tougher at the scrum,
Personally I think Ireland will be the harder of the two. But we play them both at home So looking good.
SA are much better than they have been of late and come the WC will be at the top of their game one too watch me thinks.
No news yet about Ellis Jenkins so hopefully will be better than was first thought,
 
MikeTheNative said:
I was critical of selection but i think it was fair. He hadn't shown as much promise as Seb Davies, who wasn't in the squad (granted that was injures) and his performances were decent but he was always outshone by both Hill and Ball when they were on the field.
It was a very good performance from Wales a number of players played out their skin. However there is one big question mark after the game, which caused problems in the Aus and Scotland game too. Gareth Davies' negatives are now starting to outweigh his positives. Poor box kicking that neither allows Wales to compete or was long enough to get some field pressure put Wales under pressure. I would also shoulder some blame on Ascombe for this as the 10 could have helped ease some of the pressure when he clearly was struggling. How much would cost to bring Webb back from Toulon?
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Lol... weren't singling anyone out really apart from Adam Beard. After much criticism of his selection I think it was worth while giving the guy a little praise for how he performed.
 
bushytop said:
Lol... weren't singling anyone out really apart from Adam Beard. After much criticism of his selection I think it was worth while giving the guy a little praise for how he performed.
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Sorry, didn't mean you did. He went well to be honest, but he's getting a lot of game time, is it game time he really deserves over other players? (I.e. Seb Davies) Seb is younger than Beard and i think has shown a lot more to warrant his inclusion over Beard. Sadly current Wales management don't see him as a second row.
 

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