[EOYT] Wales v Tonga 22/11/2013

[Draggs]

Millennium Stadium, 19:30 GMT
​

 

[Macsen]

Wales vs a Pacific Island...

What could go wrong?!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Good job it's not on a Fri.....I mean: Good job they're able to put our their strongest tea......erm.

I'm sure it'll be fine

 

[dullonien]

Our forwards should be strong enough to win this game, even with rather wholesale changes. A pack of Paul James, Ken Owens, Rhodri Jones, Luke Charteris, Andrew Coombs, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric and Ryan Jones is still a strong unit. However, without a backline to score try's, it could still be squeaky bum time.

I know the management have said previously that Hook will play 10 in this encounter, but I think they will change their minds and continue with Biggar, with Hook playing at fullback.

 

[psychic duck]

Shaun Edwards is already making sure his thoughts are in the referees head. http://www.espn.co.uk/wales/rugby/story/206483.html

In fairness, Wales got absolutely beat up in the Samoa fixture last year. About 3 got injured and a couple others were wobbling about concussed by the end. A couple of the incidents are beliw when Biggar got injured from a massive clearout and Hibbard injured by a massive tackle and Halfpenny concussed by a big tackle. They were borderline and opinion was spilt on their legality (I personally didn't think there were illegal), Edwards is trying to make sure if they receive a similar bruising this time there will be cards.

 

[wayner]

I assume that Tonga will be missing at least Sona Taumalolo after his fisticuffs with the Frenchies over the weekend. IMHO one of the highlights of RWC2011 was the joy on Sona Taumalolo's face at the end of their game vs France when they kept opting for scrums when winning penalties and he was screaming something like "COME ON!" just relishing beating them back in the scrum.

 

[Macsen]

In 1991 Wales signed a treaty with the Pacific Islands whereby we would lose the occasional game against them on condition that a family of Tongans move to the Welsh valleys and produce offspring that would one day play for Wales. The WRU have already agreed to throw Friday's game on the condition that Anglesey becomes an honorary pacific island and that some 10,000 islanders move there, in order to keep the new Rugby Gogledd Cymru region ticking over for years to come.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Has Tonga'uiha retired from international rugby/made himself unavailable/is he injured?
With Taumalolo likely to be banned it'd be good to have a player of his experience coming into the side.

 

[psychic duck]

Has Tonga'uiha retired from international rugby/made himself unavailable/is he injured?
With Taumalolo likely to be banned it'd be good to have a player of his experience coming into the side.

He just rarely ever turns up unless it's the World Cup. He's 31 years old so has been around a while but has only won 13 Tonga caps, 10 of which have been in the World Cup or World Cup warm ups.

 

[Mihnea Cristian Ionescu]

i saw Tonga at work , i dont think wales could lose this one

 

[Big Ewis]

huh, good luck Wales, we've had those Mortal Kombat fighters come over our way already, they're aaaaaaaall yours, enjoy

I haven't heard of a citing for that idiot who punched Maestri last Sat. Man, if I were a player I think I'd refuse to play Tonga and Fiji. It's like when you're a kid and you're playing basketball (or football, wtvr..) and there's this one kid who just plays wrestling in stead. If you can't play within the rules, or have a reputation for extra-curricular activity consistently on the field, you're not a pro. If you're not a pro, you don't play against me. I'm a pro, I play lock for the XV de France ffs, no time for child-minded idiocy and bruises and stitches and red cards and what not...FK this.

As if we needed more problems, more difficulty from what's going on in the match...
D'you guys see what happened in Italy on Saturday ? Fijian captain actually picked up Orquera and twisted him upside down in the air during some timeout mini-brawl. There's no excuse for this happening in 2013. We've had patience for the past eternity, now fk this. Refs should be merciless against that kinda stuff.

P.S.: oh and for the Welsh who haven't seen the FRA TON match, don't worry, you cannot possibly lose this match. It's not a possibility, i.e., it won't happen because it's impossible. They've really dropped in level and if Wales feels good on attack, they should score around 5 or more tries. France had major issues on attack and still got 4.

 

[Mihnea Cristian Ionescu]

i'm not sure i got it , u mean Wales will lose this game deliberately ?

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

my predictions of the match depending on the squad wales with best squad 67 - 5 with average about 42 - 14

 

[wayner]

i'm not sure i got it , u mean Wales will lose this game deliberately ?

I believe the answer is yes since it means that Wales will be supplied with future players with names like Toby Faletau.

But this makes it much harder for the announcers, with the historical Welsh teams they could just say "Williams offloads to Williams who offloads to Williams who offloads to ..." - in the 70s they had to go to multiple initials so you could tell the J Williams apart from each other.^_^

 

[Rich Taff]

I believe the answer is yes since it means that Wales will be supplied with future players with names like Toby Faletau.

But this makes it much harder for the announcers, with the historical Welsh teams they could just say "Williams offloads to Williams who offloads to Williams who offloads to ..." - in the 70s they had to go to multiple initials so you could tell the J Williams apart from each other.^_^

How dare you! Admittedly we did attempt it with the Jones' a few years back, but now we have never have more than 7 of each surname

 

[Mihnea Cristian Ionescu]

so the "w" in WRU stands for williams

 

[j'nuh]

I believe the answer is yes since it means that Wales will be supplied with future players with names like Toby Faletau.

But this makes it much harder for the announcers, with the historical Welsh teams they could just say "Williams offloads to Williams who offloads to Williams who offloads to ..." - in the 70s they had to go to multiple initials so you could tell the J Williams apart from each other.^_^

A team of Williams that never passes, only offloads... are you talking about a Sonny Bill clone army?

 

[TRF_Cymro]

WALES TEAM v TONGA:
Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), George North (Northampton Saints), Owen Williams (Cardiff Blues), Ashley Beck (Ospreys), Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons), James Hook (Perpignan), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues), Paul James (Bath), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Rhodri Jones (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Perpignan), Ian Evans (Ospreys), Andrew Coombs (Dragons), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Ryan Jones (Ospreys - CAPT).
Replacements: Emyr Phillips (Scarlets), Ryan Bevington (Ospreys), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Dan Lydiate (Racing Metro), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues), Rhodri Williams (Scarlets), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Jordan Williams (Scarlets).

 

[Ozzay]

When was Jordan Williams added to the Welsh camp? Hopefully he gets on. Rate him highly!

 

[Packman]

I don't think Welsh fans will be making much out of the bookmakers on Friday.