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[RWC19 Warm-Up] - Wales vs England

TRF_heineken

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Venue: Principality Stadium
Time: 15:15 CAT (SA, GMT+2)
 
So every time England play Wales in Cardiff the Wales online lot make a huge story about England being cowards and afraid to face the hostile crowd with the roof closed. Now Jones has said let's close the roof so of course now the Wales Online crowd are saying how dare he say the roof should be closed, keep it open. You couldn't make it up. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/eddie-jones-asks-wales-close-16754170

The Wales Online is a hate filled outlet. Fortunately, the Welsh laugh at it too.

Look at the Wales Online Rugby page on Facebook if you really want to wind yourself up.
 
Thoughts on England team for this Saturday:

Forwards: 1. Marler 2. George 3. Sinckler 4. Launchbury 5. Kruis 6. Lawes 7. Ludlam/Underhill if fit 8. Wilson <--- Could have 3 6's in the backrow.

Backs: 9. Youngs 10. Ford 11. May 12. Francis 13. Slade 14. McConnochie 15. Watson

Subs: 16. Singleton 17. Mako 18. Cole 19. Itoje 20. Billy 21. Hienz 22. Farrell 23. Tuilagi


Still think Mako, Itoje, Farrell and Tuilagi should be wrapped in cotton wool as major key players. But who knows with Eddie :D
 
Id say EJ actually does wants the roof closed as the increased atmosphere will increase the pressure on England, but by saying that he wants it closed it is taking pressure off the England squad and putting it sqaurly on EJ's mind games as always. If the roof is open then england have it easier , if they have it closed they have a better test.
 
Interesting game this one. Will be fascinating to see what teams both coaches put out. I'm really torn on this one. Part of me wants Eddie to pick another mix and match team and see how they get on in an away game but then another part of me wants him to go fully loaded and look to prove a point by putting Wales away well in their backyard. I think Wales will probably go strong again but they've already lost Anscombe so whether the likes of Alun Wyn Jones and Liam Williams are rested I'm not sure. Either way I think England will win by 8 points.
 
Thoughts on England team for this Saturday:

Forwards: 1. Marler 2. George 3. Sinckler 4. Launchbury 5. Kruis 6. Lawes 7. Ludlam/Underhill if fit 8. Wilson <--- Could have 3 6's in the backrow.

Backs: 9. Youngs 10. Ford 11. May 12. Francis 13. Slade 14. McConnochie 15. Watson

Subs: 16. Singleton 17. Mako 18. Cole 19. Itoje 20. Billy 21. Hienz 22. Farrell 23. Tuilagi


Still think Mako, Itoje, Farrell and Tuilagi should be wrapped in cotton wool as major key players. But who knows with Eddie :D
Slades not fit
 
I think the likely (Eddie's favourite) first XV will be played to prove a point, with any maybes benched to give them about 160seconds of gametime and to **** with giving anyone a rest.

Marler (Mako out, atm)
George
Sinkler
Itoje
Kruis
Shields, wait no Wilson
Ludlam
Billy
Youngs
Farrell
May
Tuilagi
Francis
Watson
Daly

Genge
LCD
Cole/Williams
Lawes
Launch/Ewels, doesn't matter as long as we end up with four locks playing at some point
Heinz
Ford
Joseph

Edit: I'm ignoring Kvesic's call up, but assuming he's not simply cover for any training injuries he might be benched over Joseph
 
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I think the likely (Eddie's favourite) first XV will be played to prove a point, with any maybes benched to give them about 160seconds of gametime and to **** with giving anyone a rest.

Marler (Mako out, atm)
George
Sinkler
Itoje
Kruis
Shields, wait no Wilson
Ludlam
Billy
Youngs
Farrell
May
Tuilagi
Francis
Watson
Daly

Genge
LCD
Cole/Williams
Lawes
Launch/Ewels, doesn't matter as long as we end up with four locks playing at some point
Heinz
Ford
Joseph

Edit: I'm ignoring Kvesic's call up, but assuming he's not simply cover for any training injuries he might be benched over Joseph

Personally after seeing Anscombe out I'd like another mix and match team. Some of our key players seem too fragile and this is exactly the kind of game where they would get injured.
 
Its all abit of a double edged sword, we want to protect players but if we dont put out a first team we cant see if them issues we had in the 6N have been resolved but then we risk players not making it to the WC.

We need 1 game with a full first team and tbh wales away, roof closed with that atmosphere will be the best test to prepare IMO. Then experiement with italy and Ireland.

I want to see youngs Faz may manu JJ BigJoe Watson,.....Heinz Ford Daly.
 
Does anyone know what type of side Wales are putting out at all?

Strong again I imagine (although that team didn't seem so strong in the end :p)
Wales have a 6 day turnaround for Georgia to Aus in the WC and Gatland said about using the England games to prepare for that.
 
Marler has to start at tight head if we expect him to play there in the WC. Hienz needs more time at 9 now he's our second choice.

We need some other combos to get game time as well but I assume we go all out against Ireland?
 
Always with the bloody roof. It's like some bizarre obsession. As if it how's some magic power that turns Wales into some ethereal fighting force. It's just a bloody roof!!!!

And anyway, the weathers likely to be a shocker on Saturday, and England are currently better suited to dry game, and as Wales looked pretty rusty on Sunday it would suite them too. Frankly I'd much rather see some good running rugby then 80 minutes of knock ons followed by endless collapsing scrums.

Roof aside. Wales will stick with their top team, almost certainly. They need to regain some
Momentum. A loss at HQ while rusty is one thing, a loss at home having shaken it off is quite another, and with the likelihood of facing England in the Quarters quite high, I would have thought they would want to stick down a marker.

As for England. I don't think it really matters. Would be good to see what McConnochie can do (if fit), think Heinz needs more game time and Ludlum. Not sure why we would want to risk Manu, Etoji, Faz, and some others? Maybe good to play around at 15. Interchange between Daly and Watson?

I'd like to see a stronger defensive effort from England. Last week as the line speed at times wasn't great and the kick chase was non existent. Of course this could be intentional as these are the areas where players get injured.

All in all just hoping for a fun game, and hopefully to spoil the Welsh mood and knock them a little further down the WR.
 
It will be a big dent in wales' wc hopes if they lose this one. If they bounce back they can remain confident as a group and continue their role. Otherwise it's start from square one. We've seen how much difference it makes when a team gets on a roll and just lives off the momentum of confidence and the extra unity that brings. It makes a big difference and had been the key to many a successful run. Wales, Ireland before that, England before that, all blacks severally times, springboks at some point (09?), etc.

If wales lose this then no team will really be on a streak. You could almost argue the Boks have started a streak, and if they beat the all blacks in wc game one they may just have gained enough confidence momentum to go all the way.

It's different in a World Cup though I guess; World Cup nerves can trump almost any level of confidence.
 
As expected Wales name a strong team.

Wales team: Liam Williams (Saracens, 56 Caps); George North (Ospreys, 84 Caps), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets, 74 Caps), Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets, 16 Caps), Josh Adams (Cardiff Blues, 11 Caps); Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, 71 Caps), Gareth Davies (Scarlets, 42 Caps); Nicky Smith (Ospreys, 29 Caps), Ken Owens (Scarlets, 65 Caps), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs, 41 Caps), Jake Ball (Scarlets, 33 Caps), Alun Wyn Jones (C) (Ospreys, 126 Caps), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons, 9 Caps), James Davies (Scarlets, 3 Caps), Ross Moriarty (Dragons, 32 Caps)

Replacements: Elliot Dee (Dragons, 19 Caps), Wyn Jones (Scarlets, 13 Caps), Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Blues, 13 Caps), Aaron Shingler (Scarlets, 18 Caps), Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues, 16 Caps), Aled Davies (Ospreys, 17 Caps), Jarrod Evans (Cardiff Blues, 1 Cap), Owen Watkin (Ospreys, 14 Caps)
 
It will be a big dent in wales' wc hopes if they lose this one. If they bounce back they can remain confident as a group and continue their role. Otherwise it's start from square one. We've seen how much difference it makes when a team gets on a roll and just lives off the momentum of confidence and the extra unity that brings. It makes a big difference and had been the key to many a successful run. Wales, Ireland before that, England before that, all blacks severally times, springboks at some point (09?), etc.

If wales lose this then no team will really be on a streak. You could almost argue the Boks have started a streak, and if they beat the all blacks in wc game one they may just have gained enough confidence momentum to go all the way.

It's different in a World Cup though I guess; World Cup nerves can trump almost any level of confidence.

While I give every credit to Wales for their winning streak and Grand Slam, I never thought they looked unbeatable. They've been the most consistent side this year which is reflected by nearly going no.1. Now with the AB's looking bearable too it throws the world cup right open.
 

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