[RWC19 Warm-Up] - Wales vs England

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

BS... you say you cba to argue but I often see posts by you looking to incite one.

You're logic is all wrong too, if you simply agree with someone, I'd argue a 'like' is all you need to imply that but if you actively disagree... I personally see it as a bit of a spineless move to simply hit 'dislike' and leave the room. You should man up and back your own corner.

Ok fair enough I'll take your advice on board.
You won today, cheer up man x

 

[Scotty]

So late to the party, just watched the game.

One highlight was george norths try from the cross field kick...not because of the try as im English but as that was a clear try for a hooker on the wing ken owens, cruelly poached by a greedy winger.

Deserved win by wales but tbh if we had stole it then not alot would complain, nit a classic but very physical.

We had a 2nd cap 7 and lock at 6 and we wonder why we wernt great at the break down. Wilson curry underhill is a devestating injury list if they arnt available, just like mako.

Youngs is a fast ball vacuum, manu was invisible.

We didn't play great but wales wasnt amazing either.

Tbh daly did pretty well to say he was targeted alot by the high ball.

Wales No.1 in the world rankings for the first time ever. Fair play grest achievement.

Doesnt mean anything in terms of world cup but still it is earned through consistancy and winning matches.

No i dont think it makes them the best team in the world and yes they may lose to teams below them but they have worked hard, won matches and done everything in their power to earn this. Congrats to Wales.

To anyone saying Wales are undesputed top team be quiet.

To anyone saying to means nothing or isnt a big achievement also be quiet.

 

[japitts]

Anyone know why there are no highlights to this match on tv? There was last week

For what it's worth... Sky Sports Action have shown 1hour highlights show twice earlier, and without checking listings, it's probably shown again. BBC tend to show highlights of Sky's live games, but C4 I don't think bother.

Although (I've not seen much of the game beyond the first 25) from the sounds of the chat on here, there may not be much content.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Youngs is probably the worst scrum half of the four home nations IMO.

Tbh other than Conor Murray (who has his own form issues) it's not a particularly strong position for anyone at the moment. An in-form Murray is a miles ahead of anyone else out of the four countries, except for maybe Webb who's obviously out of the picture tight now. Davies is the second best but has his problems, Laidlaw is outrageously slow while Price isn't fully convincing despite definite talent, and Youngs other than the odd game where he looks world class is a bit meh. The backups aren't great either, Marmion is decent and can do a job but will never be top class, Ales Davies is aggressively meh (why Tomos Williams wasn't given more of a shot I don't know) and Heinz literally made his debut last week.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I'd take Youngs over 6n 2019 Murray. Think we'd have had a chance at winning 4 games with Marmion.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Tbh other than Conor Murray (who has his own form issues) it's not a particularly strong position for anyone at the moment. An in-form Murray is a miles ahead of anyone else out of the four countries, except for maybe Webb who's obviously out of the picture tight now. Davies is the second best but has his problems, Laidlaw is outrageously slow while Price isn't fully convincing despite definite talent, and Youngs other than the odd game where he looks world class is a bit meh. The backups aren't great either, Marmion is decent and can do a job but will never be top class, Ales Davies is aggressively meh (why Tomos Williams wasn't given more of a shot I don't know) and Heinz literally made his debut last week.

The stupid thing is Spencer looked decent and yet seems to have fallen out of favour.

This all goes back to what we have been saying for the last 3 years, Jones has had ample opportunity to develop other 9's and squandered caps on Youngs and Care when they weren't performing. His stubborn refusal to even contemplate anyone else is now costing us as our experiences 9 is awful and the backups have no caps.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Anyone know why there are no highlights to this match on tv? There was last week

Log into all 4 app and the full game is on there for free.

 

[Leinster Fan]

I'd take Youngs over 6n 2019 Murray. Think we'd have had a chance at winning 4 games with Marmion.

I agree, hence the in-form caveat. Marmion is a good alternative though, he doesn't jeopardize the team at all and keeps things kicking over when he's playing.

 

[Scotty]

The stupid thing is Spencer looked decent and yet seems to have fallen out of favour.

This all goes back to what we have been saying for the last 3 years, Jones has had ample opportunity to develop other 9's and squandered caps on Youngs and Care when they weren't performing. His stubborn refusal to even contemplate anyone else is now costing us as our experiences 9 is awful and the backups have no caps.

Now i dont know correct numbers and have had a couple to many to look them up so someone correct me but

Youngs - 70+ caps slow delivery and not the same sniping player he used to be, first choice for a failing prem team and not a stand out player. Ford and Cole have both earned ther place from this same team.
,Care - 70+ caps, out of favour, in form for quins and our only other experienced 9.

Spencer - less than 10 caps, overlooked, in form and standing out in a sarries team full of other top players.

Robson - less than 10 caps, playing well and did well in his short cameos, bad luckk with injuries but still behind spencer yet still shouldnt be overlooked.

Heinz - 2nd cap today at 32, solid prem player, had took his chance well but not exactly ripping up trees. Never looked at twice or callex for....Not saying he doesnt deserve a shot but id say he is behind Spencer. Robson was also stepping up.

My point basicly is that the first choice is 70 plus caps with no form and if care is not chosen then next is 1 of 3 players with less than 20 between them and from them he chose the 1 with 0 caps at 32... all this from what? 40 games in charge?

At least with Daly at 15 has multiple caps at 15 and quite alot at wing before that. Not saying daly is a god at 15 but least EJ stuck with his choice.

 

[Brigantine]

Congrats to the new best team in the world!

 

[Scotty]

Congrats to the new best team in the world!

Long may they reign

 

[Rich Taff]

You haven't played our first XV

And you haven't played ours.
Hence the 'we've learnt nothing from these 2 games that we didn't know already'.
Wales won the GS, beating England along the way, but it was a close game.
Aka Wales first XV slightly stronger.
England have proved they can field 2 teams of fairly equal caliber, hence the squad is stronger.
Biggar can kick.
1/2p can kick further.

Not sure how that's confusing.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

All pretty meh. No-one got hurt. We move on.

 

[dullonien]

Poor match. Not sure either side learned much ahead of the wc, apart from that Wales can win ugly, something we already knew! Certainly felt like Wales were the ones dragging the quality down with Biggars endless ******* 'bombs'. It was a massive step back today from an attacking perspective after some encouraging build-up play last week, even if the final pass failed to go to hand. I think i agree with JJ on the Biggar front here, we aren't winning a WC with him pulling all the strings. He's an important cog, but we need one of Evans or Patchell to provide some spark! A missed opportunity today to have a look at Jarrod imo.

Back to the game, real shame for James Davies, although it was great to see Navidi back and looking good as well. The ref really was shite today too. England fans can be understandably miffed by the officiating at the breakdown, although England players were also guilty of lying all over the ball. Thought a number of scrum penalties were very dodgy with Cole appearing to be scrummaging practically horizontally most of the time. One example springs to mind in the second half where cole ends up flat on the floor in the tunnel and England got the penalty! The try was obviously an odd one. The ref certainly signalled for time to resume, but that was odd given Watson was still exiting the field. Unsure about the exact laws re TMO and quick taps etc. but it felt a little off. All credit to Wales and Biggar for taking advantage, but can understand the grumblings from England supporters.

End result was just about a fair reflection of the match, but it's not ideal preparation for the WC having an atritional game like that. Thank **** we didn't endure any obvious injuries (same for England). Gaining the world no. 1 spot after the last 2 games feels a little wrong as well. Great achievement, but would have felt more deserved had it come last week on the back of a 15 match winning streak, rather than after 2 poor/mediocre displays vs a mix and match England side (not to say a mix and match England side is poor).

We've basically got one more game before the squad is announced to decide a number of key selection questions. Who from Lane, Amos and Steff Evs is getting the last back 3 spot? Would have been nice if at least 2 of those were given opportunities in these games v England, especially Lane. Also which of Jarrod and Patchell is riding shotgun (or will Gats take both)? Has Scott Williams recovered, or are we sticking with Watkin? The forwards are maybe a little more sorted, although it's still not clear if Shingler is back up to speed etc. Still feel playing 2 practically full choice sides in these warm-ups have hindered some of this. North and Adams were always on the plane, surely trying Lane in one of the games would have been sensible? Just felt like winning today became more important than preparing for what's coming in 6 weeks time!

 

[bushytop]

Ok fair enough I'll take your advice on board.
You won today, cheer up man x

Will do

 

[bushytop]

To anyone saying Wales are undesputed top team be quiet.

Great post on the whole scotty... and don't worry, no-one worth listening too is saying that, certainly no-one on here... we'll apart from @The Alpha Bro of course

 

[Bada-Bing!]

On the back of these two games Wales to get to the semis and England to the quarters before they both come home after glorious close defeats moaning about a contentious ref decision..

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Wales are undesputed top team

 

[bushytop]

Wales are undesputed top team

Lol

 

[BPM]

And you haven't played ours.
Hence the 'we've learnt nothing from these 2 games that we didn't know already'.
Wales won the GS, beating England along the way, but it was a close game.
Aka Wales first XV slightly stronger.
England have proved they can field 2 teams of fairly equal caliber, hence the squad is stronger.
Biggar can kick.
1/2p can kick further.

Not sure how that's confusing.

I'd say you were a hell of a lot closer to your first XV than we were in either game.

I agree we have better depth, the mix and match side we've fielded over the last two games is not an 'equal caliber' to our first choice side.

Anyway ... hopefully we'll see who has the stronger side in the final! Simultaneously a dream and a nightmare for me. My favourite opponent to beat, my worst opponent to lose to!