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Wales v Australia
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<blockquote data-quote="dullonien" data-source="post: 352184" data-attributes="member: 13739"><p>We've certainly got a bit of a problem at 8. Jonathan Thomas was quite frankly useless today and considering he was playing behind a pack on the front foot, that's disapointing. Gatland's already made it clear that Ryan Jones will be back when fit, so it'll probably be him slotting in at 8 next week. He would have certainly done better than JT today. However, I'd be seriously tempted to play Andy Powell, as it's obvious Lydiate and Warburton can deal with the workload just fine, that frees up space for a ball running 8 like Powell, who can explode off the back of our solid scrum and make some hard yards.</p><p> </p><p>Here's my player ratings for Wales:</p><p> </p><p>01 Gethin Jenkins : 9. Excellent in the tight dominating the scrum and acting like another flanker around the fieild.</p><p>02 Mathew Rees : 8. Part of an effective front row. Good lineout throwing, prominent ball carrier.</p><p>03 Adam Jones : 8. Excellent scrummaging.</p><p>04 Bradley Davies : 7. Carried the ball well and was our best lineout option. Worked hard all game.</p><p>05 Alun-Wyn Jones : 7. Getting back to his best.</p><p>06 Dan Lydiate : 6/7. Worked hard and grafter all game.</p><p>07 Sam Warburton : 8. gave away three penalties at the start, but most good opensides do as they get a feel for the ref. Excellent at the breakdown.</p><p>08 Jonathan Thomas : 3. What did he do all game?</p><p> </p><p>09 Mike Phillips : 5. Still think he's a bit slow getting the ball out. Physical yes, but didn't get very far with that aspect of his game today. Some decent box-kicking, but too much of it?</p><p>10 Stephen Jones : 5. One of his poorer performances. Missed two easy kicks by his standards and didn't get the backline moving. Poor kicking out of hand.</p><p>11 Shane Williams : 3. Worst game for years. Didn't have much chance with ball in hand, granted. Poor defense though really let him down.</p><p>12 Andrew Bishop : 7. Best of the backs. Awesome in defense and ran hard. Was part of an uncreative midfield, not his fault though.</p><p>13 Tom Shanklin : 6. Also good in defense, and made some yards in attack. Doesn't work alongside Bish though, again not his fault. Got yellow carded!</p><p>14 Will Harries : 4. Struggled physically. Couple of good runs at the end showing his pace and potential.</p><p>15 James Hook : 5. Isn't a fullback sorry, so matter how versatile he is. Doesn't offer any threat from so deep. Did ok defensively, but was also guilty of some poor kicking.</p><p> </p><p>16 Paul James : -. Not long enough to make an impact.</p><p>17 Huw Bennett : 4. Lineout went to pot after he came on. C'mon Gatland, realise he's useless already!</p><p>18 Deiniol Jones : 4. Only thing I noticed him doing was knocking on the first lineout throw that went his way!</p><p>19 Martyn Williams : 7. First act was to turn the ball over. Offered something different in attack, and made some yards.</p><p>20 Richie Rees : 8. Scored a try and helped speed the Welsh game up.</p><p>21 Dan Biggar : 7. Had a positive impact for once, but didn't do all that much. Thought his distribution was a little quicker and more precise than Jones' today.</p><p>22 Chris Czekaj : -. 5 mins on the field. No chance to show anything really.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="dullonien, post: 352184, member: 13739"] We've certainly got a bit of a problem at 8. Jonathan Thomas was quite frankly useless today and considering he was playing behind a pack on the front foot, that's disapointing. Gatland's already made it clear that Ryan Jones will be back when fit, so it'll probably be him slotting in at 8 next week. He would have certainly done better than JT today. However, I'd be seriously tempted to play Andy Powell, as it's obvious Lydiate and Warburton can deal with the workload just fine, that frees up space for a ball running 8 like Powell, who can explode off the back of our solid scrum and make some hard yards. Here's my player ratings for Wales: 01 Gethin Jenkins : 9. Excellent in the tight dominating the scrum and acting like another flanker around the fieild. 02 Mathew Rees : 8. Part of an effective front row. Good lineout throwing, prominent ball carrier. 03 Adam Jones : 8. Excellent scrummaging. 04 Bradley Davies : 7. Carried the ball well and was our best lineout option. Worked hard all game. 05 Alun-Wyn Jones : 7. Getting back to his best. 06 Dan Lydiate : 6/7. Worked hard and grafter all game. 07 Sam Warburton : 8. gave away three penalties at the start, but most good opensides do as they get a feel for the ref. Excellent at the breakdown. 08 Jonathan Thomas : 3. What did he do all game? 09 Mike Phillips : 5. Still think he's a bit slow getting the ball out. Physical yes, but didn't get very far with that aspect of his game today. Some decent box-kicking, but too much of it? 10 Stephen Jones : 5. One of his poorer performances. Missed two easy kicks by his standards and didn't get the backline moving. Poor kicking out of hand. 11 Shane Williams : 3. Worst game for years. Didn't have much chance with ball in hand, granted. Poor defense though really let him down. 12 Andrew Bishop : 7. Best of the backs. Awesome in defense and ran hard. Was part of an uncreative midfield, not his fault though. 13 Tom Shanklin : 6. Also good in defense, and made some yards in attack. Doesn't work alongside Bish though, again not his fault. Got yellow carded! 14 Will Harries : 4. Struggled physically. Couple of good runs at the end showing his pace and potential. 15 James Hook : 5. Isn't a fullback sorry, so matter how versatile he is. Doesn't offer any threat from so deep. Did ok defensively, but was also guilty of some poor kicking. 16 Paul James : -. Not long enough to make an impact. 17 Huw Bennett : 4. Lineout went to pot after he came on. C'mon Gatland, realise he's useless already! 18 Deiniol Jones : 4. Only thing I noticed him doing was knocking on the first lineout throw that went his way! 19 Martyn Williams : 7. First act was to turn the ball over. Offered something different in attack, and made some yards. 20 Richie Rees : 8. Scored a try and helped speed the Welsh game up. 21 Dan Biggar : 7. Had a positive impact for once, but didn't do all that much. Thought his distribution was a little quicker and more precise than Jones' today. 22 Chris Czekaj : -. 5 mins on the field. No chance to show anything really. [/QUOTE]
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