Wales v Barbarians

[Welsh Exile]

Looking forward to this. Obviously missing all our English based players (which isn’t insignificant) but genuinely have no idea what the team will be. I’d love to see Rogers at 15 but think he’ll go Murray. Amazing that North is playing for the Ba Baa’s. What a send off for the big guy.

I’d like to see something like:

Thomas Lake Lewis
Carter Teddy Williams
Plumtree Wainwright Morgan

Hardy
Edwards
Murray
Hawkins
James
Grady
Rogers

Bench: Lloyd, Barrett, Warren, Woodman, Botham, Morgan-Williams, Costelow, Mee

Ideally I’d obviously have James at 12 and I’d still have Ioan Lloyd involved over Costelow but that’s not realistic. Team should be announced to the players today.

 

[mackerzz]

I would love to comment, but honestly I don't even know who half those guys are lmao

 

[Welsh Exile]

I would love to comment, but honestly I don't even know who half those guys are lmao

I’d be impressed if you knew half to be honest.

 

[mackerzz]

I’d be impressed if you knew half to be honest.

Welp, now im gonna try;

1. No Idea
2. Dewi Lake
3. No Idea
4. No Idea
5. No Idea
6. Taine Plumtree
7. Aaron Wainright
8. Jac Morgan?
9. Fritz Hardy? (that might be someone else)
10. Dan Edwards
11. No Idea
12. No Idea
13. No Idea
14. Mason Grady
15. Morgan Rogers?
16. Illoan Lloyd (Not how you spell it tho lmao)
17. No Idea
18. No Idea
19. No Idea
20. James Botham?
21. No Idea
22. Sam Costelow
23. Elliot Mee

12 of 23 lmao

 

[Welsh Exile]

Welp, now im gonna try;

1. No Idea
2. Dewi Lake
3. No Idea
4. No Idea
5. No Idea
6. Taine Plumtree
7. Aaron Wainright
8. Jac Morgan?
9. Fritz Hardy? (that might be someone else)
10. Dan Edwards
11. No Idea
12. No Idea
13. No Idea
14. Mason Grady
15. Morgan Rogers?
16. Illoan Lloyd (Not how you spell it tho lmao)
17. No Idea
18. No Idea
19. No Idea
20. James Botham?
21. No Idea
22. Sam Costelow
23. Elliot Mee

12 of 23 lmao

That’s a decent amount.

 

[mackerzz]

That’s a decent amount.

Speaking of that, is Jac Morgan back fit?

 

[Welsh Exile]

Speaking of that, is Jac Morgan back fit?

Yeah. Even though he’s playing for Gloucester next season he’s still eligible for this match (Same with Lake and Wainwright too)

 

[Welsh Exile]

Knew he’d go back to Murray at 15 and stick Rogers on the wing.

Wales men: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Eddie James, Joe Hawkins, Ellis Mee; Dan Edwards, Kieran Hardy; Gareth Thomas, Dewi Lake (c), Dillon Lewis, Ben Carter, Teddy Williams, Taine Plumtree, Jac Morgan, Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements: Ryan Elias, Rhys Barratt, Ben Warren, Ryan Woodman, Harrison Keddie, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Sam Costelow, Mason Grady.

 

[Welsh Exile]

I know I keep banging on about giving Rogers a run of games at 15 but it’s pretty important imo. It seems Murray is going to be first choice full back now but with LRZ saying he won’t play there anymore we clearly need to, at the very least, build some depth there.

Team was as expected pretty much and Tandy and co have got some credit in the bank after the last 3 performances but that won’t stop me complaining about some squad building we need to do. Come on Steve.

 

[dullonien]

Yeah, don't get Murray at fullback. Blah blah, insanity, blah blah, repeating, blah blah, results.

Otherwise I'm relatively happy. Starting backrow could be killer if Plumtree stays on the pitch.

 

[Welsh Exile]

I’m going to say it, not only is Plumtree not going to get a card but he’s not going to give away a single penalty.

I think that’s our strongest backrow until next week when Kane James announces himself on the international stage

 

[mackerzz]

Yeah, don't get Murray at fullback. Blah blah, insanity, blah blah, repeating, blah blah, results.

Otherwise I'm relatively happy. Starting backrow could be killer if Plumtree stays on the pitch.

What's wrong with Murray? In the little I've watched of him, he looks dangerous in attack. Just maybe a little susceptible on defence

 

[Welsh Exile]

What's wrong with Murray? In the little I've watched of him, he looks dangerous in attack. Just maybe a little susceptible on defence

He’s a good player just a bit **** under the high ball. Also, he’s got genuine pace whereas Rogers, who has decent full back pace, has not got winger speed like Murray so in my opinion wrong on more than one level. I like Murray though.

 

[Welsh Exile]

FFS, Tshiunza ineligible for Wales as it was deemed he had competitive offers from Cardiff and Ospreys. Tandy all but confirming he would’ve been in the squad as well. I’d love to know how they define competitive. Let’s say Sale offer him £200k pa, is Ospreys offering £150k competitive? is £160k?

****** me off that has.

 

[mackerzz]

FFS, Tshiunza ineligible for Wales as it was deemed he had competitive offers from Cardiff and Ospreys. Tandy all but confirming he would’ve been in the squad as well. I’d love to know how they define competitive. Let’s say Sale offer him £200k pa, is Ospreys offering £150k competitive? is £160k?

****** me off that has.

What is Wales eligibility laws? Can you not play for Wales if you are at a foreign club?

 

[Welsh Exile]

What is Wales eligibility laws? Can you not play for Wales if you are at a foreign club?

Not if you have less than 25 Wales caps. A way round this, as we have seen with Jarrod Evans, is that if a player was not offered a competitive offer by a Welsh region then they are still eligible for wales even with less than 25 caps but in Tshiunza’s case the have said he had 2 competitive offers on the table but chose Sale.

It’s BS. If he was offered the same money he would’ve gone back to Wales. I’m sure of it. But rugby is a short career and it’s not like you earn millions a year or anything. Don’t get me wrong *£200k pa is good money obviously but it’s a short career. Even if Cardiff only offered £10k/£20k a year less, why should he take that? £20k is a lot of money.

*I have no idea what his wage at Sale is obviously.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Surely the fact that it wasn't known of Regional Rugby would still exist, as we know it, when he got those offers means that they're not competitive?

 

[mackerzz]

Not if you have less than 25 Wales caps. A way round this, as we have seen with Jarrod Evans, is that if a player was not offered a competitive offer by a Welsh region then they are still eligible for wales even with less than 25 caps but in Tshiunza’s case the have said he had 2 competitive offers on the table but chose Sale.

It’s BS. If he was offered the same money he would’ve gone back to Wales. I’m sure of it. But rugby is a short career and it’s not like you earn millions a year or anything. Don’t get me wrong *£200k pa is good money obviously but it’s a short career. Even if Cardiff only offered £10k/£20k a year less, why should he take that? £20k is a lot of money.

*I have no idea what his wage at Sale is obviously.

What a load of bulshit. Wales have barely enough players to beat Korea, why would you make some of them ineligible

 

[Welsh Exile]

Surely the fact that it wasn't known of Regional Rugby would still exist, as we know it, when he got those offers means that they're not competitive?

Especially the Ospreys. I mean, come on. lol.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Thankfully he’s only on a 1 year deal so could still be available for the WC but he shouldn’t be in this **** situation. I’d rather he stay at Sale anyway, assuming he was successful there, why make him come back? He’s got a decent amount of caps under his belt. He looks like he’s in decent form and just scored a move to a new challenge with Sale. Let him crack on and hopefully continue to improve which benefits Wales.

 

[dullonien]

Not if you have less than 25 Wales caps. A way round this, as we have seen with Jarrod Evans, is that if a player was not offered a competitive offer by a Welsh region then they are still eligible for wales even with less than 25 caps but in Tshiunza’s case the have said he had 2 competitive offers on the table but chose Sale.

It’s BS. If he was offered the same money he would’ve gone back to Wales. I’m sure of it. But rugby is a short career and it’s not like you earn millions a year or anything. Don’t get me wrong *£200k pa is good money obviously but it’s a short career. Even if Cardiff only offered £10k/£20k a year less, why should he take that? £20k is a lot of money.

*I have no idea what his wage at Sale is obviously.

I don't quite agree with this take tbh. I'm not too fussed if the caps rule is retained or not, but lots of other players have sacrificed a little salary to remain eligible for Wales, and let's face it, he'd more than make up the loss with international match fees if he returned to the international fold (unless the disparity was huge).

So whilst I don't like the fact that we're hamstringing ourselves by reducing our options, Tshiunza still had a valid choice to return to Wales by the sound of it, thus making sure he would be available for international selection. That's the choice he's made though, and I won't begrudge him from making it, but I also don't think we should feel sorry for him in any way.

 

[dullonien]

What's wrong with Murray? In the little I've watched of him, he looks dangerous in attack. Just maybe a little susceptible on defence

He's just atrocially poor under the high ball, to the point that he's been a complete liability in some games. The rest of his game is good though, and he does have a good left foot from the back to relieve pressure.

As Exile says, I just don't understand why you wouldn't switch him to wing and try Rogers at fullback, who's strong in that department. I just don't get it at all, it just seems so obvious to me.

 

[Welsh Exile]

I don't quite agree with this take tbh. I'm not too fussed if the caps rule is retained or not, but lots of other players have sacrificed a little salary to remain eligible for Wales, and let's face it, he'd more than make up the loss with international match fees if he returned to the international fold (unless the disparity was huge).

So whilst I don't like the fact that we're hamstringing ourselves by reducing our options, Tshiunza still had a valid choice to return to Wales by the sound of it, thus making sure he would be available for international selection. That's the choice he's made though, and I won't begrudge him from making it, but I also don't think we should feel sorry for him in any way.

It’s hard to say without knowing what the offer was. For all we know he got offered £70/£80k pa less, maybe more. But yeah, if he was only offered £5/£10k less then it’s different but I reckon he comes back if that was the offer.

I just don’t like the vagueness of “competitive” to me that should be pretty much the same as what Sale offered him and call me a cynic but I have a sneaking suspicion Cardiff would’ve been a decent amount less. As Olly said, you don’t even know if your employer will be around in a year or 2.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Absolutely terrible rugby being played in front of about 15 people, at what point do they just bin the Barbarians?

Save it for big anniversaries/a bit more prestige in it rather than just scraping together a bunch of players who can't be arsed and forcing games every international series when there's no appetite for it

 

[Bluemoon]

He's just atrocially poor under the high ball, to the point that he's been a complete liability in some games. The rest of his game is good though, and he does have a good left foot from the back to relieve pressure.

As Exile says, I just don't understand why you wouldn't switch him to wing and try Rogers at fullback, who's strong in that department. I just don't get it at all, it just seems so obvious to me.

I was sat at the end of the pitch at the Wales-England drubbing in the 6N - that game highlighted this completely to everyone. Class moments in attack, but so so poor in defence due to size and ability in the air. Him and Winnet both have a height issue at this level.

 

[OllyM97]

Absolutely terrible rugby being played in front of about 15 people, at what point do they just bin the Barbarians?

Save it for big anniversaries/a bit more prestige in it rather than just scraping together a bunch of players who can't be arsed and forcing games every international series when there's no appetite for it

Yeah, agree with that. Wales won and some of the fringe players got a run-out but overall not the best spectacle. Agree with the Barbarians thing as well. They’ve absolutely milked it to death now.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Very rusty performance but we’re 2 from 2 baby.

 

[dullonien]

Pretty poor game really, in front of a pretty abysmal crowd. But we probably really needed that before heading into the next block of games.

We looked decent at times, with nice tip on passes on the gain line putting players into space. Last pass let us down on occasion, and we left a few try's out there.

Hopefully we'll be all the better for it next week v Fiji.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Pretty poor game really, in front of a pretty abysmal crowd. But we probably really needed that before heading into the next block of games.

We looked decent at times, with nice tip on passes on the gain line putting players into space. Last pass let us down on occasion, and we left a few try's out there.

Hopefully we'll be all the better for it next week v Fiji.

Yeah, was the perfect game to blow away some cobwebs plus the best LH and second best LH in the world as well as Jenkins, LRZ and Tomos Williams to come back into that squad.

However, the best thing about this game is, it seems clear to me, that Tandy has finally heeded my emails and Mann won’t get a look in now. Plumtree offers soooo much more, plus we’ve got Kane James to come in and establish himself as the best in the world

 

[dullonien]

Yeah, I really like Plumtree. His presence at the lineout adds real value, and he's so dynamic ball in hand. You might have been correct in your prediction beforehand @Welsh Exile, he may not have given any pens away!

We still have huge issues in the back 3. Rogers was poor yesterday, although Mee did look dangerous on occasion. Murray is excellent ball in hand, but we know know he's a liability in the air. I still don't understand Dyer being left out - he's better than all the other wingers in the squad!

Still not sure about the centre balance either. Hawkins did some good things, but for a bloke his size his tackling is down right poor! He should be smashing people like Henson used to do. James is possibly a bit wasted at 13.