Wales v France

[RC]

It will be quite funny to look back on, but why should we hold our tongues for having confidence in our team and for being patriotic?

I'm not saying, "Yeah, we're gonna win. No doubt. France don't have a chance."
That's the last sentence i'd ever think of saying.
Those guys can seriously f*** it up for us. But I have faith in Wales - and we don't often get the chance to sing and shout and have confidence in our boys, so we should take this opportunity to do so.
I see nothing wrong in that.

 

[Sir Speedy]

There's no point watching the game with the attitude that your team is going to lose. Being pessimistic is epic boring!

 

[Macsen]

There's no point watching the game with the attitude that your team is going to lose. Being pessimistic is epic boring! [/b]

I'm just trying to dampen expectations. I don't want to have to swim back to my house on Saturday because of all the QQ going on.

 

[Sir Speedy]

To be honest, I've become so accustomed to my team losing, as a Llanelli supporter and Wales supporter at the World Cup, that a loss on Saturday wouldn't surprise or hurt me.

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But we aren't going to lose.
:bleh!:

 

[MunsterMan]

France by 19.

 

[An Tarbh]

France by 19.
[/b]

and that'll more than likely get the job done for Les Bleus.

 

[Macsen]

This '20 points or 19 if they have scored more tries' is a bit silly. Since both teams are tied on 11 tries at the moment, how are France not going to have scored more tries if they are 19 points ahead?

Anyway, it's all hypothetical. Stop mocking us with nightmare scenarios for your own amusement.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Jeez, are the Irish still pretending they know anything about good rugby? Thought it would have dawned on them by now, ahh well 1948 is in the bag so they have all the bragging rights.

<div class='quotemain'>
<div class='quotemain'>I'm not saying it devalues the championship, but I'd hold off on the "we are world beaters" for a while.[/b]

Erm... who said we were world beaters?
[/b][/quote]
I think it was the" watch out Kiwis we are coming for you " joke line from captain morgan he was refering to.
[/b][/quote]
Well actually it was more of a compliment to the kiwis than a brag that we could beat them.

 

[Stillknox]

<div class='quotemain'>
France's XV:

Floch; Clerc, Jauzion, Traille, Malzieu; Skrela, Elissalde; Dusautoir, Bonnaire, Ouedraogo ; Thion, Nallet (cap.); Mas, Szarzewski, Barcella.

Remplaçants: Poux, Servat, Mela, Vermeulen, Yachvili, Trinh-Duc , Heymans.

Some surprises here: no Heymans/Clerc association, Skrela instead of Trinh-Duc, Barcella still there, no real number eight with Bonnaire... (excellent player, but he's more a flanker to me)

It's funny to see that Wales put the fly half youngster on the field, while France brings back some experience with Skrela... but it's fine with me. Trinh-Duc was good for his first tournament but our best game in attack was the one with Skrela on the field...
[/b]

Is Lievremont mad in putting an inexperienced youngster at fullback when the Clerc/Heymans combinations has been working like a dream? :huh:
As for Skrela, I'd be happy to see him crack into pieces under pressure from our forwards as he did against Argentina. :bleh!: Although I don't see it happening, I'm sure Gatland and Edwards will want our forwards to crush Skrela's confidence into grains of dust! "JUST SMASH 'EM!"
With Floch, I'm expecting him to be showered in unrelenting high balls from Hook and Henson (perhaps), and you never know, a small mistake from him could pay off for us in the end.
Martyn Williams will need to be at his best to stop Dusautoir, and I can't wait to see the clash between Clerc and Ickle Shane.
BRING IT, LES BLEUS! [/b][/quote]

I'm not scared about him, Floch is a confident young man, especially with his mate Malzieu around him. And he has the advantage of being a true fullback. I think he's better under high balls than Heymans, he's got a better kick too... but Heymans has more pace and 'explosivity', that's for sure. But he seems less competitive since two ou three games... he had no rest after the World Cup and he played almost every match for Toulouse, I think he might began to grow tired. But he can be a real impact player, at wing or fullback...

As a supporter of Stade Français I think that Skrela is a lot more mature now. He was ok in the big games this season, in H-Cup or with les Bleus against Ireland... and he's better than Trinh-Duc at directing the game, better kicker too, for a game like that I don't see a better option.

By the way, two little stats:
- Wales has never beaten France at the Millenium
- Shane Williams never scored a try against France



I don't think Welshmen here are overconfident but things like "If we play as usual, we'll win" are wrong to me. France is by far the best team after Wales in this tournament, especially with a less experimental squad like that so Wales will need to raise his level to win this one imo.

 

[Macsen]

By the way, two little stats:
- Wales has never beaten France at the Millenium
- Shane Williams never scored a try against France[/b]

- Wales haven't beaten England at Twickenham for 20 years

- Wales haven't beaten Ireland at Dublin for 8 years

- Shane Williams has never scored a try against Ireland



'Stats' thrown at Wales over the last few months that mattered not a jot on the day.

 

[DonBilly]

<div class='quotemain'>
By the way, two little stats:
- Wales has never beaten France at the Millenium
- Shane Williams never scored a try against France[/b]

- Wales haven't beaten England at Twickenham for 20 years

- Wales haven't beaten Ireland at Dublin for 8 years

- Shane Williams has never scored a try against Ireland



'Stats' thrown at Wales over the last few months that mattered not a jot on the day.

[/b][/quote]

Well this shows that Wales peaks every now and then but has not managed so far to maintain at high level. Nevertheless you're right nothing lasts forever in Rugby world and Wales can complete their second Grand Slam in 4 seasons. We'll see soon wether the depth of Welsh Rugby is sufficient to maintain Wales at the top of the NH Rugby.

 

[Macsen]

Don't recall Clerc scoring a try against Wales either btw... not in the six nations anyway?

 

[Stillknox]

Well Clerc has not played so much games under Laporte, he's not our star winger since 5 years and he's not our only argument in the backline !

But I know these stats means nothing, that's juste a little provocation, it's always funny before a great game

 

[Macsen]

that's juste a little provocation, it's always funny before a great game[/b]

Provoke us into what? As far as I know no one from the Rugby Forum is playing for Wales on Saturday, so such 'mind games' are unlikely to have any effect in this case.

 

[bman2112]

France will win this game - I think they're going to show everyone that they are the best team in the championship if the coach had picked the best side week in week out.

Wales have done very well this championship, however in my opinion the French are simply a better side and will prove it on Saturday.

 

[dullonien]

<div class='quotemain'>that's juste a little provocation, it's always funny before a great game[/b]

Provoke us into what? As far as I know no one from the Rugby Forum is playing for Wales on Saturday, so such 'mind games' are unlikely to have any effect in this case.

[/b][/quote]

I think he meant banter, nothing wrong with a bit of banter before a game.

 

[loratadine]

ok soo i was one of the few people who predicted a grand slame for wales before the tournament started.. but i say that every year lol

sooo here my prediction


wales 33
france 18

 

[Incredible Schalk]

There's no point watching the game with the attitude that your team is going to lose. Being pessimistic is epic boring!
[/b]

Why not? the watcher has no control over the game whatsoever plus its better when a team wins unexpectedly.

 

[dullonien]

ok soo i was one of the few people who predicted a grand slame for wales before the tournament started.. but i say that every year lol [/b]

lol, nice when it comes off though!

 

[erwanseb]

France to win the game but Wales to win the tournament.

I am not even sure a grand slam would benefit Wales, player power again, Lions dispute (although this time I do not see many english players in the Lion side), Henson saga,.....

It is just like Wales can't manage success and needs to be brought back to earth to achieve something.

Maybe they should try to keep the wooden spoon until 2011, and who knows they might win the thing.