Wales v NZ

[IT157]

New Zealand by a lot.

And the haka done as respect to Adam Beard. The only Welsh player who would get in this New Zealand team.

 

[OllyM97]

You know the s**** has really hit the fan when, as an Englishman, I don't know if I actually want to watch Wales get annihilated here. In Gatland mark 1 I would always enjoy Wales getting mullered by New Zealand time after time, it was almost cathartic. Wales are +30 at the bookies and I fear that the All Blacks will overturn that with plenty to spare. If the ABs are on it they could hit 80.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Think I’d rip up the team sheet for this one. The only question is how much do we lose by. It’d be a win to keep the loss to 20-25 points (especially if we score a few tries like we did against Argentina) but we could obviously lose by more than that, and probably will.

With that in mind I kind of think **** it, who cares if we lose 40-20 or 60-15. Sure, one scoreline is more acceptable but I’d rather blood some players like Deaves, Hennessy and Morse and see what they can do. Rhys Davies obviously needs to start over Beard.

I doubt there will be that many changes though to be honest. Adams is out so a change has to be made there at least.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Yay Deaves. Boooo Beard.

Wales: Blair Murray; Louis Rees-Zammit, Max Llewellyn, Joe Hawkins, Tom Rogers; Dan Edwards, Tomos Williams; Rhys Carre, Dewi Lake (capt), Keiron Assiratti, Dafydd Jenkins, Adam Beard, Alex Mann, Harri Deaves, Aaron Wainwright

Replacements: Brodie Coghlan, Gareth Thomas, Archie Griffin, Freddie Thomas, Taine Plumtree, Kieran Hardy, Jarrod Evans, Nick Tompkins

 

[Welsh Exile]

Also, while I’m glad Edwards has played reasonably well and I’m more than happy for him to carry on being developed but Evans won’t be available for the SA match and I thought this game would be a good opportunity to give Evans a start but wtf do I know.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Cracknell dropped for daring to break Wales losing stream on his first start

 

[Welsh Exile]

Cracknell dropped for daring to break Wales losing stream on his first start

Tandy must've smoked some crack to even select Cracknell in the squad. You see what I did there?

 

[BenniMarco]

Cracknell injured.

Good to see Hawkins given a chance - Deaves too.

 

[OllyM97]

Yay Deaves. Boooo Beard.

Wales: Blair Murray; Louis Rees-Zammit, Max Llewellyn, Joe Hawkins, Tom Rogers; Dan Edwards, Tomos Williams; Rhys Carre, Dewi Lake (capt), Keiron Assiratti, Dafydd Jenkins, Adam Beard, Alex Mann, Harri Deaves, Aaron Wainwright

Replacements: Brodie Coghlan, Gareth Thomas, Archie Griffin, Freddie Thomas, Taine Plumtree, Kieran Hardy, Jarrod Evans, Nick Tompkins

Wales won’t win, of course they won’t - but that team shouldn’t be getting 70 or 80 put on them either. There’s enough there to be competitive for spells of this game. It shouldn’t be a total annihilation.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Wales won't win, of course they won't - but that team shouldn't be getting 70 or 80 put on them either. There's enough there to be competitive for spells of this game. It shouldn't be a total annihilation.

We shouldn’t be desperately clinging onto 12th and struggling to beat Japan at home. Our side is limited but is good enough to have competitive games with sides ranked 7th-11th.

I still think we have quite a few very good players but coaching is **** in wales and Tandy is an uninspiring choice. Pat Lam would’ve got the most out of these boys.

 

[Bluemoon]

The welsh back row during the haka.

 

[Welsh Exile]

The New Zealand All Blacks aren't going to know what's hit them when Deaves plays this weekend. I'm actually buzzing now, yeah sure, Beard is still playing but at least Thomas has been dropped and Adams can't play.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Morse is an actual stud. Way more than Mann is. Don't know why we don’t give the kid a crack.

 

[Welsh Exile]

I bet the NZ press are running non stop articles on Harri Deaves and are **** scared. I’m actually buzzing to watch this now. @dirty harry you should watch it mate. Deaves is going to make us proud. Think we’ll keep the loss inside 20 points. Let’s go.

 

[dirty harry]

I bet the NZ press are running non stop articles on Harri Deaves and are **** scared. I'm actually buzzing to watch this now. @dirty harry you should watch it mate. Deaves is going to make us proud. Think we'll keep the loss inside 20 points. Let's go.

Deaves in to start, thats one of my gripes!!!

WHen picking your squad you have to donit with contingencies, if Morgan goes down your back up 7 is Mann, if your replacement 6 goes down then use one of Morse or Plumtree, call up Deaves but give him time to settle.

Tandy is 4 weeks and 2 games in and hes made a decision that at best doesnt give Deaves a platform to succeed, at worst destroys his confidence etc...

Pivac did the same thing with Mcleod, brought him in, bigged him up and destroyed him with a public lack of trust. Players who lack international experience need to be introduced, not thrown into key decision making positions against the All Blacks ffs.

Look at how Pollock is being managed, it would be so easy for him to be thrown in, but hes being given access to key moments. I cant help but view the situations similarly.

And thats without considering the messaging your sending to Mann, your back up 7, until needed then ill bring in anyone else i can to play there in front of you!

When your in a rut consistency is king, Mann wont be a world class 6, we know this, Mann 6 to 7 to 6 (probably to 7 again) wont help the individual or the small unit.

 

[dullonien]

Don't really agree there dirty Harry. Deaves has shown enough for long enough at the Ospreys to suggest he's ready. Basham came in against the same opposition a few years back and played the house down.

Perhaps I agree that Deaves won't have the best platform to shine, he'd be better paired with a big abrasive 6, and an 8 in better form than Wainwright, but I'm still backing him to shine as he's a great all round player.

Mann has also proved some people wrong imo. He was excellent last week, and as you said he wasn't as bad v Arg as I initially thought. I still think he's a little small for 6, but his attitude and dog elevstes him slightly.

Edit. This side is getting closer to the one I want to see. Beard or Jenkins need replacing with a lock who's willing to carry some ball. Llewellyn has yet to prove anything. Murray should not be at fullback. This is a huge step in the right direction though!

 

[Welsh Exile]

Don't really agree there dirty Harry. Deaves has shown enough for long enough at the Ospreys to suggest he's ready. Basham came in against the same opposition a few years back and played the house down.

Perhaps I agree that Deaves won't have the best platform to shine, he'd be better paired with a big abrasive 6, and an 8 in better form than Wainwright, but I'm still backing him to shine as he's a great all round player.

Mann has also proved some people wrong imo. He was excellent last week, and as you said he wasn't as bad v Arg as I initially thought. I still think he's a little small for 6, but his attitude and dog elevstes him slightly.

Edit. This side is getting closer to the one I want to see. Beard or Jenkins need replacing with a lock who's willing to carry some ball. Llewellyn has yet to prove anything. Murray should not be at fullback. This is a huge step in the right direction though!

I agree with most of this except Mann was not excellent last week. Nobody was excellent last week, not even close to it in my opinion. Evans’ 90 second cameo to win the game was probably the closest but that was 90 seconds.

I agree Mann was arguably our best player last week, though, which says it all about where we are at the moment.

 

[dullonien]

I agree with most of this except Mann was not excellent last week. Nobody was excellent last week, not even close to it in my opinion. Evans' 90 second cameo to win the game was probably the closest but that was 90 seconds.

I agree Mann was arguably our best player last week, though, which says it all about where we are at the moment.

Yeah, fair enough.

One thing a mate has pointed out to me, none of Beard, Daf Jenkins or Freddie Thomas will be available next week v SA, so we'll be going into that game with a lock pairing and bench who have had zero minutes this autumn! That's just silly. Why not bring Rhys Davies and/or Fender into the match day 23 v NZ to at least get some gametime, especially given the current lot haven't performed.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Yeah, fair enough.

One thing a mate has pointed out to me, none of Beard, Daf Jenkins or Freddie Thomas will be available next week v SA, so we'll be going into that game with a lock pairing and bench who have had zero minutes this autumn! That's just silly. Why not bring Rhys Davies and/or Fender into the match day 23 v NZ to at least get some gametime, especially given the current lot haven't performed.

Yeah I was saying this to my brother when Tandy called up Deaves and Warren. I was like, why are we not calling up locks or, as you rightly say, playing Davies and Fender before being thrown in at the deep end against SA.

I feel like this weekend was the chance to have a proper look at Evans before he goes back to Quins as well.

 

[dullonien]

Yeah I was saying this to my brother when Tandy called up Deaves and Warren. I was like, why are we not calling up locks or, as you rightly say, playing Davies and Fender before being thrown in at the deep end against SA.

I feel like this weekend was the chance to have a proper look at Evans before he goes back to Quins as well.

I'm personally happy that Tandy has given the vote of confidence to Dan Edwards, basically saying to him that he's his 10 as he builds towards the WC. Hopefully Jarrod sees some good gametime off the bench though, unless Edwards is playing a blinder and the game is somehow in the balance...