Wales

[danny]

I must admit the debacle Wales find themselves in doesnt suprise me.
For too long the Welsh have drowned themselves in the overwhelming tide which is Grand Slam 2005. In a way it reminds me of the Lions in New Zealand for the first test, picked for former glories. The only diference being this was a diferent coach to the Grand Slam.
Now only the most bias of Welsh supporters could keep faith with the weakest pack in Welsh rugby history. Gareth Thomas was a decent player but now he has become an embaressment,James Hook is not the finished article(one day he just might be),Shane Williams is a one trick pony and Stephen Jones wouldnt get into most colts sides. The other two aint bad!
Wales have always struggled to find top players but made up for it in passion. Now it seems the imaginary Dragon has lost its puff.
I am the truth ........................................................................................................ believe me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol2tn:

 

[Hamster]

They have good players just play crap as a team.

Shane Williams is a gun. Awesome player. Stephen Jones aint a bad player either.

And I rate Charvis.

 

[DC]

I must admit the debacle Wales find themselves in doesnt suprise me.
For too long the Welsh have drowned themselves in the overwhelming tide which is Grand Slam 2005. In a way it reminds me of the Lions in New Zealand for the first test, picked for former glories. The only diference being this was a diferent coach to the Grand Slam.
Now only the most bias of Welsh supporters could keep faith with the weakest pack in Welsh rugby history. Gareth Thomas was a decent player but now he has become an embaressment,James Hook is not the finished article(one day he just might be),Shane Williams is a one trick pony and Stephen Jones wouldnt get into most colts sides. The other two aint bad!
Wales have always struggled to find top players but made up for it in passion. Now it seems the imaginary Dragon has lost its puff.
I am the truth ........................................................................................................ believe me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol2tn: [/b]

You're an idiot.

Shane Williams is miles better than anything england has to offer im still trying to figure out how shane with his 35 odd tries in 51 caps is a one trick pony... you have me perplexed

Stephen Jones is still a good player at 10, not as good as he once was, but he can still get it done when he is on form

James hook isnt the finished article yet and shouldnt be played at 12, that should be reserved for Gav..

You fail to realize that most welsh supporters love their team very much and arent some bandwagoners who only stand up and cheer for their country when they actually win.

 

[Ripper]

Shane Williams stinks.

The End.

 

[nam97]

Shane Williams stinks.

The End.
[/b]

Yes. Yes he does. And Charvis is a lard ass who has never been a decent player in my opinion. Hook is over rated and I doubt he will ever become the complete package with all those average players he has to put up with. And against popular Northern Hemisphere belief, Dwayne Peel is not the best half back in the world.

Wales has got some major work to do, and it can start with the axing of Jenkins.

 

[esoj]

well the welsh team was certainly talked up on here by some supporters before the world cup and they simply did not deliever. wales are a mess and have been for a good couple of years. some serious rebuilding defintely needs to happen over the next few years before the next world cup

 

[aussie_pride]

Id like to all add a 'where do wales go from here' section to this topic. For me their problems lie in their speed around the ruck and the lack of counter-rucking. I just think with the speed at which the South-Hemisphere teams are now playing at, the Northern Hemisphere teams are getting left for dead. As an Australian, I love watching Wales and you could say they are my second favorite team. However, after seeing their performances at the end of the 2003 World Cup and at the 2005 Six Nations, I had them down as semi-finalists. They need a southern hemisphere coach to come in and improve their rucking, line outs and general flair.

What they need is to select back rowers who are slightly-less bulky than the the traditional back rower but have a bit more speed. I think that will help them at the break down. Defensively they are in shambles. Im not sure if its their defence coach or simply the fact that he Welsh forwards aren't natural tacklers but that is one problem that needs to be addressed.

Below ive selected a team for the upcoming 6-Nations for Wales. Now I dont expect half of you guys to agree with me but im selecting this team based on who I think is the best player for the position. I also dont believe that Wales should throw in a whole heap of youngsters into the forward pack. The front row is fine except Matthew Rees needs to improve his line out throwing as does T-R Thomas. Id recall Iestyn Thomas because I think he is a terrific scrummager and a reliable player. Brent Cockbain should come back into the second row because he is one of the best ball carriers in the welsh set up and is a terrific line out jumper. Alun-Wyn Jones is the future of Welsh Rugby and has had a decent world cup. Ryan Jones is also a terrific young player as is Gavin Thomas who id be rotating with Colin Charvis.

Stephen Jones just holds onto his position for me and id partner him with Gareth Cooper because I do think those two work well in combination. For mine, Dwayne Peel may be the no. 1 half back but hes out of form at the moment. The backline remains pretty much the same, except Gavin Henson comes into the team. I think hes the one player that Wales really need to build their team around. Hes a match winner and on his day hes probably the best inside centre in the world. Ideally, I would love to have a centre combination of Hook and Henson but I just think Wales is too suspect in defence to play such a combination. They would be awesome in attack but horrible in defence. Id be developing their defence so Wales can play that combination. Ive got a question mark over Mark Jones because I think their are other wingers who could do more than him, although he isnt a bad player. Aled Brew or Chris Czekaj?? I wouldnt drop Gareth Thomas just yet because I think Wales need his experience until they find a winning team and build a squad that is capable of challenging the best teams in the world. I still think hes playing well enough to hold his spot and hes probably ones of the best defensive backs in the world.

The bench comprises of seasoned players who will come on and do a job. I think those players I have selected for the bench are reliable players who may not have an impact but wont give anything away.


Iestyn Thomas
Matthew Rees
Adam Jones
Brent Cockbain
Alun-Wyn Jones
Colin Charvis (with Gavin Thomas ready to take over in the not too distant future)
Ryan Jones
Jonathan Thomas
Gareth Cooper
Stephen Jones
Shane Williams
Gavin Henson
Tom Shanklin
Mark Jones/Aled Brew/Chris Czekaj
Gareth Thomas (Lee Byrne of Kevin Morgan to come in when he retires)

Replacements
Thomas-Rhys Thomas
Gethin Jenkins
Ian Gough/Rob Sidoli
Michael Owen/ Robin Sowden-Taylor
Alix Popham
Mike Phillips/Dwayne Peel
James Hook

 

[Ashton]

You're an idiot.

Shane Williams is miles better than anything england has to offer im still trying to figure out how shane with his 35 odd tries in 51 caps is a one trick pony... you have me perplexed

Stephen Jones is still a good player at 10, not as good as he once was, but he can still get it done when he is on form

James hook isnt the finished article yet and shouldnt be played at 12, that should be reserved for Gav..

You fail to realize that most welsh supporters love their team very much and arent some bandwagoners who only stand up and cheer for their country when they actually win.


[/b]

Shane Williams = very poor mans Jason Robinson. By the way what the hell has that last sentance got to do with anything?

 

[RC]

As much as it hurts to read all these posts (especially right now, after what happened yesterday) I can't deny that there's truth behind some it.
Granted the initial post was made out of pure spite but that's how some people react - and't that's fine.


Players and coaches are to blame here, but not individuals. It's a team as a whole that has failed to perform, with exception to the big honcho that is Gareth Jenkins.
Picking out the amazing Shane Williams, our dedicated Stephen Jones, the upcoming star that is James Hook, and our long-time captain Gareth Thoms isn't the way to go about it.
How can you not pick out our coach as far as poor performances are related?
We have a very similar team to that of 2005...we can still play that rugby and as much as some of you may not have liked it, it was pretty difficult to stop.
Something rotten is going down in the Welsh camp and it's nothing we [Welsh fans] can argue about, because we know nothing about, but we know we have the talent to be a much better team than this.

How about you just take it a little easy on us right now, yeah?
It's hurting a little...

 

[Bullitt]

Bloody great fish in the sea?