But Big Ewis, how many games have Wales won which you can put down to size and the gameplan?
Mostly as far as I can see some of their best results have been due to the outstanding class shown by individuals.
When England were beaten by Wales at Twickenam in 2012, the door had stayed firmly shut for 70 minutes, until Scott Williams, ironically the 'skinny kid' on the block, stripped Lawes of the ball. Other Welsh victories have been more because they were a well drilled, more settled more clinical team, than because of them battering down the opposition.
And as Ulsterrugby2012 mentioned Wales' one defeat last six nations was against just about the smallest backline in the tournament.
Also you say there's no substitute for mass in rugby... except that two of the teams who repeatedly beat Wales, Oz and NZ, win not through being bigger then Wales, but through flair and precision in equal measure.
dude, I wish I were wrong, but I'm not unfortunately. And I didn't say mass wins 10 times out of 10 times, ppl aren't paying attention to detail in what I'm saying.
The All-Blacks aren't particularly massive, and they're by far the best team in the world, by miles. But the argument doesn't end there.
Flair beat mass in JoBurg last June in the TRC "final" SA vs NZ.
But: the Australians may have beaten the Welsh because their flair was superior to the Welsh's mass, but those same Aussies got crushed at home by the mastodon Bokke and then battered in Cape town weeks later again. Precisely an affair of massive vs skinny.
And the Boks being indisputably 2nd best world wide is quite squarely due to mass and efficient, simple use of it. Besides Habana (pure speed), even their backs function that way: Fourie (190cm 105kg), JDV same dimensions, straight running at the opposition forcing the issue.
Just so it's really, really clear: when I say mass I mean notably the 2nd/3rd rows, and the outside backs (and there, notably 11 through 14).
There's no substitute for a Willem Alberts at 7 clearing out rucks, no substitute for enormous muscle/weight staying on feet to get defensive penalty in ruck, no substitute for a huge loosie like Billy Vunipola who'll run over people, fix 2-3 defenders before making a clean pass for a wide open run (think both assists he got against France Saturday).
YES, I'm not a monumental idiot, YES I know there are other things that count. I'm not saying Fofana is obsolete at center because he's 90kg, or Guitoune 84kg at the wing; because technique will always have its place in sports in general. And OF COURSE scrums are all about technique, France were 70/80kg lighter in the scrum against the Pac Islanders team (in 2008-09 ?) and completely bullied them, pushing them back meters away, as just one classic example.
What can I tell you about that Wales Ireland 2013 match ? That's supposed to disprove this entire argument ? OF COURSE flair can beat mass some times, NZ do it on the regular as mentioned.
Flair is much, much more volatile and capricious of a tool in Rugby, demands perfect coordination, improv and tremendous skill - mass will give you certainties, and something to cling on always.
As I've mentioned many times before, a perfect example is the AUS SA matchup. In (tri-nations) 2010 Australia in both matches goes up by like 30 points in 25min, before South Africa establish their game bit by bit and come right back each time. Eventually pure mass catches up to creative play, unless it's the All-Blacks who just keep scoring tries til the 80th.
Look, it's clear enough isn't it: look at what South Africa did to Scotland last November. Unstoppable mauls, big scrum, untouchable in the rucks, brutal on defense. Those things are
always going to be there for you when you're huge, your weight doesn't just disappear. What DOES disappear is flair, attacking prowess. Some days it's there, most days it really isn't. Just look at how Ireland struggled after that first good weekend in the 2013 6N, are you telling me they were going to put 4 tries per half on everyone like that ?
Anyways, the argument has expanded to a few branches now...but bottom line:
give me Manu Tuilagi at one center spot, Vunipola at 8, Alberts at 7, two huge weighty locks and North at the wing any day of the week. Any - day - of - the - week.
I wanna play it safe: break through your tackles the whole match, especially when it's game-on-the-line with 5min to play, rip your head off on defense, pulverize you in rucks, fix defenders for clean clear-path offloads, big mauls get me 20meters forward the easy way...all day, all week. (unless I can be the All-Blacks. Then, I'd take the All-Blacks and score 10 tries on everyone...flair wins)
