[2015 RWC] 2nd Warm Up Match: Wales vs Ireland (29/08/2015)

[AzaMatt]

Hello all.

After the first Wales Vs Ireland match, what changes do you expect the coaches to make for the return fixture on 29th August? from a welsh perspective it will be interesting to see just how many of the '1st team' Gatland will pick for this fixture, do we think he will go all out or save the 1st team for the final warm up against italy?

 

[munstermuffin]

From an Irish view we'll get through our other warm up games first and see.

 

[dullonien]

I expect Gats to pick a far more formidable side, but maybe still try a couple of combos in certain areas.

I'd personally like to see a side along the lines of:

01 Gethin Jenkins
02 Ken Owens
03 Tomas Francis
04 Luke Charteris
05 Alun Wyn Jones
06 Sam Warburton
07 Justin Tipiric
08 Ross Moriarty (Faletau had a good run out last time and there's still some question marks around Moriarty)

09 Rhys Webb
10 Gareth Anscombe (Amscombe needs another game Imo)
11 Gorge North
12 Jamie Roberts
13 Scott Williams
14 Matthew Morgan (if he can cover wing as well, he'd make a good squad option)
15 Leigh Halfpenny

16 Scott Baldwin
17 Rob Evans
18 Paul James (see if he can still cover tighthead)
19 James King
20 Taulupe Faletau
21 Gareth Davies
22 Rhys Priestland
23 Cory Allen

 

[Thingimubob]

Is this one even being shown anywhere? I can't find anything about it on any Welsh / Irish TV guides? Seems a bit strange if it's not on!

I expect Gats to pick a far more formidable side, but maybe still try a couple of combos in certain areas.

I'd personally like to see a side along the lines of:

01 Gethin Jenkins
02 Ken Owens
03 Tomas Francis
04 Luke Charteris
05 Alun Wyn Jones
06 Sam Warburton
07 Justin Tipiric
08 Ross Moriarty (Faletau had a good run out last time and there's still some question marks around Moriarty)

09 Rhys Webb
10 Gareth Anscombe (Amscombe needs another game Imo)
11 Gorge North
12 Jamie Roberts
13 Scott Williams
14 Matthew Morgan (if he can cover wing as well, he'd make a good squad option)
15 Leigh Halfpenny

16 Scott Baldwin
17 Rob Evans
18 Paul James (see if he can still cover tighthead)
19 James King
20 Taulupe Faletau
21 Gareth Davies
22 Rhys Priestland
23 Cory Allen

I certainly wouldn't mind a line up like that! Enough of the core 1st choice players to let the team start to gel together, but enough chances for fringe players to stake a claim.

Makes sense to try someone different at 8 - Faletau is nailed on starter, and we need to make sure we have a back up - would be happy with either Moriarty, or even Warbs starting there alongside Lydiate at 6 and Tips at 7.

Same goes for fly half - we all know Biggar is no.1, and we won't learn as much with him starting as we would with Anscombe.

Morgan on the wing would be great - I'd really like to see him given a start as part of a (more or less) full strength team. That second wing spot is wide open at the moment with Liam still injured, so why not give him a shot? Same goes for Amos and Eli.

However, despite all that - I expect Gatland to revert back to type and pick a relatively straightforward 1st XV selection.

I'm expecting Cuthbert to start, leak 3 or 4 tries, then get selected because he scores a brace of easy run ins...

 

[munstermuffin]

Is this one even being shown anywhere? I can't find anything about it on any Welsh / Irish TV guides? Seems a bit strange if it's not on!




I certainly wouldn't mind a line up like that! Enough of the core 1st choice players to let the team start to gel together, but enough chances for fringe players to stake a claim.

Makes sense to try someone different at 8 - Faletau is nailed on starter, and we need to make sure we have a back up - would be happy with either Moriarty, or even Warbs starting there alongside Lydiate at 6 and Tips at 7.

Same goes for fly half - we all know Biggar is no.1, and we won't learn as much with him starting as we would with Anscombe.

Morgan on the wing would be great - I'd really like to see him given a start as part of a (more or less) full strength team. That second wing spot is wide open at the moment with Liam still injured, so why not give him a shot? Same goes for Amos and Eli.

However, despite all that - I expect Gatland to revert back to type and pick a relatively straightforward 1st XV selection.

I'm expecting Cuthbert to start, leak 3 or 4 tries, then get selected because he scores a brace of easy run ins...

Sky Sports have it as far as I know.

 

[profitius]

Irish side will be close to full strength I'd say.


Are Wales not playing this coming weekend? Having so few games might be a risky strategy.

 

[munstermuffin]

Irish side will be close to full strength I'd say.


Are Wales not playing this coming weekend? Having so few games might be a risky strategy.

Irish guys should be at full fitness although there are some murmurs it'll be English game. Munster play Connacht and Leinster play Ulster this weekend. A lot have been released back to get time in these games too. It's being used as 5th test

 

[profitius]

Irish guys should be at full fitness although there are some murmurs it'll be English game. Munster play Connacht and Leinster play Ulster this weekend. A lot have been released back to get time in these games too. It's being used as 5th test

I forgot about the provinces. Its handy having those games to get everyone playing.

 

[munstermuffin]

I forgot about the provinces. Its handy having those games to get everyone playing.

Well that was the sole reason of having interpro friendly games. We didn't ask Connacht for the game or vice versa but were told by IRFU.

 

[Thingimubob]

Irish side will be close to full strength I'd say.


Are Wales not playing this coming weekend? Having so few games might be a risky strategy.

Not really, 3 warm ups is about standard for us!

We did more or less the same 4 years ago - back to back games vs England and a home game against Argentina to finish it off.

 

[austingtir]

Is this going to be another return match (albeit months later) that Wayne Barnes is NOT involved in where the previously "beaten" team smashes the opposition?

Some people on here are probably going to start getting annoyed with me bringing this up but get used to it because im watching NZ's favourite Ref Wayne very closely from now on.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Jfc just drop it.
Derail another thread and don't be surprised to see yourself banned for a week.

 

[AzaMatt]

I expect Gats to pick a far more formidable side, but maybe still try a couple of combos in certain areas.

I'd personally like to see a side along the lines of:

01 Gethin Jenkins
02 Ken Owens
03 Tomas Francis
04 Luke Charteris
05 Alun Wyn Jones
06 Sam Warburton
07 Justin Tipiric
08 Ross Moriarty (Faletau had a good run out last time and there's still some question marks around Moriarty)

09 Rhys Webb
10 Gareth Anscombe (Amscombe needs another game Imo)
11 Gorge North
12 Jamie Roberts
13 Scott Williams
14 Matthew Morgan (if he can cover wing as well, he'd make a good squad option)
15 Leigh Halfpenny

16 Scott Baldwin
17 Rob Evans
18 Paul James (see if he can still cover tighthead)
19 James King
20 Taulupe Faletau
21 Gareth Davies
22 Rhys Priestland
23 Cory Allen

interesting line up, got a feeling he will go for more or less the starting 15 though, which is a bit worrying, we cannot pick up any injuries. i think he'll rest roberts and s.williams as they are definitly first choice centres and we cannot afford to lose them, they can always have run out against italy. id be happy for webb and anscombe to link up although he may go for lloyd williams and anscombe as they seemed to link up well behind a beaten pack, so hopefully with more up grunt at the breakdown they will be on fire

 

[Paul S]

I'd really like to see Henderson at 4. and a back row of O' Brien at 6. and Henry at 7. Heaslip at 8. The rest speaks for itself witholding the injuries to Moore and Healy. Jordi Murphy to come off the bench with Cronin. Jones or Zebo at 15. I think we need a change at 15. We, like wales have to use full strenght more or less in the next two games to keep up to match fitness for different reasons. Us to get serious gametime to frontliners since the two big matches are last up for us and Wales because they need to hit the ground running with their group.

 

[bw245]

I'm just trying to select a 23 man side for Wales on Saturday and I literally cannot choose. It's probably a good thing, showing our strength in depth at the mo, but i can imagine what Schmidt is going through.

Any of these guys I would be happy to see in a 23 match day squad.

Healy (although I doubt he'll be fit), McGrath, Kilcoyne, Best, Strauss, Cronin, Ross, Moore, Ryan, Toner, POC, POM, SOB, Henry, Hendo, Murphy, Heaslip, Murray, Reddan, Sexton, Daverage Kearney, Earls, Henshaw, Payne, Cave, Madigan, Zebo, Fitzgerald, Trimble, Bowe, Jones, Kearney senior.

Between starters and subs, that's about 32 players who could easily start. I imagine a lot of these will feature in the final 31 man squad, but like, how does Schmidt choose who starts? Especially the backs? I haven't a notion who the wingers will be.

(Obviously we'd need more props but we lack depth there imo compared to other positions).

 

[AzaMatt]

I'm just trying to select a 23 man side for Wales on Saturday and I literally cannot choose. It's probably a good thing, showing our strength in depth at the mo, but I can imagine what Schmidt is going through.

Any of these guys I would be happy to see in a 23 match day squad.

Healy (although I doubt he'll be fit), McGrath, Kilcoyne, Best, Strauss, Cronin, Ross, Moore, Ryan, Toner, POC, POM, SOB, Henry, Hendo, Murphy, Heaslip, Murray, Reddan, Sexton, Daverage Kearney, Earls, Henshaw, Payne, Cave, Madigan, Zebo, Fitzgerald, Trimble, Bowe, Jones, Kearney senior.

Between starters and subs, that's about 32 players who could easily start. I imagine a lot of these will feature in the final 31 man squad, but like, how does Schmidt choose who starts? Especially the backs? I haven't a notion who the wingers will be.

(Obviously we'd need more props but we lack depth there imo compared to other positions).

You’ll field a dangerous team no matter who plays and that’s worrying for us. You have so much more strength in depth. for wales we pretty much know 95% of the team that will start (providing gatland fields all our first choice starters). We need a strong team to start getting some wins under our belt before the RWC but we also cannot risk any injuries, well hardly any at all, some positions it wouldn’t be so much of a loss but if anything happens to halfpenny (although we will have l.williams in the RWC hopefully) or AWJ/Webb/Biggar/Roberts/s.williams then we will be in trouble. I expect we'll see something like this for Saturday

01 Gethin Jenkins/paul james (Gethin is more likely although this depends on what they have been like in training)

02 Ken Owens (sure starter me for this game, scott baldwin on the bench)

03 Tomas Francis (surely he has to start now, need to see how he does in the scrum and around the park)

04 Luke Charteris/jake ball (although he was poor in first match gats might give him another chance as we know what chateris can do)

05 Alun Wyn Jones (be interesting to see whether he does actually play. he certainly will want to but I feel we need to keep him wrapped in wool)

06 Dan Lydiate (needs to be back at his chop tackling best)

07 Sam Warburton (as much as I’d like to see Tipuric again I think Sam will get a run out).

08 Ross Moriarty/ Talupe Falatau (Falatau is a nailed on starter and rarely has a bad game so we might just field him for the italy game).

09 Rhys Webb (undisputed first choice, lloyd williams might get a start though with webb or davies on the bench)

10 Gareth Anscombe (Amscombe could do with another game behind our full strength pack, looks an exciting player and we need biggar to be injury free)

11 Gorge North (back from concussion and hopefully back to his barnstorming best!)

12 Jamie Roberts/williams (roberts is another we need to keep safe but we do not really have any other alternative at 12 unless williams plays there)

13 Scott Williams/T.morgan (as noted above williams could switch to 12, with t.morgan going to 13 although its likely to be the jamie 12 williams 13)

14 Eli walker/Hallam Amos (people are suggesting Matthew 'Nipper' Morgan could be selected on the wing, would love to see this although I don’t think it will happen)

15 Leigh Halfpenny (with the absence of Liam williams and Amos not having a great game at full back I think halfpenny will get a start)

The replacements im not sure of apart from Justin tipuric, Gareth Davies and Rhys Priestland/Dan Biggar.

 

[bw245]

You’ll field a dangerous team no matter who plays and that’s worrying for us. You have so much more strength in depth. for wales we pretty much know 95% of the team that will start (providing gatland fields all our first choice starters). We need a strong team to start getting some wins under our belt before the RWC but we also cannot risk any injuries, well hardly any at all, some positions it wouldn’t be so much of a loss but if anything happens to halfpenny (although we will have l.williams in the RWC hopefully) or AWJ/Webb/Biggar/Roberts/s.williams then we will be in trouble. I expect we'll see something like this for Saturday

01 Gethin Jenkins/paul james (Gethin is more likely although this depends on what they have been like in training)

02 Ken Owens (sure starter me for this game, scott baldwin on the bench)

03 Tomas Francis (surely he has to start now, need to see how he does in the scrum and around the park)

04 Luke Charteris/jake ball (although he was poor in first match gats might give him another chance as we know what chateris can do)

05 Alun Wyn Jones (be interesting to see whether he does actually play. he certainly will want to but I feel we need to keep him wrapped in wool)

06 Dan Lydiate (needs to be back at his chop tackling best)

07 Sam Warburton (as much as I’d like to see Tipuric again I think Sam will get a run out).

08 Ross Moriarty/ Talupe Falatau (Falatau is a nailed on starter and rarely has a bad game so we might just field him for the italy game).

09 Rhys Webb (undisputed first choice, lloyd williams might get a start though with webb or davies on the bench)

10 Gareth Anscombe (Amscombe could do with another game behind our full strength pack, looks an exciting player and we need biggar to be injury free)

11 Gorge North (back from concussion and hopefully back to his barnstorming best!)

12 Jamie Roberts/williams (roberts is another we need to keep safe but we do not really have any other alternative at 12 unless williams plays there)

13 Scott Williams/T.morgan (as noted above williams could switch to 12, with t.morgan going to 13 although its likely to be the jamie 12 williams 13)

14 Eli walker/Hallam Amos (people are suggesting Matthew 'Nipper' Morgan could be selected on the wing, would love to see this although I don’t think it will happen)

15 Leigh Halfpenny (with the absence of Liam williams and Amos not having a great game at full back I think halfpenny will get a start)

The replacements im not sure of apart from Justin tipuric, Gareth Davies and Rhys Priestland/Dan Biggar.

From an Irish point of view, I'm hoping you don't play Tipuric. He's incredible.

Don't think it'll be an easy match for either side, especially since our players have just had an entire week off, so will be interesting to see who comes out on top. I am going to the match so praying it's a good one.

I think our starting line up will be

1. Jack McGrath
2. Rory Best
3. Mike Ross
4. Donnacha Ryan (POC will like playing with him)
5. POC
6. POM (wish it were Hendo)
7. SOB
8. Jordi Murphy
9. Conor Murray
10. Johnny Sexton
11. Dave Kearney
12. Robbie Henshaw
13. Jarred Payne
14. Andrew Trimble (if fit - if not it'll be Bowe)
15. Rob Kearney

A lot of those players haven't had much or any game time, so while I definitely would like to wrap Sexto and Murray in cotton wool, we need to give them game time. Johnny gave an interview the other day and basically said he's praying he's going to be picked.

 

[Maverick1987]

When is the Wales team announced ?

 

[AzaMatt]

When is the Wales team announced ?

Sometime tomorrow, usually around 1pm

 

[bw245]

When is the Wales team announced ?

Tomorrow at noon.