[2015 RWC] Pool A: Wales vs. Fiji (01/10/2015)

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Hook and Anscombe called up

 

[AzaMatt]

Hook and Anscombe called up

Just read this news, strange choices as now we have no wing cover, have to use north and cuthbert every game or have somebody play out of position. Hopefully morgan has been training there or Lloyd williams is going to be given another go there, didn't do half bad! Lol

 

[valley commando]

Just read this news, strange choices as now we have no wing cover, have to use north and cuthbert every game or have somebody play out of position. Hopefully morgan has been training there or Lloyd williams is going to be given another go there, didn't do half bad! Lol

Yes no winger, I think Gats would have called up Eli Walker if he was 100% fit, perhaps he will get a chance should we be unlucky enough to get any further injuries.

 

[AzaMatt]

Yes no winger, I think Gats would have called up Eli Walker if he was 100% fit, perhaps he will get a chance should we be unlucky enough to get any further injuries.

Pretty much rules out north moving to centre, wonder if Tyler morgan will start at 13 or whether gats will go with hook or anscombe there, anscombe might actually make a good centre

 

[tompaton7]

With Hooky and Anscombe in, you'd assume Hook is providing cover at 13 whilst Anscombe is back three option. For those saying we rest guys, I would not take Fiji lightly at all. Play the best team we can and then have 9 days off to recover.

My team:

1. Gethin Jenkins
2. Ken Owens
3. Samson Lee
4. Luke Charteris
5. Alun Wyn Jones
6. Dan Lydiate
7. Sam Warburton
8. Taulupe Faletau
9. Gareth Davies
10. Dan Biggar
11. George North
12. Jamie Roberts
13. Tyler Morgan
14. Alex Cuthbert
15. Gareth Anscombe

BENCH: Scott Baldwin, Paul James (if not fit Aaron Jarvis), Tomas Francis, Bradley Davies, Justin Tipuric, Lloyd Williams, Rhys Priestland, Matthew Morgan

Baldwin has been great, albeit with a few creaks against England. Owens deserves a start on rotation to press his claim for Australia. Assuming Lee is good to go he should be brought in and Charteris is there for his lineout prowess after a huge display off the bench. I always wanted to go Tipuric and Warburton against England for the breakdown but sticking to the tried and tested worked and we definitely need Lydiate's physicality for the Fijians.

In the backs, I reckon Tyler Morgan will get the 13 jersey, he's a solid player from what I've seen. I don't know a great deal about him though apart from the fact he would've gone to the world cup ahead of Cory Allen if he wasn't injured for the first game. Obviously if we had more cover on the wings I would go for North but I reckon this is the best option at this point. Cuthbert did okay when he came on apart from that harsh penalty. And Anscombe is reliable and hopefully will go well from 15. That is obviously assuming Liam Williams is out of contention for this game. That said if he is, I would possibly put him on the wing and get North in the centre. If Anscombe goes well, that could be the combination going forward. As a side note, you could replace Anscombe's name with Hook and I'd be content. Either works for me.

Looking at it now, I'm not too displeased about our options. It could have been worse and there's some good blokes coming into the squad - players that may have been there if they hadn't been injured for the first couple of games. I really hope Roberts doesn't go down though, as that would be disastrous.

 

[Ospreylian]

Just read this news, strange choices as now we have no wing cover, have to use north and cuthbert every game or have somebody play out of position. Hopefully morgan has been training there or Lloyd williams is going to be given another go there, didn't do half bad! Lol

It does throw up some questions. Does this now mean North is definitely moving to centre? Or is Tyler Morgan going to be gambled as an inexperienced option? Or will Hook even make a return to centre, which many people saw as his best position? It could be really exciting to see Hook at 13 again, he would be in the same style as Scott Williams in the respect of a play-making outside centre.

Also, Nadolo being out is a great bonus for Wales. He was one of the main reasons I was getting concerned about Thursday.

 

[OneFansOpinion]

Can we not still call up one more player? Have we replaced Cory Allen yet?

 

[valley commando]

My team:

1. Jenkins
2. Baldwin
3. Lee
4. Charteris
5. Ball
6. Lydiate
7. Tipuric
8. Moriarty

9. Davies
10. Biggar
11. M Morgan/ Cuthbert
12. Roberts
13. North
14. Walker (if available) / Cuthbert
15. Hook (if called upon)

Bench: Owens, Jarvis, Francis, AWJ, Warburton, L Williams, Priestland, T.Morgan/Cuthbert/Anscombe

AWJ and Warburton should be left on the bench to keep them safe for Australia, likewise Faletau who I wouldn't even risk in my 23 (I see him as one of Wales' most crucial players). Tipuric to start to take care of the breakdown work and hopefully disrupt Fiji's rucks, whilst Moriarty provides the extra ball carrying that is lost when playing Tips over Warbs.

Lee in for Francis for extra stability in the scrum - I think if Wales can give a more solid effort in both scrum and line out on thursday than they did on the weekend Wales will win.

Davies and Biggar keep their places, would rather not have any more disruption in the back line than necessary. Would also rather not play Cuthbert, but if Walker cannot return he may well have to. Although Matthew Morgan is not the biggest guy, he is the sort of player that could open up the Fijian defence. Problem is he hasn't played much on the wing lately as far as I'm aware, but I would obviously put him on the left wing so as to avoid facing up against Nadolo (if Nadolo makes it through his disciplinary that is). I would shift North to centre and hope he can defend a little better there than in the past, but I thought when he made the switch against England he made an impact and became involved in attacking play a lot more frequently than usual.

At this point I think it would be a great call to finally bring in Hook to cover fullback, I would trust him in defence there more than I would Priestland at this stage in the tournament, and he provides a bit of extra attacking flair and unpredictability. Also, obviously another kicking option when Wales decide to play the territorial game.

Not much to disagree with, good post, although I would give Anscombe a start and rest Superdan, this is Cuthbert's time to put his body on the line step up and bash Nadolo.
I was a little pessimistic as I am before most games, however I feel better now, Hook is a decent long range kicker and has plenty of game time at FB.

 

[Ospreylian]

My team:

1. Gethin Jenkins
2. Ken Owens
3. Samson Lee
4. Luke Charteris
5. Alun Wyn Jones
6. Dan Lydiate
7. Sam Warburton
8. Taulupe Faletau
9. Gareth Davies
10. Dan Biggar
11. George North
12. Jamie Roberts
13. Tyler Morgan
14. Alex Cuthbert
15. Gareth Anscombe

BENCH: Scott Baldwin, Paul James (if not fit Aaron Jarvis), Tomas Francis, Bradley Davies, Justin Tipuric, Lloyd Williams, Rhys Priestland, Matthew Morgan

Nice team. Better than my attempt that's for sure! Having thought about it a bit more, Wales probably can't afford to rest AWJ, Warbs or Faletau. I still think I'm underestimating the significance of this game and the aim of getting the bonus point.

But looking at your team, it really doesn't look too shabby at all, all things considered. Those forwards are all at top form, half backs are the best we have available and on great form, Anscombe is a solid all-rounder and starting to make his name in Wales (plus has a lot of potential), and looking at some of Tyler Morgan's highlights he has potential too and seems to have a great sidestep (because I don't get to see him too often at club level) . My biggest concern is obviously Cuthbert, who has always been suspect in defence but always got away with it because of what he made up in attack. If he could start scoring tries left right and centre again I would be a bit more confident.

Here's a couple of moments from Tyler Morgan:

 

[tompaton7]

Nice team. Better than my attempt that's for sure! Having thought about it a bit more, Wales probably can't afford to rest AWJ, Warbs or Faletau. I still think I'm underestimating the significance of this game and the aim of getting the bonus point.

But looking at your team, it really doesn't look too shabby at all, all things considered. Those forwards are all at top form, half backs are the best we have available and on great form, Anscombe is a solid all-rounder and starting to make his name in Wales (plus has a lot of potential), and looking at some of Tyler Morgan's highlights he has potential too and seems to have a great sidestep (because I don't get to see him too often at club level) . My biggest concern is obviously Cuthbert, who has always been suspect in defence but always got away with it because of what he made up in attack. If he could start scoring tries left right and centre again I would be a bit more confident.

Gatland will back Morgan, I just hope his defense is up to scratch. I haven't seen Anscombe since he left the Chiefs (apart from his impressive cameo at 10 v Ireland) but there were periods when kiwis wanted him the All Blacks squad as a utility cover. I've heard he took a while to adjust to northern hemisphere rugby with the Blues not doing too well. But he has a lot of flair about him, a quality kicking game and a good turn of pace. I would be very comfortable with him at 15.

 

[valley commando]

Lets put it this way, win and there are scenario's where a loss against Aus will still see you through even if England beat them. A loss against Fiji and you will probably have to beat Aus to qualify (there's even an odd one where a defeat by Fiji could lead to even an Aus win not being good enough but that's extremely unlikely).

You NEED to win this game.

You are so right, but I would favour resting AWJ and putting Charteris and Ball together Chartris to win line out ball and Ball as an extra carrier, also agree with another poster in bringing Moriarty in place of Toby, the backs are another story, I've already changed my preference for back line about 10 times in the last 15 minutes, to rest Superdan or not is the question.
Back to your original point, we need to win this and I feel this selection is as important as your captains call on to go for the corner or the posts on Saturday .

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Can we not still call up one more player? Have we replaced Cory Allen yet?

Tyler Morgan came in for Allen

 

[OneFansOpinion]

Tyler Morgan came in for Allen

Of course. I still feel like we've lost one more player than we've brought in though

 

[Kiwi_]

Anscombes good and Hook has experience, not bad depth there Wales.

 

[wayevs]

This is what I'd like to see , anscombe @ FB, north and Williams (if cleared) Wing, hooky and Roberts centre

 

[MojoPin]

Nadolo has received a one-week ban and will miss the Wales game unless his appeal is successful:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3252313/Fijis-Nadolo-suspended-Wales-game.html

(apologies for the Daily Fail link...saw the story on Twitter)

Potentially a huge boost for Wales - goal kicking and attacking strength will both take a knock with him missing.

My starting XV would probably be...

1 Jenkins
2 Owens
3 Francis
4 Charteris
5 AW Jones
6 Lydiate / Moriarty
7 Tipuric
8 Faletau
9 Davies / Williams
10 Biggar
11 North
12 Roberts
13 T Morgan
14 Cuthbert
15 Anscombe

Subs: Lee, Jarvis, Baldwin, Warburton, Williams/Davies (depending who starts), Hook, M Morgan, Priestland

I'd emulate the England match to a degree by bringing on some very strong players like Lee from the bench perhaps. But then Fiji do have a very strong scrum so maybe we should put Lee in for a start after all. Not sure.

 

[tompaton7]

You are so right, but I would favour resting AWJ and putting Charteris and Ball together Chartris to win line out ball and Ball as an extra carrier, also agree with another poster in bringing Moriarty in place of Toby, the backs are another story, I've already changed my preference for back line about 10 times in the last 15 minutes, to rest Superdan or not is the question.
Back to your original point, we need to win this and I feel this selection is as important as your captains call on to go for the corner or the posts on Saturday .

I would not be resting key cogs like Alun Wyn, we will need big experience for this game. England and Aus had their best teams out and did not have it their own way. I think you underestimate the influence a bloke like Alun Wyn has. Anyway, why would you rest him in any case, he's played 2 games since May (Ireland warm up and England). It's not like he's dying for a breather. The only places to make changes would be in the 50-50s, like Ken Owens for Baldwin and possibly James for Jenkins to shore up the scrum. Dan Biggar needs to play as well. We need to be at the best we can be. This game should be taken as seriously as England and there is no way you'd be resting AWJ against them.

 

[AzaMatt]

im really not excited about having to play cuthbert every game, its not like we have a choice at the moment but he just isnt offering anything at all. I was hoping walker would be fit again as he is our only other option we could call up from the bigger training squad.

As for Anscombe it will be interesting to see whether he or hook is picked for fullback against fiji. i would want to rest biggar, he's just too valuble now. for this game i feel anscombe or hook could take over the kicking duties and Anscombe would control the game quite well from 10 but perhaps this isnt the time to be cautious and just field the best team we can and hope we do not get anymore injuries.

 

[Kiwi_]

Nadolo out confirms a Welsh win, just need to make sure to get 4 tries.

 

[AzaMatt]

also i read on walesonline that L.williams will not be considered for selection as he is going through concussion protocal