[2018 6 Nations] Round 4 : Wales v Italy (11/03/2018) 1500hrs

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

A dead rubber, but I'll be watching (from behind the sofa).


Wales team: Liam Williams (Saracens); George North (Northampton), Owen Watkin (Ospreys), Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets), Steff Evans (Scarlets); Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), Gareth Davies (Scarlets); Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Elliot Dee (Dragons), Tomas Francis (Exeter), Bradley Davies (Ospreys), Cory Hill (Dragons), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), James Davies (Scarlets), Taulupe Faletau (Bath, capt)).

Replacements: Ken Owens (Scarlets), Rob Evans (Scarlets), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Seb Davies (Cardiff Blues),
Ellis Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Aled Davies (Scarlets), Rhys Patchell (Scarlets), Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets)


Williams at fullback - great. That's a reserve front five for Wales though isn't it (other than Hill)? I'll cling to that.

Interested to see James Davies at loose forward. I'm slowly changing my opinion that a 7s player can be good at 15s, (particularly at centre though). Will be interesting to see this dynamo up against the likes of Negri. Davies has been all kinds of awesome for the Scarlets.

 

[MikeTheNative]

James Davies has been doing pretty well in the Pro 14 the past couple of years. He wasn't a specialist 7s player, he was playing regular 15s before he went to the Olympics. Scrum is a bit of a worry, it always is when Smith is playing at international level however other than that I think that tight 5 is good enough, looking forward to see Dee having a good 60 minutes. The other question mark is the balance of that back row and does it lack physicality. It clearly is rather lightweight so Wales can't be drawn into an arm wrestle, with Anscombe at 10 it will help Wales play with pace off the off. I'm really looking forward to that back line though, dangerous runners everywhere so I hope it clicks. Also hoping for Patchell to come on with 30 mins to go and run in some tries to get some confidence to carry over and start against France.

 

[ThebigARena]

Not sure why anscombe starts over Patchell tbh? Makes no sense , anscombe is a bit part player tbh ,meh had one good quarter against England and now he's the second coming for gats , he threw a terrible pass against Ireland too albeit at the death. Patchell was clearly the second choice over biggar so why not start him against a team he should outclass, apart from that I'm happy with majority of selections , very happy to see james Davies finally get a run out .

 

[g6mcg]

Not sure why anscombe starts over Patchell tbh? Makes no sense , anscombe is a bit part player tbh ,meh had one good quarter against England and now he's the second coming for gats , he threw a terrible pass against Ireland too albeit at the death. Patchell was clearly the second choice over biggar so why not start him against a team he should outclass, apart from that I'm happy with majority of selections , very happy to see james Davies finally get a run out .

Agreed that it's odd that Patchell has dropped behind Anscombe. I know Anscombe looked good at Twickennam, but against a tiring team so I'm not convinced it's a fair comparison, and Patchell looks to have a higher ceiling. Perhaps Garland sees Anscombe as the better bench option (behind Biggar) and wants to give him as much game time as possible?

 

[MikeTheNative]

Perhaps I'm being a bit optimistic but maybe their bringing Patchell off the bench with 20 to go run in a few tries to give him confidence to start next week............hopefully.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Italy named their team 45 minutes ago but still no one is reporting it. It's the same starting 15 that played against France but Bisengi is at 13.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Italy: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Maxime Mbanda, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti

Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Giovanni Licata, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

 

[MikeTheNative]

I thought Italy would have gone for a bit more heavy weight pack considering the Wales selection. To stand a chance of winning this Italy need to get the upper hand in the set piece, with new a new look front row Wales could be targeted there. They also have dropped Shingler who has been go to line out jumper so far in the tournament. Italy also don't want to try play too fast paced a game they will end up being picked off by two opensides and there's a few dangerous runners in the Welsh backs to punish any loose kicks.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I'm not sure what would even constitute an acceptable result for Italy here. Scoring 3 tries and conceding less than 50 points would probably spare CoS's blushes.

 

[ThebigARena]

Perhaps I'm being a bit optimistic but maybe their bringing Patchell off the bench with 20 to go run in a few tries to give him confidence to start next week............hopefully.

Nah I'm not buying into that . Gats dropped pats totally 2 weeks ago, for some reason I think he rates anscombe higher probably because of the Southern Hemisphere relationship , imo I don't think he's done enough for a starting 10 in Wales I put biggar , pats and preistland all in front of him , also I rate pats as a better goal kicker too which is now lacking in this starting Half backs

 

[Bluemoon]

Nah I'm not buying into that . Gats dropped pats totally 2 weeks ago, for some reason I think he rates anscombe higher probably because of the Southern Hemisphere relationship , imo I don't think he's done enough for a starting 10 in Wales I put biggar , pats and preistland all in front of him , also I rate pats as a better goal kicker too which is now lacking in this starting Half backs

Well I don't think that's entirely fair suggesting there he is there because of a southern hemisphere link. Anscombe has looked very good running the game from 10 when he has played there in the 6N and it is his club position also, where he's been gaining a bit of form. His goal kicking doesn't have the length of Patchell but percentage wise I don't think they are too dissimilar. I think he deserves his chance there against Italy, where Gatland has said he's trying to develop a bit more depth. In terms of club form I would say when he's been fit, he's been better than Priestland.

 

[ThebigARena]

Well I don't think that's entirely fair suggesting there he is there because of a southern hemisphere link. Anscombe has looked very good running the game from 10 when he has played there in the 6N and it is his club position also, where he's been gaining a bit of form. His goal kicking doesn't have the length of Patchell but percentage wise I don't think they are too dissimilar. I think he deserves his chance there against Italy, where Gatland has said he's trying to develop a bit more depth. In terms of club form I would say when he's been fit, he's been better than Priestland.

No I disagree Patchell is by far the best 10 In Wales , his form for scarlets cements that and he is a far better goal kicker that anscombe , they are not on parity . Anscombe is unproven , sure he had some club form, but Patchell all round game is far beyond anscombe IMO and I don't think he deserves his start , like I said he had one decent quarter against a tiring English team and all of a sudden deserves his place???what about the performance of Patchell against Scotland? And to be completely dropped against Ireland and the only reason I am suggesting the Southern Hemisphere link is I can't think of any reason why anscombe starts over Patchell in any discipline may I'm missing something?

 

[RedruthRFC]

I think that what you're missing is that Patchell has been given a start to show what he can do, Anscombe hasn't. Looking at the percentages (albeit over a small sample size) you're right about goal kicking - Anscombe is only kicking at 73%, which is hardly international quality.

 

[Hap]

Italy: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Maxime Mbanda, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti

Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Giovanni Licata, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

This is who we have.
I just have the regret of not seeing Polledri, but it's COS style. We'll see him for sure in June tests.
Glad to have back Licata, our 20 years old wonderboy and Bisegni at 13. He really deserves the spot after well performing with Zebre in the last games and Boni, despite his good display vs England, showed deep defensive lackness, too deep even for us.

 

[Bluemoon]

No I disagree Patchell is by far the best 10 In Wales , his form for scarlets cements that and he is a far better goal kicker that anscombe , they are not on parity . Anscombe is unproven , sure he had some club form, but Patchell all round game is far beyond anscombe IMO and I don't think he deserves his start , like I said he had one decent quarter against a tiring English team and all of a sudden deserves his place???what about the performance of Patchell against Scotland? And to be completely dropped against Ireland and the only reason I am suggesting the Southern Hemisphere link is I can't think of any reason why anscombe starts over Patchell in any discipline may I'm missing something?

Have you watched Anscombe playing at club level at all? Him and Priestland having been playing at a similar level, although both very different players, playing in very different club teams. Gareth is certainly not unproven but then I think you are wrong and you think I am wrong so let's see how he does on the pitch. I think Anscombe brings players on to the ball a lot flatter than Patchell. Patchell has a longer kick, but not necessarily more accurate, they are both around the 80% mark at the end of last season. I think Patchell should be first choice, but I think Anscombe has done enough to deserve his place in the match day squad.

Im with you that I don't agree that Patchell should have been dropped after England. It was the complete wrong move and I would have had Patchell at 10 with Anscombe to support.

 

[ThebigARena]

Sooo ! Basically you have conceded that Patchell is no2 ahead of anscombe so please tell me why he deserves a start over his counterpart because I'm intrigued to know and please dont mention blues form as scarlets are by far and away the best team in the pro 14.

I've watched enough of anscombe and he is behind priestland and Patchell at 10 by a long chalk.

 

[Bluemoon]

Sooo ! Basically you have conceded that Patchell is no2 ahead of anscombe so please tell me why he deserves a start over his counterpart because I'm intrigued to know and please dont mention blues form as scarlets are by far and away the best team in the pro 14.

I've watched enough of anscombe and he is behind priestland and Patchell at 10 by a long chalk.

My point was that Anscombe is worth a start against Italy, and your point was he wasn't worthy of his place. Patchell would start for me if playing eng or ire, for sure.

I think we'll end this conversation buddy if your argument has reduced to comparing club teams form rather than the players. The fact youve 'watched enough' of the players isn't really a counterpoint. Enjoy the game tomorrow fella.

 

[bushytop]

Have been pleasantly surprised by Anscombe at 10 this championship, definitely a better 10 than 15... hoping the Blues play him at 10 for their remaining games too rather than shifting him about. If he goes well today it will be an interesting selection for flyhalf against France.

Excited to see James Davies, think this game is probably made for his debut. He's in with some great experience and skills too in Faletau and Tips.

Think Italy will push real hard for the first 60 in an attempt to put our new and inexperienced boys under pressure but Imo Dee and cub are definitely up to the task while Anscombe and Watkin still need to show me a bit more. Think Wales will in all probability clinch a bonus point win with most of the tries coming in the last 20, when Italy start to tire.

 

[NDC89]

If this was in Italy it may be close considering it is an inexperienced Welsh side. But in Cardiff, I can't see past a comfortable Welsh win. Wales by 10 to 15 points I reckon.

Italy's best chance is to go hard for them in the first 20 and rattle the new boys.

 

[ThebigARena]

My point was that Anscombe is worth a start against Italy, and your point was he wasn't worthy of his place. Patchell would start for me if playing eng or ire, for sure.

I think we'll end this conversation buddy if your argument has reduced to comparing club teams form rather than the players. The fact youve 'watched enough' of the players isn't really a counterpoint. Enjoy the game tomorrow fella.

I hope he proves me wrong , the more competition for places the better