[2019 Six Nations] Wales v Ireland (16/03/2019)

[Steeler]

not well unfortunately. the nz media hate him and to the few people i've spoken to they reckon he was disrespectful to NZ too many times. which is bs. gatlands was simply sparring and giving it back.
those ppl need to get the fk over it.
imho gatlands a viable option and should be considered with those others that will apply. love to see him in the ABs environment. schmidt head coach and gatland as an assistent. of couorse i'm dreaming as its never going to happen.

personally want Cotter as head coach and Robinson as the back staff

O'Gara as backs coach would be good too, done wonders with the Crusaders

Gatlin defo my 2nd pick, not a fan of Foster.

 

[bushytop]

How do the welsh rugby union split the £5.5 million prize money?

They shouldn't split it at all... they should just give it all to Shaun Edwards while the Shakespeare Sister song 'Stay' plays in the background.

 

[truthteller]

lets hope this glorious grand slam will help welsh rugby financially and the regions too
Well the wru claimed theyd lose £5 million this year because of no autumn tests....well this prize money should cover some of that...though im guessing a fair chunk will be split between players and staff....plus this glorious grand slam should mean sell outs in august for england and ireland games plus it should make it close to sell out for judgement day....all of which adds cash to the coffers for wru, welsh rugby and regions. Id like to think another golden age of welsh rugby the 4th grand slam in 15 years, will see the wru net bigger commercial deals for the jersey sponsors, the stadium sponsors and it may help the next time tv deals are on the table too

 

[Umaga's Witness]

Carry has shown why Sexton wasn't taken off but by merely being competent Marmion was an improvement.

mate, sexy pants was awful. Sorry, Jonny sexless? Jonny sex-only-with-choking? Jonny one night stand has moved on, never loved you anyway? Comiserations.

A beautiful game though is rugby when the world one and two have such radically different styles, and the dominant teams can shift so dramatically one year to another based on what I can't describe any better than 'group confidence'; was England, then Ireland, then wales.

Big congrats to wales.

Did someone mention that it was all because of the kiwis - Anscombe and Parkes? And that they had to go overseas because they couldn't make any super rugby squads ? I know you guys love it when nz rugby fans point out these things. P.s. I'm trolling. Argh my emoji didn't show up, was blowing a kiss

 

[bushytop]

So Wayne Pivac has just come out and stated that he has already appointed a new Welsh defence coach with Edwards apparently having ruled himself out of contention last August.

Strange that Edwards would now come out with 'seeming' interest in staying on... and also strange that Pivac would unveil wellies and Humphries as attack and forwards coach but keen schtum on the D.

Guess it means it probably isn't Hayward as there would be no reason (contractually tied up with some other entity) or he would have been announced the same time as the others.

 

[truthteller]

wales lack of attack is exaggerated...8 tries against the 4 best teams is solid enough..they second a 2nd team to italy which will benefit them..their first team averages 6 tries against italy so that would have taken them to 14 tries in total....they just kicked the goals too....average score was 23-13 win
scored 2nd most points and conceded the least points and least tries

 

[mania]

so wales are now favourites to win the WC. goodluck to them.

 

[bushytop]

so wales are now favourites to win the WC. goodluck to them.

Hardly... the bookies currently have us in fourth behind your good selves, England and Ireland in that order. It's probably for the best too... underestimation from outside of Wales is a good look for us!

 

[truthteller]

the all blacks are obviously faves and rightly so
england and ireland are marginally ahead of wales based on the fact 1) ireland have beaten the abs twice in 2 yrs and won a few tests away in australia and won the grand slam a year ago 2) england have also won tests down under , they are a very dangerous team with lots of pace and power, but a slightly flakey defence and issues over fitness ....wales will be happy to slip below the radar...can they win it? I suspect they will need to use their talented backs more, that means giving them quicker ball and more passes. They have the pack, but that pack needs to offload more and they may need faletau to get across the gainline

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I endorse Wales as favourites. God knows we don't want the ***le!

 

[bushytop]

I endorse Wales as favourites. God knows we don't want the ***le!

Nah we'll pass thanks.

 

[oj121]

the all blacks are obviously faves and rightly so
england and ireland are marginally ahead of wales based on the fact 1) ireland have beaten the abs twice in 2 yrs and won a few tests away in australia and won the grand slam a year ago 2) england have also won tests down under , they are a very dangerous team with lots of pace and power, but a slightly flakey defence and issues over fitness ....wales will be happy to slip below the radar...can they win it? I suspect they will need to use their talented backs more, that means giving them quicker ball and more passes. They have the pack, but that pack needs to offload more and they may need faletau to get across the gainline

I think Faletau and Webb would sort that. Toby has decent hands and is great at offloading in contact and Webb is lightyears ahead of Davies for service speed and kicking.

I do feel Semis and a 3rd place is on the cards though.

 

[truthteller]

losing north after 8 minutes was a big blow to welsh attacking plans too...they need to have a winger full back on the bench next time to attack ...probably halfpenny or steff evans

 

[dullonien]

losing north after 8 minutes was a big blow to welsh attacking plans too...they need to have a winger full back on the bench next time to attack ...probably halfpenny or steff evans

Leaves us too exposed at 12 though. If Hadleigh picks up an injury early on, without Watkin on the bench there's no-one else in the 23 with any significant experience at 12. North to 13, JD2 to 12 would be most likely. Not sure how many games JD2 has played at 12. North has played a few at 13, but never looked totally comfortable + we'd lose JD2's world class defensive press. Alternatively Biggar to 12, which I don't recall seeing before.

The reshuffle of Anscombe to fullback, Liam to the wing and Biggar on at 10 is probably preferable and less disruptive.

Post WC developing Patchell into a 10/12 would be a good option.

 

[bushytop]

Leaves us too exposed at 12 though. If Hadleigh picks up an injury early on, without Watkin on the bench there's no-one else in the 23 with any significant experience at 12. North to 13, JD2 to 12 would be most likely. Not sure how many games JD2 has played at 12. North has played a few at 13, but never looked totally comfortable + we'd lose JD2's world class defensive press. Alternatively Biggar to 12, which I don't recall seeing before.

The reshuffle of Anscombe to fullback, Liam to the wing and Biggar on at 10 is probably preferable and less disruptive.

Post WC developing Patchell into a 10/12 would be a good option.

Yeah Patchell offers serious versatility with him looking so comfortable at 10 and 15, together with his size and rugby intelligence suggesting he would make a fine 12 also.

 

[truthteller]

it worked out ok saturday but its nice to have some pace off the bench when losing a winger...yeah patchell is a key man to taking this team forward....he seems to have all the attributes to play 12 especially in an emergency....hes been superb at 15 too. But we dont want him to become a bits and pieces player either. hes a fantastic fly half. if he was on the bench anscombe starting. then patch may cover 10 and 12 from bench...with halfpenny/steff evans and a scrum half....that may tick a lot of boxes. but hes not been tried and tested at 12 and the world cup is only 6 months away. maybe pivac and gats will consider testing him at 12 over next few months

 

[truthteller]

lovely passer off both hands and can kick just as well off both feet, strong tackler, strong in possession, 6 foot 3 and can kick the ball 60 yards...he wont be a jamie roberts but he will definitely add a lot of football skills and help get that ball out to the threequarters

 

[dullonien]

lovely passer off both hands and can kick just as well off both feet, strong tackler, strong in possession, 6 foot 3 and can kick the ball 60 yards...he wont be a jamie roberts but he will definitely add a lot of football skills and help get that ball out to the threequarters

Not as strong as he should be given his size. Pivac has publicly criticized his defense (along with Dan Jones') on a number of occasions, suggesting that both are among the weakest defensive 10's in the Pro14. I don't see it as a major weakness personally (we're not talking O'Gara levels of flakery here), but I have seen Patchell fall off a few too many tackles, again given his size.

 

[truthteller]

id never heard that criticism of patch, yes dan jones whos a fair bit smaller. gats likes hard tacklers at 12....henson was really the ideal modern 12 as he had all the skill youd ever need and he was a really hard tackler....the game has moved on again since then and most 12s are bigger and bigger...though parkes isnt a monster hes just hard as nails totally committed and does all the basics very well

 

[bushytop]

id never heard that criticism of patch, yes dan jones whos a fair bit smaller. gats likes hard tacklers at 12....henson was really the ideal modern 12 as he had all the skill youd ever need and he was a really hard tackler....the game has moved on again since then and most 12s are bigger and bigger...though parkes isnt a monster hes just hard as nails totally committed and does all the basics very well

It was great to see Hadleigh 'come good' again this championship... seems like a really good guy.