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

[truthteller]

great guy

 

[bushytop]

great guy

It's okay Hadleigh, made me cry too!

 

[truthteller]

great guy

 

[mania]

They have the pack, but that pack needs to offload more and they may need faletau to get across the gainline

agree about faletau, who if he isnt leading the way then imo theyre lost.

 

[mania]

It's okay Hadleigh, made me cry too!

go hadleigh go. we got you bro. proud to see a kiwi playing well at international level

 

[bushytop]

go hadleigh go. we got you bro. proud to see a kiwi playing well at international level

I know right, what with all those Samoans, Fijians and Tongans taking all the All Black spots !

 

[truthteller]

its hard to over estimate how important he is...he is imo the best 8 in the world bar none
he gets across the gain line has tremendous balance, hes quick has fantastic hands, hes the hardest working , the man never stops and defensively hes awesome
with him at 8 you have a load of other options .....6 can be shingler with his lightning pace and lineout...or moriarty to 6 or navidi...lydiate also possible...then 7 is either navidi or tipuric or ellis jenkins...hard to pick from that lot of class acts...but faletau is 8.

 

[bushytop]

its hard to over estimate how important he is...he is imo the best 8 in the world bar none
he gets across the gain line has tremendous balance, hes quick has fantastic hands, hes the hardest working , the man never stops and defensively hes awesome
with him at 8 you have a load of other options .....6 can be shingler with his lightning pace and lineout...or moriarty to 6 or navidi...lydiate also possible...then 7 is either navidi or tipuric or ellis jenkins...hard to pick from that lot of class acts...but faletau is 8.

Apart from a fit Faletau at 8... it is almost impossible to select 6 and 7 if everyone were fit. Without wanting to sound disparaging, I do think that Shingler is a great bench player what with him being able to cover second row too. Prior to this 6N I would have said 6. Moriarty, 7. Tipuric & 8. Faletau... and that still may be the way forward but Navidi has impressed me greatly (again... he impressed me before he got the injury last year too) as did Ellis Jenkins against SA... and... I was surprised as anyone, Lydiate was absolutely brilliant against Scotland in the Autumn. As mush as I love James Davies, I feel his only hope of getting anywhere near the match day 23 is if Pivac's close proximity to him over the last few years sways him a bit (or injury).

I haven't even mentioned Wainwright or Ollie Griffiths, whom I'm a big fan of both and hope that they come good in the next couple of seasons. There are also some great kids bubbling under and ready to burst onto the scene too so the back row looks like it will only become tougher to select the three.

 

[mania]

I know right, what with all those Samoans, Fijians and Tongans taking all the All Black spots !

dont forget the maori and palagi (white people)

 

[bushytop]

dont forget the maori and palagi (white people)

In all seriousness though Hadleigh has been brilliant for the Scarlets and Wales... i think we'd all 'rather' our national team be populated by home-grown but he is just such an affable guy that gives his everything that we all probably love him as much as a true Welshman over here.

Obvs Anscombe has been impressive too, the fact that he has had to over come so much negative public opinion, says a lot about his character. I think there were times there over the last five years where Anscombe seriously questioned his decision to move over here... hopefully he feels much more at home now.

 

[mania]

In all seriousness though Hadleigh has been brilliant for the Scarlets and Wales... i think we'd all 'rather' our national team be populated by home-grown but he is just such an affable guy that gives his everything that we all probably love him as much as a true Welshman over here.

Obvs Anscombe has been impressive too, the fact that he has had to over come so much negative public opinion, says a lot about his character. I think there were times there over the last five years where Anscombe seriously questioned his decision to move over here... hopefully he feels much more at home now.

whats with the angst vs anscombe? parkes was easily accepted into the team

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

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

Surely a major lesson for Wales at this 6N is that it is a complete myth that you need Halfpenny back there in order to defend properly. That being the case, with Halfpenny's consistent limitations in attack in the past 5+ years why would you want him taking a space in your 23?

 

[bushytop]

whats with the angst vs anscombe? parkes was easily accepted into the team

This is just me reading between the lines but I think some fans feel he may have received some preferential treatment. I think he came over to a pretty decent central contract with the WRU (& therefore was drafted into the national squad almost immediately). I think some people feel he should have had to adapt to the 'northern' game before we give him the keys to the house.

Then it looked like Rhys Patchell was kinda forced out of the Blues (to the Scarlets) as the Blues (& maybe the WRU) were dead set on Anscombe playing 10... and consequently Patchell was being played at 15.

The thing is... it was never easy for him in the court of public opinion... and many of us didn't really believe he had the strength of character to stick with it and 'make' it work (what with him giving up his chances of being an All Black) but he did and he has... and I think he will now go on to be more appreciated because of his trials and tribulations.

 

[The Seeker]

I didn't get to watch the match live, but I saw the highlights. Wales has a very impressive squad.

 

[mania]

This is just me reading between the lines but I think some fans feel he may have received some preferential treatment. I think he came over to a pretty decent central contract with the WRU (& therefore was drafted into the national squad almost immediately). I think some people feel he should have had to adapt to the 'northern' game before we give him the keys to the house.

Then it looked like Rhys Patchell was kinda forced out of the Blues (to the Scarlets) as the Blues (& maybe the WRU) were dead set on Anscombe playing 10... and consequently Patchell was being played at 15.

The thing is... it was never easy for him in the court of public opinion... and many of us didn't really believe he had the strength of character to stick with it and 'make' it work (what with him giving up his chances of being an All Black) but he did and he has... and I think he will now go on to be more appreciated because of his trials and tribulations.

i hope so bushy, cos we'd have him back here in a heart beat.

 

[bushytop]

Bit late to the party on this one but this just turned up on my missus' insta... as a fan of The Americans I thought it was cool enough to get a belated place here.

https://m.facebook.com/BBCCymruWales/videos/matthew-rhys-sings-for-wales-v-ireland/352864498657898/

 

[bushytop]

i hope so bushy, cos we'd have him back here in a heart beat.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport...bes-two-years-abuse-17690920#comments-section

 

[WaterboySA]

Did not see the game....how did POM shape up regarding my prediction that he will click with Stander and gain 1000 meters in the match?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Did not see the game....how did POM shape up regarding my prediction that he will click with Stander and gain 1000 meters in the match?

They got 13m combined (POM 4, CS 9)

 

[Groundhog]

I didn't get to watch the match live, but I saw the highlights. Wales has a very impressive squad.

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