[2022 Six Nations] Wales vs France (11/03/22)

[Welsh Exile]

Yay only took 4 game to get this thread more amazed it took to France to cause it rather than England or Ireland.

France didn't cause it. It's one bigoted Englishman on here who can't help himself.

 

[Reiser99]

France didn't cause it. It's one bigoted Englishman on here who can't help himself.

Your translation skills are top notch.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

France didn't cause it. It's one bigoted Englishman on here who can't help himself.

If he's an Englishman he's probably playing in the welsh team then???

*bants

 

[Reiser99]

If he's an Englishman he's probably playing in the welsh team then???

*bants

Or Scottish.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Your translation skills are top notch.

Over my head I'm afraid

 

[Reiser99]

Over my head I'm afraid

ncurds post made zero sense to me.

 

[Welsh Exile]

ncurds post made zero sense to me.

I assume he meant that he's surprised this match thread has turned to a **** show after a France v Wales game and not England or Ireland.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

On a separate note @Welsh Exile who have you been most pleased with (welsh player wise) so far this 6 nations?

 

[Welsh Exile]

On a separate note @Welsh Exile who have you been most pleased with (welsh player wise) so far this 6 nations?

Good question. Tough one as we've lost 3 games obviously.

Pleased with the newbies like Basham and Morgan. Think Elias has done well and generally been pretty consistent even though we still have big lineout problems. Scrum has done well so I guess I'm happy with the front row in that area but not so much in the loose. Been pleased with Rowlands as again, he's been consistent and always puts in a shift.

If I had to pick one I'd go for Basham for kicking on from a good autumn campaign. I'm a big Basham fan though so a bit biased.

 

[dullonien]

Not sure we can be too happy with Basham after getting dropped. Good first couple of games though, so he's one for the future.

Big pluses for me have been Rowlands for being consistently good. Gareth Thomas has emerged as a genuine option at loosehead. Great to see Faletau return at his best.

In the backs, Tomos Williams was great v England, as was Cuthbert. Nick Tompkins has probably been the most consistent back though, but whilst busy, not sure he's our long term option as he's not a great distributer, isn't a genuine kicking option and isn't a crash ball 12 either.

So overall, Rowlands.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Yeah that's fair. Also been pleased with Lake and Seb Davies.

 

[ncurd]

I assume he meant that he's surprised this match thread has turned to a **** show after a France v Wales game and not England or Ireland.

This is what was meant.

 

[ncurd]

Sean Edwards has done more to ruin union with his league-style defence systems than anyone.

nothing wrong with Edwards style defence, France are one of the most exciting teams to watch.

Good defences aren't the problem it's Gatland style attacks which do sweet FA.

 

[Jetwash Johnny]

nothing wrong with Edwards style defence, France are one of the most exciting teams to watch.

Good defences aren't the problem it's Gatland style attacks which do sweet FA.

True - but i suppose that i'm not that interested in watching highly-drilled defence systems stifling attacking rugby. I can admire the effort of a team scrambling in their 5 metre zone but prefer seeing teams exploit space options in attack elsewhere. It's why i love the introduction of the 50-22 option.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I think there's a number of reasons for our poor attack.

1. Biggar can't run an effective attack. 99 caps for Wales, and he's yet to show real attacking edge other than the odd cross kick. He relies on others, e.g. Tomos Williams last week. Paralels can be seen with Scarlets this season - have looked dross with Dan Jones at 10 who's a similar kicking 10 to Biggar. Patchell has made a huge difference, and Wales could do worse than turning to him at 10, or Jarrod Evans.

2. Our centres are poor in attack. JD2 was overall poor v France and is a shadow of his former self. Watkin is solid defensively, but doesn't offer much in attack. North comes back in at 13 once he proves his fitness, but 12 is a massive issue. A second playmaker wouldn't go amiss, or a big battering ram to generate momentum.

3. Our lineout is still a big issue. 100% return looks good on paper, but despite picking Seb Davies as another jumping option, we still didn't throw to the tail. Shows the lack of confidence in our throwers. By the end of the game France were flooding through to Hardy as he took another ponderous middle/front ball and stopped our attack dead by either smothering Hardy or forcing a poor pass.

4. Ball carrying. Just one-up runners so we struggle to make much momentum. When we do, our runners are isolated at the breakdown resulting in either slow ball, or a turnover.

These have been issues since Pivac took over though, so not sure what's going to change. Whatever we're trying to do isn't working, so thr gameplan probably needs to change. Our only solution to the lineout seems to be Tipuric, we're lost without him, but we need to figure it out.

I quite like Biggar for a Gatland-ball approach to the game and think he has been integral in a lot of Welsh success. But, I remain baffled by the lack of chances Patchell has had, especially under Pivac who knows him so well. I suppose that is the most damning indictment of Patchell, that Pivac won't even pick him. Is Anscombe also out of consideration? So much talent at 10 for Wales, so little experimentation.

 

[dullonien]

I quite like Biggar for a Gatland-ball approach to the game and think he has been integral in a lot of Welsh success. But, I remain baffled by the lack of chances Patchell has had, especially under Pivac who knows him so well. I suppose that is the most damning indictment of Patchell, that Pivac won't even pick him. Is Anscombe also out of consideration? So much talent at 10 for Wales, so little experimentation.

To be fair, Patchell has been out injured for the majority of Pivac's time in charge of Wales. He's only just returned for the Scsrlets after prolongued concussion issues.

Anscombe's injury lay off was also well documented, and it's taking time for him to regain form after beong out for almost 2 years. Although he's back in the Welsh squad, he's not shown any real form yet at regional level.

Jarrod Evans should have had more opportunities imo, but even he's had his injury issues.

Pivac likes Sheedy, but I'm not convinced. He was seleced based on Bristol's success, but they have/had gamechangers all over the park which Wales don't really have.

 

[Reiser99]

Pivac likes Sheedy, but I'm not convinced. He was seleced based on Bristol's success, but they have/had gamechangers all over the park which Wales don't really have.

Easy to look good when you can just give it to Radradra or Piutau and watch them create something from nothing.

 

[Wichita]

No-one I know have been claiming moral victories, jusy lamenting our continuous failings in key areas of thr game. Can't challenge without an attack.

France weren't great yesterday, resorted to kicking everything instead of playing their natural game, but defensively they were very good, typical Edwards defensive system that pressured us and our skills let us down. France lose that game without Edwards as defense coach.

Edwards hasn't made a single tackle on Friday night, so you might give some credit to the players who actually did !

 

[dullonien]

Edwards hasn't made a single tackle on Friday night, so you might give some credit to the players who actually did !

Of course, but it's pretty obvious that Edwards is one hell of a coach who knows how to structure a defense. He did it with Wales for a decade, and there's no denying that as soon as he goes to France their defense also turns from one that would leak soft tries and penalties to one of the best in the world!

I wasn't having a dig at France, they played poorly and still won. That's the sign of a good team who's rightly in with a very good chance of a very deserved grand slam.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Despite the score always being relatively close I always felt that France had it under control and were going to grind out the win. A very professional performance from them.