[2023 Six Nations] Wales v Ireland - 5 February 2023

[AlRums]

I see AWJ has failed a HIA so is out of next week's game

 

[corny]

Jesus Ireland's forwards are good.

I'd love Aki to start next week.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Jesus Ireland's forwards are good.

I'd love Aki to start next week.

I reckon he comes in. Stu went well but he comes in and out of games at this level a bit too much for my liking.

I reckon the biggest evident weakness we have is that a really good kick chase game will cause us a lot of issues because Keenan is left to his own devices in the backfield. Its a bit of a calculated risk but against Penaud, Dumortier and Fickou I'm a bit worried. If I was France next week I'd pick Jalibert to start, tell him to rain hell on Keenan and tell the chasers to let him catch it before smashing him the second he hits the ground.

In no way a risk on Keenan it's just the weak point I see in our system right now.

 

[Amiga500]

I reckon he comes in. Stu went well but he comes in and out of games at this level a bit too much for my liking.

I reckon the biggest evident weakness we have is that a really good kick chase game will cause us a lot of issues because Keenan is left to his own devices in the backfield. Its a bit of a calculated risk but against Penaud, Dumortier and Fickou I'm a bit worried. If I was France next week I'd pick Jalibert to start, tell him to rain hell on Keenan and tell the chasers to let him catch it before smashing him the second he hits the ground.

In no way a risk on Keenan it's just the weak point I see in our system right now.

I reckon another thing worth consideration - France will slow our ruck ball down far better than Wales - that difference will magnify the speed differential between CM and JGP. If we can't get tempo into the game, I don't see us beating France.

Dunno if I'd fancy Casey up against Dupont either.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I reckon another thing worth consideration - France will slow our ruck ball down far better than Wales - that difference will magnify the speed differential between CM and JGP. If we can't get tempo into the game, I don't see us beating France.

Dunno if I'd fancy Casey up against Dupont either.

I reckon Fetish comes back in next week. Sounded like one he could have got through today if desperate from a couple of interviews.

Agree on Casey, far better service but he's incredibly immature.

 

[munstermuffin]

I reckon another thing worth consideration - France will slow our ruck ball down far better than Wales - that difference will magnify the speed differential between CM and JGP. If we can't get tempo into the game, I don't see us beating France.

Dunno if I'd fancy Casey up against Dupont either.

To be fair Craig outplayed Dupont already in January.

 

[corny]

I reckon he comes in. Stu went well but he comes in and out of games at this level a bit too much for my liking.

I reckon the biggest evident weakness we have is that a really good kick chase game will cause us a lot of issues because Keenan is left to his own devices in the backfield. Its a bit of a calculated risk but against Penaud, Dumortier and Fickou I'm a bit worried. If I was France next week I'd pick Jalibert to start, tell him to rain hell on Keenan and tell the chasers to let him catch it before smashing him the second he hits the ground.

In no way a risk on Keenan it's just the weak point I see in our system right now.

McCloskey was really slow off the line too for me.

I was listening to the RTE play back and they gave huge credit to Ross Byrne for the patterns of play that emerged when he came on, i.e the loop plays and deception in attack. Now i've always liked Ross Byrne but they were completely missing Aki's influence in that (he came on at roughly the same time IIRR). Aki tackles hard, runs hard and can win turnovers but his ability to play the pivot in attack is his most valuable asset for me. He's perfect for Sexton and we end up dragging teams all over the place when both of them are humming.

I reckon we'll see a full team next week. I bet JGP and Furlong are fine but just weren't risked. Aki to come in too. Home advantage is huge. I'd make us warm favs.

 

[munstermuffin]

McCloskey was really slow off the line too for me.

I was listening to the RTE play back and they gave huge credit to Ross Byrne for the patterns of play that emerged when he came on, i.e the loop plays and deception in attack. Now i've always liked Ross Byrne but they were completely missing Aki's influence in that (he came on at roughly the same time IIRR). Aki tackles hard, runs hard and can win turnovers but his ability to play the pivot in attack is his most valuable asset for me. He's perfect for Sexton and we end up dragging teams all over the place when both of them are humming.

I reckon we'll see a full team next week. I bet JGP and Furlong are fine but just weren't risked. Aki to come in too. Home advantage is huge. I'd make us warm favs.

In fairness to Ross (and I'm camp Crowley) he did everything simple and well and was calm. Can't ask for more and kept team ticking over. Form carried on

 

[Umaga's Witness]

Wales looked better. There was clearly a lot of desperation that got the better of them on many occasions, and they were too lateral on attack at times but otherwise attack looked promising. Some poor defence at times. But there is definitely promise for the future.

Ireland didn't quite look themselves but didn't need to. Murray didn't play too bad but they missed JGP.

 

[dullonien]

That first 20min. were as tough to watch as international rugby gets. Ireland flew out the blocks with their forwards immense to a man. Leinster and Ireland have perfected the breakdown to a point that it's almost impossible to slow their ball down!

In stark contrast Wales lack players up front who can carry the ball! This is the biggest change Gatland needs to make in the lead-up to the WC. As expexted, Lake is a loss there, but the likes of Carre, Brown, Bradley Roberts, Rhys Davies, Tshiunza & Wainwright (although Morgan Morris would be better) can offer a lot more than those who started today.

Biggar and North were poor in the backs. Biggar cost us 2 try's, one with an intercept to Lowe and another when he failed to pass to Adams in space 5m from the line (bread and butter stuff for Adams). There's a risk of throwing too many rookies in v Scotland that needs to be managed, but Kieran Williams or Mason Grady could be worth a shot in the centre. Hawkins was one of our better players v Ireland, couple of errors, but mixed up his game well in attack, so there's some difficult decisions to be made there.

All in all, after a shocking first quarter and poor indiscipline, there were encouraging signs in the second half. We should have scored at least 3 try's and Dyer came close a few times too (great scramble defense from Ireland) which would have put us back in the game. We struggled with Dickinson's interpretarions at the breakdown - players need to learn because he didn't allow much competition at all, especially counter rucking which is fine, it's up to us to adapt.

Scotland away is gonna be tough, this could be a tough 6n if we lose that! Probably need to accept that the 6n is lost and use it to develop some players for the WC, not ideal at this stage, but it's where we are!

 

[Jimbo]

That first 20min. were as tough to watch as international rugby gets. Ireland flew out the blocks with their forwards immense to a man. Leinster and Ireland have perfected the breakdown to a point that it's almost impossible to slow their ball down!

In stark contrast Wales lack players up front who can carry the ball! This is the biggest change Gatland needs to make in the lead-up to the WC. As expexted, Lake is a loss there, but the likes of Carre, Brown, Bradley Roberts, Rhys Davies, Tshiunza & Wainwright (although Morgan Morris would be better) can offer a lot more than those who started today.

Biggar and North were poor in the backs. Biggar cost us 2 try's, one with an intercept to Lowe and another when he failed to pass to Adams in space 5m from the line (bread and butter stuff for Adams). There's a risk of throwing too many rookies in v Scotland that needs to be managed, but Kieran Williams or Mason Grady could be worth a shot in the centre. Hawkins was one of our better players v Ireland, couple of errors, but mixed up his game well in attack, so there's some difficult decisions to be made there.

All in all, after a shocking first quarter and poor indiscipline, there were encouraging signs in the second half. We should have scored at least 3 try's and Dyer came close a few times too (great scramble defense from Ireland) which would have put us back in the game. We struggled with Dickinson's interpretarions at the breakdown - players need to learn because he didn't allow much competition at all, especially counter rucking which is fine, it's up to us to adapt.

Scotland away is gonna be tough, this could be a tough 6n if we lose that! Probably need to accept that the 6n is lost and use it to develop some players for the WC, not ideal at this stage, but it's where we are!

There were defiantly positives in the second half, tough to know how much of that is down to Ireland taking the foot off the Gas when the game was won, it wasn't really the game Wales needed as an opener, I've always found Dickinson terribly inconsistent, reffs the hell out of a situation for the first chunk of a game (assume to try and send the message from the start) but then seems to ignore it as if the precedence is set regardless of it occurring or not occurring thereafter, a few youngsters had mixed bags but you have to give them time and expect that, in an ideal world you want to integrate youngsters into an organised established squad gradually which has direction and a bit of cohesion, Wales in a similar fashion to England simply don't have that (through no fault of the current coaching setup) so will just have to take a leap of faith at times and let give the youngsters a fair crack, not just drop them and ruin their confidence going forward.

 

[Groundhog]

I reckon another thing worth consideration - France will slow our ruck ball down far better than Wales - that difference will magnify the speed differential between CM and JGP. If we can't get tempo into the game, I don't see us beating France.

Dunno if I'd fancy Casey up against Dupont either.

Lol Casey did pretty bloody good against Dupont when we played Toulouse over there.

 

[Amiga500]

Lol Casey did pretty bloody good against Dupont when we played Toulouse over there.

Ah but yer playing senior hurling now.