Ach, good All Blacks side again, gonna be interesting to see who Gatland picks for Wales too. Tbh, I don't actually believe we have much of a choice when it comes to the front row, back rowand centres, what with injuries to a hell of a lot of on form Welsh players who would/should start. Very gutted that Warburton is injured, he is the heir to Nugget and win or lose, this tour was the perfect opportunity for him to show what he can do and gain some experience. Anyway my team:
15. Lee Byrne 14. Leigh Halfpenny 13. Andrew Bishop 12. Jamie Roberts 11. Tom Prydie 10. Stephen Jones/Dan Biggar 9. Mike Phillips 8. Ryan Jones 7. Gavin Thomas 6. Jonathan Thomas 5. Alun-Wyn Jones 4. Bradley Davies 3. Adam Jones 2. Matthew Rees 1. Paul James (would prefer Yapp)
Bench: Ken Owens, John Yapp, Deiniol Jones, Rob McCusker, Richie Rees, Dan Biggar/Stephen Jones, Jon Davies/Will Harries?
Wasn't sure between Stephen Jones and Biggar. I don't think SJ played that badly overall against South Africa, just his tactical kicking wasn't great and one dodgy kick led to their first try. Maybe it's time Dan Biggar is given a run out against a world class side, he's been one of the form 10s in Europe and could add a bit of freshness to a Welsh game plan thats been criticised as being 'too predtictable'.
Gonna try to compare my team to the All Blacks team:
Back Three: Interesting battle, Dagg is class, but it is only his 2nd test, Byrne is more experienced and can be world class, but his form is very shaky atm. Halpenny has found some form the 6 Nations onwards, but didn't do much vs SA, I reckon it was just an off game though/didn;t get the chance. Don;t know loads about Jane, I know he's solid in defence and can score tries, good under the high ball too I think. Rokococo looked good in the Super 14, nice to see him getting his form back. Prydie, like Dagg, looks like a very class prospect but is very young! Only his 3rd test, will have to see if he can impress again.
Centres: Roberts and Smith are both world class players, though Roberts has a habit of getting kept quiet by clever teams. Bishop is one of teh form players in Wales imo, he's been running suberb lines all season, really staked a claim on the O's centre shirt, would def prefer Hook though. Dont know much about Benson Stanley, but he's been picked by the All Blacks, can't see him being utter crap! Am worried that the Welsh midfield will lack pace and creativity without Hook though.
Halfbacks. Dan Carter is, well, Dan Carter! From what I saw he didn't set the world alight in the S14, but like I said, he's Carter! He's world class. Not much else to say about the guy really
Not Cowans biggest fan, but sounds liek he had a good game v Ireland last week. Already touched on the Welsh 10s above. Phillips is superb, thought he was class vs SA (bar one or two dodgy passes) hopefully he can try and keep the All Blacks defence honest with his runs round the fringes.
Back Row: NZ have a clear advantage here tbh. Ryan Jones looked a little better for part of the game v SA, but his form is very off atm. A lot of people are wondering if he's the right man to captain Wales right now though - maybe it's affecting his form. Am hoping Gavin Thomas will start, he's been in cracking form for the Dragons! He's no Richie McCaw though, whoever is picked at 7 for Wales is gonna struggle against him, Read, McCaw and Vito, who're all superb imo :/ Jon Thomas is shite, but we have no one else. 'Nuff said.
Second Rows: Can't say the All Black locks have ever made me stand up and say 'Wow!!!' but they're obviosuly a central part to the AB side, and do their job well. Our lineout got picked apart by Matfield last time, don't rate the AB line out as high as the Springbok one, but Wales need to make sure they win their own bloody throws! Bradley Davies is on fire with his carries atm though! AW Jones made a big difference when he came on v SA too.
Front Rows: Can't see either side having a massive advantage, Gethin Jenkins is a huge loss for Wales though :/ Paul James is a competant scrummager, but nowhere near as good in the loose. Adam Jones didn;t look paticiular comfortable later in the game vs SA, though was good early on. Don;t know loads about the Franks brothers, obviously Mealamu is an experienced hooker and he'll do the job for them.
EDIT: Forgot my prediction! All Blacks will prob whoop us, the breakdown is just gonna be a disaster with us unless our back rown pull their bloody finger out! Gonna be hard without Warburton too. Dunno if it'll be as bad as Ranger says, I think (ok hope
) the days of 50 - 3 hammering to the Tri Nations are over for now for Wales. Can't see Wales scoring only 3 points though - we do know how to score plenty of tries, and we like to lose excitingly. Ireland scored 4 last week with only 14 men for most of the match - 13 for 10 mins! If that's all down to the AB dropping off because they were so far ahead (personally I dont think that explains it all) then surely wont they do it vs Wales if they rack up 50?
Prediction: AB 42 - 25 Wales (optmistic I know...)
