England v Wales

[loratadine]

phone in sick!!

 

[danny]

you joking yeah??

this england side is very very poor!!

grampa gommarsal
flood ( who in a few years will be great but not international quality yet)
tindall
balshaw


and the backrow is gunna get outfoxed, and out played by a vastly more experienced and cunning back row!!

we shall not only end our twickenham drought, but finnaly expose england for the **** they actually are.
[/b]

With that team selection for England I should be worried, but its only Wales we are playing so no worries!!!!
Actually its the Ospreys without their only two good players, should be a piece of ****, bring it on.

 

[Dozzy_X]

well we all knew ashton would pick balshaw ahead of tait at fullback. shame, but i kinda resigned my team sheet to defeat when he announced the squad on 7th jan and excluded some quality centres. england are weak under the high ball and weak in the centres, if wales can punish this fact it could be embarrasing for the 'new look england'. so as for the result, i reckon england to beat the 'ospreys' by about 11 points

 

[stormmaster1]

well we all knew ashton would pick balshaw ahead of tait at fullback. shame, but i kinda resigned my team sheet to defeat when he announced the squad on 7th jan and excluded some quality centres. england are weak under the high ball and weak in the centres, if wales can punish this fact it could be embarrasing for the 'new look england'. so as for the result, i reckon england to beat the 'ospreys' by about 11 points [/b]

Not sure. Weak under the high ball can result in tries for Wales or nothing but lost possession in kicks aren't great and the English find their nerve. The centres being weak? If literally then i presume you mean flood. I suspect he will need to enlist some help from the back row and the 2 quality defenders either side of him to deal with Henson who is much the stronger player. I'm not too worried about the Welsh attacking in the backs. Yes that is their strength, but only if they generate quality ball and recycle quickly like they did last time they beat us. I think England will win the game in the front 5, which will leave the more talented of the Welsh players struggling for opportunity.

 

[RC]

Lora, quit winding up everyone!
There's a good discussion going on here without you irritating the English supporters.
PRODUCTIVE REMARKS, PLEASE!


Personally, I'm loving Gatland more and more everytime i hear from him.
The guy certainly loves to do things differently.
I question, has an international team started so many players from the same team like Gatland has done in any recent times?

 

[stormmaster1]

Lora, quit winding up everyone!
There's a good discussion going on here without you irritating the English supporters.
PRODUCTIVE REMARKS, PLEASE!


Personally, I'm loving Gatland more and more everytime i hear from him.
The guy certainly loves to do things differently.
I question, has an international team started so many players from the same team like Gatland has done in any recent times?

[/b]

How much of Gatland's selection is with a view to getting the side to play how he wants them to play? With Edwards there and the Ospreys having a more similar defensive pattern i wonder if the bulk of the selection is down to sorting out defence. Regardless of the result i expect less Ospreys in the next few weeks.



thankfully Gatland and Edwards are thick skinned and will carry on with their vision regardless of the first result, which could be good, but could be not.



The more i think about it the more i expect a medium-low scoring game, with England controlling possession, but the Welsh defending like demons to stay in contention, ultimately getting squeezed out.

 

[Prestwick]

Crude and cruel remark about RC. Further putdown about Wales' chances in the Six Nations and about the quality of specific players. Ignorant and baseless assertion about the playing ability of x, y and z players. Annoying laugh and multiple smileys.

I think Gatland is still finding his feet. Him and Edwards talk a good game but they always did that with Wasps and while sometimes it came off beautifully, other times it ended up with Wasps being hammered and having to go away looking really silly.

 

[RC]

Crude and cruel remark about RC. Further putdown about Wales' chances in the Six Nations and about the quality of specific players. Ignorant and baseless assertion about the playing ability of x, y and z players. Annoying laugh and multiple smileys. [/b]

Hey! That hurt...


Yeah, i've said before, i'm quite ignorant of rugby outside of wales (in comparison to how much i know about welsh rugby) and i've heard of great things about Warren and how his sides have ended up, but what's the pathway like to getting this much-preached glorious destination.

I have faith that our boys can win. We can win and i don't think it's out of the question to say so, but we are on a confidence low. We have the talent, that's for sure, i just need to know if we have the gameplay.
I shall be made proud though, of that I'm sure.

I look forward to seeing what England bring on the day.
Last thing they want is an upset at HQ after Wales' abysmal season.

 

[shtove]

Gatland knows the Welsh - **** them off as much as you can, then deliver the Slam and you're golden forever. Ask Mike Ruddock ...oh.

Can't believe Shanklin isn't starting. And 13 Os?!? The only reason he persuaded Williams to come back was to balance things out a bit. But it's going to be interesting for Wales supporters, when the coach really doesn't give a **** what they think.

England: rrrumblerumblerumble. Tait is light-weight - get over it. Balshaw is a great runner. Will Ashton finally live up to his reputation? Good luck with that.

England to shade it ... 11-09?

 

[gjohn85]

Who could question Gatlands lineup. The Opsreys are the only side that is doing well (and the Blues). He has got a strong bench with Shanklin coming off the bench to make a huge impact.

England team is a gamble, it seems that Ashton is either trying to get some new (and old) faces in, or he doesn't think that Wales aren't going to pose much threat.

Flood at inside centre is a big gamble for Ashton. He isn't the biggest of guys...could we see a another player for Henson to carry in his arms on Saturday??

 

[Col]

Flood isn't that small. He's 2 inches taller than Henson and 4 lbs lighter.

 

[sean43]

As a Cardiff Blues fan im not really annoyed at the selection. Their seems some outrage here at the moment, one guy on the radio last night was saying if they get hammered on Saturday Gatland should go! Couldnt make it up!

I would have preferred Shanklin and Gethin Jenkins to start, apart from that I dont think you can argue with the selection. Although we have been doing well, our side (Cardiff now) has been spurned on by foreign players not Welsh players.

I think it will be close, maybe Wales could pinch a result but you really have to question the confidence of us going there thinking we can win.

Havent won there in 20 years
Last game lost 62-5
England reached the WC Final, we didnt reach the Qrtrs
We are ranked 10th in the World

Despite this I think this side is good enough to compete with England. Ill go all out England 15 Wales 19

 

[Bullitt]

<div class='quotemain'>
What exactly has Moody done to earn selection ahead of Rees?
[/b]

Rees is not exactly in a rich vien of form right now.
[/b][/quote]

Maybe so, but at least Rees is an out and out 7 with talent. Moody is merely an average blindside in drag.

 

[Prestwick]

Who could question Gatlands lineup. The Opsreys are the only side that is doing well (and the Blues). He has got a strong bench with Shanklin coming off the bench to make a huge impact.

England team is a gamble, it seems that Ashton is either trying to get some new (and old) faces in, or he doesn't think that Wales aren't going to pose much threat.

Flood at inside centre is a big gamble for Ashton. He isn't the biggest of guys...could we see a another player for Henson to carry in his arms on Saturday??

[/b]

I think the Welsh team is a gamble. When has a national team, of which 85 - 95% of the players are made up from one team, acheived critical success? Can't remember one in Rugby Union. The most notorious examples in sport are the England dive-ball squad which was made up from the European Cup winning Liverpool team somewhere between 1950 and 1979 which didn't do very well.

Just because the Ospreys do well off of the back of some good SH players, doesn't mean that they can replicate that success to the Welsh National team. For a start they need to dominate at the scrum and the line out for their talented back line to thrive: both very big asks when facing up to the likes of Ireland, Italy, heck even England and Scotland!

Don't underestimate the scale of the task facing Wales.

Will Balshaw finally live up to his reputation from 2001? Good luck with that.
[/b]

Fixed. Has everyone outside of England collectively gone to sleep between 2001 and 2007? Considering Balshaw's fitness record and poor form in the last four years, everyone's views seem awfully out of date. I mean, come on, if none of you can remember what Balshaw has done (or has not done) in the last four year cycle, you can hardly be trusted to pontificate on matters English now, eh?

You do realise Balshaw doesn't play for Bath anymore Shtove...right?

 

[stormmaster1]

totally agree with you Prestwick on the Wales side. Especially given that so far the Ospreys have been good, but hardly awesome. I think Gatland and Edwards are putting alot of faith in their defence being relatively settled. It will only be fruitful if they can compete in the possesion stakes.

 

[loratadine]

im not making outlandish statements just for the f***ing hell of it...

this is what i generally feel is going to happen

i think everyone in wales needs to get behind the team 100 percent, have faith in the coaches and there tactice, and not only hope but believe we can beat england, cos if were all being honest there side, is nothing special at all, and if our lads can play to there potential we will humiliate them

that simple!!

wales 45
england 18

 

[RC]

I don't care if you're making outlandish remarks for the hell of it or not.
There's no need for outlandish remarks, full stop.

Now your last post was constructive and that's your own opinion formed in a way that's not insulting anyone, which is what everyone else was doing.
It's nice to have your backing tho. You can always be relied upon to back wales - good on ya.


And to the english fans *cough*prestwick*cough* as underdogs we are hardly underestimating England - they got to the RWC final for a reason...I believe it is your task not to underestimate the Welsh team that your boys face...

 

[Prestwick]

And to the english fans *cough*prestwick*cough* as underdogs we are hardly underestimating England - they got to the RWC final for a reason...I believe it is your task not to underestimate the Welsh team that your boys face...
[/b]

In reply, I post a condescending remark, a blatant insult about your sexual orientation and a remark about the players of your favourite Rugby Club designed to raise your ire! :bana:

 

[danny]

Im surprised Tindalls inclusion in the team hasnt been very welcome. He is THE form centre in the Brits Isles let alone England and hes just the type of get over the gain line centre we need. Ive watched every game he has played in this season and his form has been nothing short of superb. This is nothing to do with Gloucester bias as i have been critical of him in past seasons and dont believe Balshaw should be in the squad let alone the team. Narraway is a real surprise pick as he isnt 1st coice for Glos but he is a real talent with a hard edge. He plays quite loose, carries well and is not afraid to mix it. Im sure he will earn plenty more caps over the years and not be one of these one cap wonders.

 

[leeroycal]

Tindall is the right pick at 13, no question.

Balshaw, on the other hand, is a thunderbird puppet, only made of less sturdy material. Best full-back in England thoughm if you believe Yoda Ashton. :-(