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- Nov 2, 2006
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I was probably a little harsh on Faletau, but I was trully dissapointed with his performance. I think the world cup has come a little bit early for him, but Gatland shouldn't give up on him completely. It was a difficult day for Faletau behind a creaking Welsh scrum, so deserves another shot off the bench at some stage. I was hoping Faletau was going to cement his place on the plane, but instead he's probably seriously jeopardized his world cup hopes completely. If Delve get's a shot next week, he'll almost certainly be a massive step-up in terms of physicality and experience. I just hope that Gatland doesn't revert to JT or Powell, because I'd still prefer Faletau over those two.
Our lack of second-rows is very concerning imo. I'd personally like to see a backrow next week of Ryan Jones - Warburton - Delve, but Ryan Jones will need to be tested at lock, so maybe that won't be possible. It's such a pitty that Ian Evans hasn't managed to regain form, because he's exactly what this Welsh team needs, some dog and a genuinly good lineout jumper.
Psychic Duck - completely forgot about Phillips' lack of positioning for the Haskell try. At the time I couldn't understand why he was standing the other side of the scrum as it was wheeling towards the blindside. Out of any scrum-half in the world, Phillips would have been physically capable of stopping Haskell, but instead the job was left to Shane, who didn't stand a chance. Lydiate did his best, but physically couldn't get across in time. I hope Knoyle starts next week, but I think Phillips could return to a little bit of form with a couple more games. He was infinitely better yesterday than his previous Ospreys and Wales form, still not good enough though.
Our lack of second-rows is very concerning imo. I'd personally like to see a backrow next week of Ryan Jones - Warburton - Delve, but Ryan Jones will need to be tested at lock, so maybe that won't be possible. It's such a pitty that Ian Evans hasn't managed to regain form, because he's exactly what this Welsh team needs, some dog and a genuinly good lineout jumper.
Psychic Duck - completely forgot about Phillips' lack of positioning for the Haskell try. At the time I couldn't understand why he was standing the other side of the scrum as it was wheeling towards the blindside. Out of any scrum-half in the world, Phillips would have been physically capable of stopping Haskell, but instead the job was left to Shane, who didn't stand a chance. Lydiate did his best, but physically couldn't get across in time. I hope Knoyle starts next week, but I think Phillips could return to a little bit of form with a couple more games. He was infinitely better yesterday than his previous Ospreys and Wales form, still not good enough though.
