EOYT: Wales v Argentina, 10/11/2012

[Draggs]

Dire all of them.

Yes. The one in form Turk forward was nowhere to be seen (not that he would have made a difference, just on about selections).
Jarvis and Faletau were our only positives. Jarvis must wonder what he's done wrong to have to start for that side!

I am not trying to drive the anti-Warbs bandwagon, but it has been clear for 6-8 months now that he simply isn't in good form. It isn't like years back, where it was Nugget and... no one. We have the in form European openside ON THE BENCH. Lydiate/Jones out, AWJ off, so we play two 'wings'. I know I have slagged Bradley off, but he must have been better than McCusker.

Also, say what you want about Phillips, but he is really our best scrum half. Now I am not saying he is good, just ahead of everybody else. As an aside, the best SH in Wales is Fotuali'i.

 

[coonor]

The first half was fairly poor from both teams and the match became very scrappy. Argentina simply structured their game and took control. They did nothing exceptional but rather took advantage in key areas of the game: set piece, Gain line and breakdown.

Wales were really missing performances from their core player group. Jenkins, Rees, Warburton, Priestland and North (although not exactly his fault) all had below par games.

Question marks really surround Warburton's captaincy ability. He usually sets a great example but I don't think he has real leadership quality. When things get tough, he never seems to be able to compose his team and direct them correctly.

Congratulation to Argentina, the better team on the day.

 

[Big Ewis]

Good game 4 us. Warning 4 u: All Blacks are coming....h34r:

lol wtf !
Congrats Argentina ! We'll see what happens when you come over !! You've had success recently in France...

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Yes. The one in form Turk forward was nowhere to be seen (not that he would have made a difference, just on about selections).
Jarvis and Faletau were our only positives. Jarvis must wonder what he's done wrong to have to start for that side!

I am not trying to drive the anti-Warbs bandwagon, but it has been clear for 6-8 months now that he simply isn't in good form. It isn't like years back, where it was Nugget and... no one. We have the in form European openside ON THE BENCH. Lydiate/Jones out, AWJ off, so we play two 'wings'. I know I have slagged Bradley off, but he must have been better than McCusker.

Also, say what you want about Phillips, but he is really our best scrum half. Now I am not saying he is good, just ahead of everybody else. As an aside, the best SH in Wales is Fotuali'i.

Agreed on all. Warbs is off the boil and needs to at least just sit on the bench.

Personally I thought Geth had run himself into the ground, tackled, scrummaged and rucked well. But Jarvis was good, held his own whilst also contributing around the park.

 

[Draggs]

Yeah, I suppose I am used to Gethin going forward. I don't know though. I really can't pinpoint where it went wrong, because it was a shower from top to bottom.
At least I didn't pay to watch this.

Pretty much done for now, lest I begin to repeat myself.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Personally think we are going to struggle for the next 3 weeks.

Samoa will cause Wales major problems next week, then the All Blacks will want blood and we won't cross that valuable line for the win against Australia.

As someone said its like post RWC 2007 again.

 

[Draggs]

Personally think we are going to struggle for the next 3 weeks.

Samoa will cause Wales major problems next week, then the All Blacks will want blood and we won't cross that valuable line for the win against Australia.

As someone said its like post RWC 2007 again.

Nah, see, in 2007 we were dire all the way through and had been for a good 18 months. We have gone from possible WC finalists, Grand Slam Champions, to a whitewash against an Australian side who couldn't count their own cocks, and this... performance.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Dire. Argentina were great, to be fair, but dire is my standout thought about the match.

Most frustrating statistic: Tipuric played 8 and a half minutes off the bench and made more turnovers than the entire Welsh XV had for the other 71.5 mins. I bet any more he won't get a start in this campaign unless Warburton's injured.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Dire. Argentina were great, to be fair, but dire is my standout thought about the match.

Most frustrating statistic: Tipuric played 8 and a half minutes off the bench and made more turnovers than the entire Welsh XV had for the other 71.5 mins. I bet any more he won't get a start in this campaign unless Warburton's injured.

I was surprised they chucked on McCusker before Tipuric. Would have put Tipuric on and moved Warburton to 6. But Sam was poor and I think it's time for Tipuric to replace him in the starting lineup.

 

[Draggs]

I was surprised they chucked on McCusker before Tipuric. Would have put Tipuric on and moved Warburton to 6. But Sam was poor and I think it's time for Tipuric to replace him in the starting lineup.

OK, I've just removed you from the list of potential users that are Rob Howley.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

And, by the way, Wales just lost 2.5 points for the IRB Rankings, effectively ending their possibilities for a top 4 seed.

 

[Draggs]

And, by the way, Wales just lost 2.5 points for the IRB Rankings, effectively ending their possibilities for a top 4 seed.

At this point I don't care.

 

[dullonien]

The state of the regions is also catching up with the Welsh team. The likes of Warburton, Rees, Turnbull, McCusker, Roberts, Priestland and Scott Williams have been poor for their regions this season, and they continued in a similar fashion with Wales. Why does Howley think they can magically turn a switch for Wales and return to their previous form?

Our good form in the World Cup began by picking the players playing well for their regions. At the time they were North, Faletau, Priestland etc. We got away with it in the Six Nations because only a couple of the Welsh squad were off form, mainly Priestland, who was close to costing us a game or two during the grand slam.

Pick on form! I wonder how much input Gatland has had with the selection? Hopefully for Samoa, Ryan Jones, Beck and Jon Davies will be fit.

Edit. Gatland coaching the Lions is going to destroy us!

 

[Thingimubob]

I'm praying those three are fit, plus praying that Biggar and Tipuric start, Charteris is back too right? No idea how he's been down in Perpingan though. Hopefully Turnbull and McCusker get dropped, dont want them anywhere near the team until they learn to front the hell up and not get blown away. Doubt it will happen and doubt we're going to win any games at this rate.

Haven;t said it yet, so well done Argentina, cracking performance.

 

[EMAX1987]

Pics of the game!!

 

[dullonien]

Are they your pictures EMAX1987? Very nice if they are.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

I think it's a bit sad that some of Wales' heroes of the World Cup are now playing so poorly. Warburton, Faletau, Priestland - what's happened to them?

 

[Thingimubob]

I thought Faletau was one of our few stand outs today, was everywhere and carried the ball well. Priestlands fallen apart a little bit, not the player he was at all, not a clue how Warburtons turned so anonymous recently...

 

[McTallshort]

Lobbe was outstanding today a real true great of world rugby. You can tell they have just played 6 games against the best 3 teams in the world.

 

[dullonien]

If Howley doesn't ring the changes for Samoa I'm not sure if I want to watch. He said that he wouldn't have done anything differently in the Summer, let's hope he's not of the same opinion this time. I'd select this team:

01 Paul James
02 Richard Hibbard
03 Aaron Jarvis
04 Alun-Wyn Jones
05 Ian Evans
06 Ryan Jones
07 Justin Tipuric
08 Toby Faletau

09 Mike Phillips
10 Dan Biggar
11 George North
12 Ashley Beck
13 Jon Davies
14 Alex Cuthbert
15 Leigh Halfpenny

16 Matthew Rees/Ken Owens
17 Gethin Jenkins
18 Samson Lee
19 Luke Charteris
20 Sam Warburton
21 Tavis Knoyle/Lloyd Williams
22 James Hook
23 Liam Williams/Scott Williams

I'm expecting Roberts will be out. Alun-Wyn might be out, and even if he isn't thee's a temptation to drop him, because he was quite poor in his time on the field. I'd expect him to bounce back with a solid performance though. Bradley isn't playing well, so can't see the point in including him, but if Alun-Wyn is out, Bradley would have to come onto the bench. Not having bench cover today way a poor decision from Howley. Almost any second-row would have been better than having to play Turnbull/McCusker there (can't remember which moved forward)!

Gethin faded quite badly today. He doesn't appear to be fully match fit, lack of game time with Toulon effecting him? Odd, because he's normally so naturally fit. Bring him on with 20 left I say. I thought Bevington was rather poor off the bench, as was Paul James on the tighthead, so have James cover his natural looshead position and include Samson Lee on the bench. It'd be good to introduce another tighthead.

Warburton can't start again. He was poor, and really needs to knuckle down to get his form back. I hate seeing him play so poorly, but there's no space for him at present, not with Tipuric playing so well. We missed Ryan Jones massively today, I'm praying he's fit for next week.

Phillips must start, mainly because he's our only current international class scrum half. Knoyle wasn't great, and I don't trust Lloyd Williams at the moment. No idea which to have on the bench, maybe Lloyd as he's a different kind of scrum half and can add some zip. The fact that Priestland started today and proceeded to kick away all our possession was nothing short of criminal. I don't want to see him near a Welsh jersey again until he's back to top form for the Scarlets. Bring Biggar in!

Beck and Jon Davies can add some creativity to the midfield. Roberts did little before going off injured, and whilst it's be nice to be able to have him on the bench if fit, he didn't look great coming off the bench and I'd expect there to be some concussion there. Back three as before, but GET THEM THE BALL IN SPACE. Less up 'n under's from Halfpenny too please.

Edit. Has anyone watched Howleys reaction in the press conference afterwards? Available here. All I can say it WTF? He's disappointed at the intensity the players played at, has he not been watching the regions, that's how they've been playing all season! He then reveals that Matthew Rees pulled a calf in the first 10min of the match! Why was he only replaced with 15min to go then???? He then goes on to call Josh Turnbull, Josh Lewsey! Bloody hell!