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[EOYT] Wales v Argentina 16/11/13

Cruz_del_Sur said:
1st scrum and a penalty straight away. No warning, nothing. A bit over the top. Maybe i'm biased.
Click to expand...

He's been bad for both teams, penalizing the majority of scrums. Feels like he's promoting collapsing in the hope of a lottery penalty
 
Well it was nice to watch a Wales game and felt I was able to relax and enjoy it instead of the angry, frustrated, sweary loon that normally Wales turn me into. People will inevitably say "oh but its against a weak Argentina side" but we needed that win and that performance. My standouts were Hibbard (who does a passible impression of a Challenger Tank with bad hair), Scott Williams and Toby Faletau. We saw more attacking intent from Biggar in his first run than Preistland showed all game last week.

Hopefully we dont suffer a relapse of the "Friday Night Autumn Test" curse that usually happens.
 
Impressed with Wales in this game. We played a nicely balanced game, varying nicely between a direct game and a wider game; and we did both well. The enforced changes went well with Rhodri Jones kinda shadowing Jenkins around the field and holding up well in the scrum (to my slight surprise), and although he made a couple of small errors early on Cory Allen also really settled into the game in the second half.

It's very nice that one of our backrow players always has a great game, this week it was Faletau's turn, putting in a great shift in all areas of the game, with his try the icing on the cake. The combination at hooker is also very nice, with Hibbard having another storming 60min (he's a one man wrecking machine), and Ken Owens coming on to improve the lineout a little and play a little wider. Nice to see Charteris have another very solid cameo, some of his defensive work was top class, really pushing Argentina back.

Thought Liam Williams was excellent too. His involvement in Faletau's try was quality, taking the pass which was slightly behind him in his stride, handing off his opposite number and delivering a lovely pass back inside to Faletau. Much better from North as well, very all action display.

I thought Biggar cemented his starting spot for the Aus game, he was much better than Priestland last week. Apart from one kick out on the full, his kicking was mostly good, and his prowess under the high ball is a useful asset. He also challenged the line well, and spotted space outside of him well, especially for the Scott Williams break from our own goal line.

I was a little disappointed with Halfpenny again. His defensive, positional, and place kicking was again top notch, but he only really entered the attacking line with any purpose in the build up to Faletau's try. There were plenty of opportunities for him to counter with supporting players around him, but just put it up in the air 9 times out of 10. He's an elusive runner, but we rarely see that. I think there's a lot of scope for him to improve.

All in all, very happy with the performance of the players and the more open game plan. I know Argentina were below their best, offering very little outside of a few isolated breaks, but to put 40 on them is just what we needed.
 
Me after this match:

m-579581.jpg
 
Amazing to see what Wales can conjure forth after a warm up game the week before.
Perhaps next year they could have a warm up game before the southern hemisphere teams arrive.
 
It's also the only time we've hit 40 points since we beat Fiji and Namibia in the 2011 RWC and only the 3rd time we've scored that much in a game since 2009.
 
TRF_SelimNiai said:
It's also the only time we've hit 40 points since we beat Fiji and Namibia in the 2011 RWC and only the 3rd time we've scored that much in a game since 2009.
Click to expand...

Should have been more as well. A number of clean breaks weren't converted into try's, and at international level those kind of breaks should be converted. The Scott Williams and North break out from our own try line is one that sticks in my mind. Against the better sides, we'll only get a few opportunities like that.
 
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 800"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]Player[/TD]
[TD]Remarks[/TD]
[TD]Rating (x/10)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]15 Leigh Halfpenny
[/TD]
[TD]Dependable goal kicking, 20 point haul. Positioning not as good as in previous tests, and offered no attacking threat from deep. Must try to counter. His boot is excellent, but not showing other aspects of back three play.[/TD]
[TD]6.5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]14 Liam Williams[/TD]
[TD]More involved than the past week, but still looks out of sorts on the wing. A match where Alex Cuthbert would have thrived, Williams was adequate[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]13 Cory Allen[/TD]
[TD]The debutant looked to get involved and didn't look lost. A few clever kicks put Wales on the front foot. Looked to breakout numerous times.[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12 Scott Williams[/TD]
[TD]I have criticised his inside centre play before, and while he still isn't a natural there, it was a powerful performance.[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]11 George North[/TD]
[TD]Stunningly set up try, looked to be involved more this week. Needs to follow up this performance with another, but could be in midfield on Friday[/TD]
[TD]7.5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]10 Dan Biggar[/TD]
[TD]In a somewhat unstructured match, Biggar looked solid. Covered well from deep and took the ball forward when able. Must be 1st choice.[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9 Mike Phillips[/TD]
[TD]Kept Wales' tempo up early on to set the game. Good awareness for the first try, and cleverly involved in the second. Better performance than last week.[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1 Gethin Jenkins[/TD]
[TD]The centurion was heavily involved but lacked the accuracy. Credited with making 7 and missing 6 tackles. Must improve if he want to keep his spot.[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2 Richard Hibbard[/TD]
[TD]As long as he plays like this, he can do whatever he wants with his hair. Cares nothing about his own well being. One armed tackle in the lineout was one of many great moments.[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3 Rhodri Jones[/TD]
[TD]For all the controversy surrounding his selection, he didn't let anybody down. Didn't hinder the scrum and was active in the loose. For 5th choice TH, good.[/TD]
[TD]6.5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4 Alun Wyn Jones[/TD]
[TD]Lacking the spark of the Lions tour, but still contributed around the park.[/TD]
[TD]6.5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5 Bradley Davies[/TD]
[TD]No stupid penalties must count for something. Good shift in defence.[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6 Sam Warburton[/TD]
[TD]Active in defence, kept himself busy all test. Solid performance from the skipper. (Can you believe it was over two years ago he took over, where has the time gone?)[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7 Justin Tipuric[/TD]
[TD]15/1 for tackles, showed again why he should be involved more than 20 minutes per test. Yellow carded, but I think he was anticipating the pass.[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8 Toby Faletau[/TD]
[TD]Can't catch... Wait. Constantly improving, excellent support line for his try. Deserved MotM[/TD]
[TD]8.5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bench[/TD]
[TD]Remarks[/TD]
[TD]+/-[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]16 Ken Owens[/TD]
[TD]Unlucky to have Hibbard ahead of him. Solid forwards try, deserved a start on Friday.[/TD]
[TD]+[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]17 Paul James[/TD]
[TD]Always reliable off the bench. Should start on Friday to rest Jenkins.[/TD]
[TD]+[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]18 Samson Lee[/TD]
[TD]Debut, unfortunate yellow card. Any idea what it was for, missed it?[/TD]
[TD]N/A[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]19 Luke Charteris[/TD]
[TD]Great to see him back, looked to get stuck in.[/TD]
[TD]+[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]20 Ryan Jones[/TD]
[TD]No real remarks. Offered a lineout option and made his tackles as needed.[/TD]
[TD]+[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]21 Lloyd Williams[/TD]
[TD]As above, nothing to really say. Game was done and dusted when he came on[/TD]
[TD]+[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]22 James Hook[/TD]
[TD]Comes on and penalised. For his positive reviews in France, he has shown little here. Trying too hard?[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]23 Ashley Beck[/TD]
[TD]Little time.[/TD]
[TD]N/A[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
 
@ Draggs: Personally I thought Liam Williams deserves a higher score. Maybe not as involved as North, but was solid in all aspects of play, and I thought he set-up Faletau's try wonderfully well. A lot of players would have messed up that pass back inside off his left hand (well NH players anyway). I would give him a solid 7.

Samson was yellowed for repeat infringements of the whole team. He tackled an Argentinian within 10 off a quick tap. He looked solid enough other than that, putting in quite a few tackles from what I saw.
 
Gethin must improve to keep his spot ... hardly Draggs. Ye wasn't on fire yesterday by a long way. He missed a fair old few tackles but to say he must improve to keep his spot I'm sorry is silly. Nailed on starter whilst his fitness is still good.

Halfpenny ... from where I was sitting yesterday joined the line a fair few times. Infact I'm pretty sure he joined the line to create the extra man to help put Liam Williams in who passed to Toby. He merits a 7 in my eyes because he was solid and took some good high ball. The kicking back was a tactic that Gatland has obviously talked about. Some of the kick yesterday was to relief pressure not to counter attack.

Stats tell you one thing about a game. But it is how relevant those stats are in the grand scheme of things ... like where tackles were made on the pitch. Penalties conceded etc. Opta are the lead for stats because the feeds you get off them can give you a fair reflection of how useful the stats ESPN etc offer.
 
Gethin is playing himself fit and already looking better, but I don't think any player should be assured of a start unless their form merits it. He was active and looked to get involved, fair play. Now I just want his accuracy to match his intent. Give Paul James a shot and have some competition to start, its only going to help us. James has been in very good form for Bath, he deserves his chance, they each offer something to Wales, best to use them.

Apologies about Williams, my benchmark score was 6.5 and meant to hive him 7. Made a mistake and got distracted with the formatting. I am warming to him these days.

Halfpenny does hit the line, not as prominently as Byrne. What I want is for him to consider having a run when there is 30m of grass in front of him. We were making plenty of breaks outwide, but not able to capitalise too.
 
Yeah I agree with Draggs about Halfpenny. Excellent in most aspects of the game, but I thought there were plenty of opportunities to counter, and he seemed to default into kicking it high. Quite a lot of the time North and Liam had got back with him, so the counter was on. Gatland has stressed a number of times that he wants his players to play heads-up rugby, so I don't necessarily think it's a tactic that has to be followed.

He certainly joined the line a couple of times on attack, with the Faletau try being the obvious occasion, but I still feel he needs to do so with more purpose than he's doing atm. Byrne is a good example, he really picks his lines and comes from deep, and he scored a number of try's for Wales, and set-up numerous more because of it. Halfpenny is still learning, but that's what he needs to do in order to take the next step as a player.
 
Scarlets prop Rob Evans been called up to train this week.
 
Thought Mike Phillips had his best game in a Wales shirt for a long, long time. His passing was direct and very accurate, and at times very flat along the attacking line, which in turn released the backs and allowed them to beat defenders out wide. He also made a few quick taps which kept the pace of Wales' game high, and as always posed a physical threat. Regardless of the hard time some people give him, I still believe Phillips is crucial to Wales' current game-plan, especially with the severe lack of strength in depth they have at 9.

Also, the set-piece pass from Phillips to North ... That was just superb.
 
TRF_Cymro said:
Scarlets prop Rob Evans been called up to train this week.
Click to expand...

Surprised a couple of outside backs haven't also been called up. Lyn Jones on ScrumV said that Prydie has torn a hammie, so he's now out. If Gatland wants to rest some key players who went on the Lions tour, North and Halfpenny would likely fit into that, but there's a lack of back three players to then play against Tonga. I'd imagine Gats would like to switch Liam Williams to fullback, but that would leave only Amos to play on the wing.
 

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