Wales AI 21 Squad

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Bradley Roberts into the squad.

A very good player with even better hair

 

[big ginger 8]

Paternal grandmother apparently. Interesting, some rise for him.

 

[Welsh Exile]

I'd be surprised if he actually gets capped. No way he's in the match day squads against NZ, SA or Oz. Best case scenario is 20mins off the bench against Fiji and that is by no means guaranteed. I don't think we have to worry about him playing for England anyway to be honest.

Shows how much I know. I think he's done great for the little minutes he's had. Definitely loads of potential there but we knew that already I guess. Pivac has really been singing his praises and even though we've had a lot of injuries in that position he must've been impressing the coaches in training to get those bench spots and for the glowing reports in the press conferences. Lovely gesture by him to give his debut shirt against Fiji to his old school teacher. Top bloke.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Do you think he should(/could) be converted to 8?

Seems a real area of weakness in Wales, and I'm not sure if bulking him up for the 2nd row is going to play into his strengths

 

[MikeTheNative]

I don't think so. Wales are struggling for physical 2nd rows and out and out 6s. He should fit into those well, he's still only young so should put on a bit of size naturally. Despite only having a tiny bit of experience at pro level he didn't look out of his depth at test level, looking forward to see how he develops over the season. I suppose it depends on how much Exeter up up using him.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Do you think he should(/could) be converted to 8?

Seems a real area of weakness in Wales, and I'm not sure if bulking him up for the 2nd row is going to play into his strengths

Haven't thought about it to be honest. You're right, though, 8 is a bit of a concern but I'm really happy with the way Wainwright has progressed since moving to 8 and was one of the few positives in this autumn. Much longer term we have Carwyn Tuipulotu but he's only just starting to get mins off the bench for Scarlets so he's a good few years off international rugby yet but I'm happy with Wainwright for the time being but if Faletau and Wainwright get injured before tje WC we do look bare in that position. Moriarty is a solid international player but he's nothing special imo, he'll do a job though. I guess in that scenario we'd play Navidi at 8 if he's fit.

By all accounts Tshiunza sounds like he's being developed as a 6 who can play lock rather than a lock who can play 6 which is what I though a few months back.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Haven't thought about it to be honest. You're right, though, 8 is a bit of a concern but I'm really happy with the way Wainwright has progressed since moving to 8 and was one of the few positives in this autumn. Much longer term we have Carwyn Tuipulotu but he's only just starting to get mins off the bench for Scarlets so he's a good few years off international rugby yet but I'm happy with Wainwright for the time being but if Faletau and Wainwright get injured before tje WC we do look bare in that position. Moriarty is a solid international player but he's nothing special imo, he'll do a job though. I guess in that scenario we'd play Navidi at 8 if he's fit.

By all accounts Tshiunza sounds like he's being developed as a 6 who can play lock rather than a lock who can play 6 which is what I though a few months back.

Heard a lot of hype around Tuipulotu but he's 21 now and still doesn't get a look in at Scarlets at all, I know some players develop a bit later on that others but I'm not really holding up much hope for him to be the answer to be honest.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Heard a lot of hype around Tuipulotu but he's 21 now and still doesn't get a look in at Scarlets at all, I know some players develop a bit later on that others but I'm not really holding up much hope for him to be the answer to be honest.

Is he 21 now is he? Thought he was still only 19 or just turned 20. Yeah, you really want to be putting your hand up a lot more at regional level at that age but who knows, maybe he'll have more minutes this season and could be a little breakthrough season for him.

This is based on absolutely nothing other than a gut feeling, but I get the impression that maybe he's struggled with the fitness side of things. Having said that, while he's not been pulling up trees, in the limited minutes he's had for the Scarlets I think he's done alright.

As you rightly say, though, some players develop a bit later so we just have to hope he's one of those. I look at him the exact same way I look at Tshiunza, we don't really have many people like him and Carwyn in Wales just purely from a physical size point of view so I hope Peel and co are doing g everything they can to develop him which I'm sure they are but obviously it's got to largely come from him if he wants to play for Wales in the future.

 

[Welsh Exile]

@MikeTheNative just googled and wiki has him down as only very recently, in September, turning 20 so plenty of time. Agree with the gist of what you're saying, though, need him to start putting his hand up over the next couple of seasons.

 

[MikeTheNative]

I wonder if we see Harrison Keddie get a chance for Wales? Now he's managed to get a run of games while fit he's starting to look decent. I think Ollie Griffiths would have been really good at test level but unfortunately injuries have taken that chance away from him so far.

 

[Welsh Exile]

I wonder if we see Harrison Keddie get a chance for Wales? Now he's managed to get a run of games while fit he's starting to look decent. I think Ollie Griffiths would have been really good at test level but unfortunately injuries have taken that chance away from him so far.

I really like Keddie, in fact I really like all the back row options at the dragons but I think with Ellis Jenkins coming back it's going to be really hard for Keddie to force his way into the international set up. You never know, though.

 

[dullonien]

Keddie seems to have swapped with Wainwright. Played most of his rugby at 8 at junior level and his first few outings for the Dragons. Struggled with injuries, but he's been primarily playing at 6 last season and this. Playing well though to be fair.