Wales: How do we turn this around?

[Amiga500]

Warburton: when fit he's a quality player

When he is fit he can sometimes be a quality player.

Certainly to watch the Blues you wouldn't go home talking about many fantastic Warburton performances...

Can be world class... occasionally.

Lydiate: was a very consistent player before injury last year.

Lydiate is consistent... consistent in 1-dimension. A very limited player, but very, very, very good at what he does within those limits.

Not world class. Too limited.

Halfpenny: has been consistently excellent in just about every one of his Welsh caps.

He's very good. Separate his goal-kicking from his general play as a full back and you'd say... solid, but not a Cullen, Blanco... or JPR.

Is he world class? I suppose that depends on what you look for in your full back.

If you've got a 90% kicker already in your world XV, then Halfpenny isn't in your team.

AWJ: another hugely consistent performer for Wales

AWJ is a colossus in that Welsh team.

Priestland: fair enough,

We'll say nought.

North & Cuthbert: lethal wingers who have earn't their reputations imo. Very difficult for wingers to shine when their pack isn't going well.

North has alot more to his game than Cuthbert, who is more a big straight line runner. Matt Banahan with more speed and a bit better handling.

North is class. Pure class, and has been since his burst onto the scene. North has strength in the tackle and in breaking tackles, change of direction, hands to operate infield, positionally sound, speed to burn, makes good decisions...

Roberts: certainly limited in his style, but effective.

Yep. Effective...

But do you think he'll be looked back on in the same fondness as say, John Dawes? Or just a big man that used brute force and ignorance to make up for a lack of skill (in comparison)?


Here is a question to ponder. If Henson hadn't lost the marbles, and continued to progress as he was doing at 12 back in the day... would you have Roberts in the Welsh team?

 

[Big Ewis]

I remember checking this, I know that England under Johnson + Lancaster have won a higher % of games than Wales have under Gatland. Don't know about the others though.

Just counted, out of curiosity:
- Wales are exactly 38 wins, 36 losses and 1 draw for 50.7% (and counting) since Gatland took over (started with the 2008 6N Grand Slam)
- England exactly 21 wins, 16 losses and 1 draw for 55.3% since taking over (win against Pac. Islanders in 2008 til defeat to France, RWC 2011).

 

[Amiga500]

In other news Matthew Rees has got the all clear and is on the comeback trail....

Good luck to the man.

 

[j'nuh]

That's a little harsh on many of the Welsh players imo. Going through the players you've mentioned:

Warburton: when fit he's a quality player, but he is injury prone. There's fault with Gatland for constantly picking an only just fit again Warburton.
Lydiate: was a very consistent player before injury last year. Hasn't quite been the same since, with his move to Racing also not helping his recovery.
Halfpenny: has been consistently excellent in just about every one of his Welsh caps. Even against Ireland he was decent, standing up well to to the aerial bombardment, losing out to Kearney once when both caught the ball the one time he didn't field a high ball. Of course he gets marked down for the charge down.
AWJ: another hugely consistent performer for Wales, racking up a huge number of caps for his age. Has been below his best thus far this 6 nations though.
Priestland: fair enough, but most Welsh fans don't really rate him too highly. Gatland loves him though, which is a problem.
North & Cuthbert: lethal wingers who have earn't their reputations imo. Very difficult for wingers to shine when their pack isn't going well.
Roberts: certainly limited in his style, but effective. There is an argument that Roberts does limit Wales' game plan, but I think he could fit into a more expansive game plan if utilised slightly differently.

You're making it sound as if I don't rate these players. They all have been/are good players with international qualities. I think you have to be great in some aspects in order to have a regular starting spot for Wales. I don't think I'd be opposed to any of these joining Gloucester for example.

It's just that I don't think they are particularly above the standard of their rivals from other countries. Some of those players aren't good enough (eg Roberts imo), some aren't consistent enough (eg Lydiate). And then you have the players who are very good (eg AWJ/North), but there are players from other nations that are nearly as good but don't get anywhere near the same kind of attention (eg Launchbury/May).

Wales' star players, imo, are Hibbard, AWJ, Faletau and Halfpenny. North could be if he was used properly. Davies was showing glimpses of it before getting injured. I thought Tipuric was getting there and continue to be dumbfounded when he isn't selected.

But then of these, I think Hibbard is the only player England can't match for quality.