Wales squad for Australia to be announced Sunday

[Draggs]

So AWJ is definitely out.
Might be out: Adam Jones, Huw Bennett, Luke Charteris, Dan Lydiate, George North, Rhys Priestland, Leigh Halfpenny, Paul James, Josh Turnbull, Rob McCusker, Jamie Roberts, Gavin Henson
Unavailable: Lee Byrne, James Hook, Mike Phillips

What can we expect?
01 Gethin Jenkins
02 Matthew Rees
03 Scott Andrews
04 Bradley Davies
05 Ryan Jones
06 Dan Lydiate/Jonathan Thomas
07 Sam Warburton (C)
08 Toby Faletau

09 Lloyd Williams
10 Dan Biggar
11 Shane Williams
12 Jamie Roberts/Scott Williams
13 Jonathan Davies
14 Alex Cuthbert/Tom James
15 Chris Czekaj/Martyn Thomas

16 Richard Hibbard
17 Ryan Bevington
18 Jonathan Thomas/Aaron Shingler
19 Justin Tipuric/Rob McCusker
20 Tavis Knoyle
21 Jason Tovey
22 Martyn Thomas/Tom James

Of the injured, there is a chance Luke, Dan, and Jamie might be fit. No idea on the extent of Priestland or McCusker's injury.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

If Wales put that team out then they'll get smashed

 

[Draggs]

If Wales put that team out then they'll get smashed

Yeah, looks like it.
Australian backline will be interesting.
Obviously Genia and Barnes will be at halfback and Ioane on the wing, but nothing seems set after at.
AAC in midfield of fullback? Midfield would mean JOC is at fullback. If they decide on JOC at 12, Horne 13 than it will be Turner on the wing.
Is Tapuai any good?

 

[dullonien]

The injury list is quite extensive all of a sudden. I'm expecting Adam Jones to be fit, because it sounded like he only just missed out on today's HC game, although constantly picking up ****ling injuries is a worry. Hopefully North and Priestland are fit, or at least one of them, same with Lydiate and Charteris. Roberts would be another big loss, and it's looking doubtful there. I have no idea about Halfpenny, but if he's out then I'd personally go for Martyn Thomas or the young Liam Williams who's been hugely impressive for the Scarlets so far this season.

I'd have Tipuric in the squad for certain. He had a quiet game today against Treviso, but he's easily the next best option at openside, and he needs to be blooded asap. Tovey before Biggar, although I'm expecting Stephen Jones to possibly be involved if Priestland isn't fit.

 

[Me 1]

Priestland should be fine, I hear his shoulder was just a little sore and he's ok now

 

[Draggs]

Right now Wellies will be player for the Barbarians, which means no team Wales. It could change depending on Priestland's injury.
North is expected to be out 2-3 weeks I hear, so there is a chance, same with Lydiate and Adam. Roberts injury isn't too bad and could also feature.
If Rhys, Adam, Dan, and Jamie are fit that I would feel much better. Hopefully Halfpenny is sorted by then, but I wouldn't have problems with seeing Liam Williams in the squad.

Could be an interesting Six Nations squad, and certainly gives us further incentive for a Wales A side.

 

[dullonien]

Despite being a big loss, North being out might be a blessing in disguise. We need to find a replacement for Shane, and the sooner the better. Good opportunity to test Cuthbert or Walker or give another opportunity to Tom James or Aled Brew.

Priestland showed last night that he wasn't just a flash in the pan at the WC, he's a genuinely good player who get's the best of those around him and allows his team to play in the right areas of the field with his kicking out of hand.

I have been hugely impressed with Liam Williams, looks odds on to gain a Welsh cap by the end of the season imo. He just seems to handle everything in his stride, whilst scoring try's for fun. His try last night showed that he's got what it takes imo, at the right place at the right time, read the play well to cut inside, then had the presense of mind to kick the ball through when it fell at his feet. A little lucky, but players make their own luck, as the saying goes. Great instincts. Scarlets look to have uncovered another gem, they're racking them up!

 

[Draggs]

Despite being a big loss, North being out might be a blessing in disguise. We need to find a replacement for Shane, and the sooner the better. Good opportunity to test Cuthbert or Walker or give another opportunity to Tom James or Aled Brew.

Priestland showed last night that he wasn't just a flash in the pan at the WC, he's a genuinely good player who get's the best of those around him and allows his team to play in the right areas of the field with his kicking out of hand.

I have been hugely impressed with Liam Williams, looks odds on to gain a Welsh cap by the end of the season imo. He just seems to handle everything in his stride, whilst scoring try's for fun. His try last night showed that he's got what it takes imo, at the right place at the right time, read the play well to cut inside, then had the presense of mind to kick the ball through when it fell at his feet. A little lucky, but players make their own luck, as the saying goes. Great instincts. Scarlets look to have uncovered another gem, they're racking them up!

Again? As much as I enjoy seeing Brew play for us, he is not international material. He looked out of his depth v Namibia, so no chance he would handle Australia.

Liam Williams has been very impressive. Looks very comfortable under the highball, and plenty of paaaaace. Walker might be a little under-cooked. He needs some more time for the Ospreys before stepping up.
I missed the Blues yesterday, how was James?

 

[SelimNiai]

Brew can get stuffed. Good at regional lever but nowhere near the quality needed to make a viable International winger

 

[Draggs]

Brew can get stuffed. Good at regional lever but nowhere near the quality needed to make a viable International winger

With Will Harries to be the next Welsh wing we will need Brew around.

 

[SelimNiai]

Normally this dilemma is fixed by going North and Halfpenny on wings but since Leigh has been impressive at 15 he's messed it up.

Curse you Leigh

 

[Darwin]

Yeah, looks like it.
Australian backline will be interesting.
Obviously Genia and Barnes will be at halfback and Ioane on the wing, but nothing seems set after at.
AAC in midfield of fullback? Midfield would mean JOC is at fullback. If they decide on JOC at 12, Horne 13 than it will be Turner on the wing.
Is Tapuai any good?

According to reports Ashley-Cooper has been training at fullback with Turner and Ioane on the wings. O'Connor has been training at 10 (with Tapuai at 12), though this is because Barnes has been injured. It sounds like the backline will be: 9. Genia, 10. Barnes, 11. Ioane, 12. O'Connor, 13. Faingaa/Horne, 14. Turner, 15. Ashley-Cooper. A good looking backline, but as always they need to get quality ball to be effective.....

Tapuai is a good young player, but I don't think he is quite ready for international rugby yet. Last year for the Reds was his first full season of Super Rugby - he certainly improved as the year went on, but I think he would benefit from another year of Super Rugby. He's a solid player, and has got a really good step on him too, which is a good weapon to have in the midfield.

 

[Draggs]

While they didn't have great years, I rate Turner and AAC very highly.
A midfield of JOC/Faingaa could be the only weakpoint in this backline, hopefully Roberts will be fit.
If Horne can actually string a few succesive games together, he would be a very good force in midfield.

Barnes is just a class player. I don't know why Cooper would be selected over him. While he doesn't have Quade's skillz, he is a calm a steady player. I look forward to seeing him oppose Priestland.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Wow ... cannot believe some of the Welsh boys are already writing Wales off. Shocking.

 

[Draggs]

Wow ... cannot believe some of the Welsh boys are already writing Wales off. Shocking.

Its more of looking at our team what what we have available.
Missing our first choice tighthead prop, lock, blindside flanker, scrum half, outside half, inside centre, right wing and fullback is kind of a bad thing.
I hope Priestland's shoulder injury isn't bad as some have said. Likewise, sounds like Adam has a decent chance of making it.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Sorry but it still does not mean Wales are out of this.

Some good players knocking about at the mo and are good enough to step up.

 

[Draggs]

Sorry but it still does not mean Wales are out of this.

Some good players knocking about at the mo and are good enough to step up.

True. I am hoping that some of the backup players will take their chance now.
I'd like to see Lewis Evans feature over Jonathan Thomas. It's taken him some time but Lewis has matured well recently and looks a good player. Excellent pace and works well around the field. He is our replacement for Gavin Thomas on the openside, but has a better chance of making the Welsh squad as a blindside. He could be a good utility backrow for the bench.

We desperately need a tighthead prop, Andrews isn't bad but still perhaps not up to this level.
Joe Rees at the Ospreys seems like a good prospect, but still has another season to go before he is club level.

 

[dullonien]

Shingler at the Scarlets is another good prospect. Great pace for a second-row/backrow player as shown last night, skinning Ashoton for his try. I feel he/Scarlets need to decide on where his future lies and stick to it. A bit of versatility is always good, but if he's gonna be a long-term second-row then he needs to bulk-up, alternatively if he's gonna be a backrower then he doesn't want to loose the pace he has.

I lik the look of Lewis Evans, and would certainly pick someone like him ahead of the likes of Jon Thomas. Not ready for Wales yet (that goes for Shingler aswell), first he needs to fully break into the Dragons team when everyone is fit, i.e. alongside Lydiate and Faletau, which means he probably needs to make the switch to openside on a permanent basis.

Gotta admit that I'm not a fan of Scott Andrews. He shouldn't be considered untill he prooves he can scrummage. There isn't much choice at tighthead though. Joe Rees looks like a good prospect, but needs more gametime. Rhys Thomas has been doing ok recently, but I just dislike him for some reason. Rhodri Jones is the player I'm most excited about at 3, but he's not getting a huge amount of gametime, but is getting 10mins at the end of games, hopefully that will increase.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Got to disagree about the lack of love for Andrews. Last season he started well but then fell off the radar terribly. This season he has shown he can hold his own, especially when the WC boys were away.

 

[Draggs]

Rees' biggest problem is being behind Adam, but I would imagine he is benefiting from learning from the best.
Shingler might just be too small for second row. He has excellent pace and good hands and it would be a shame to lose them purely for putting on weight (like what happened to Willem Alberts)
He could be a good option for blindside, but he will have to compete with McCusker at the Scarlets, and Lydiate and Pretorius for Wales. He has stepped up well over the past season and I have no doubt that he could be the Scarlets first choice 6 eventually.

Agree about Andrews, his biggest problem is consistency. Rhodri Jones will have a good chance, considering he has very little competition at the Scarlets.

Lewis' best chance for the Dragons is openside. We have no one else to replace Gavin, and his pace would be a great asset there. A backrow of Lydiate, Evans, and Faletau is a great thought indeed.