Wales squad trimmed

[psychic duck]

Wales have trimmed their World Cup squad, with experienced back rowers Jonathan Thomas and Andy Powell the casualties, also cut are Ken Owens, Lou Reed, Richie Rees and Andrew Bishop.

Versatile forward Jonathan Thomas has had a disappointing career and has not lived up to his performance against New Zealand in the 2003 World Cup. But he was a member of the 2005 and 2008 Grand Slam winning squads so his axing comes as a surprise still though.

Andy Powell after being man of the match against South Africa in 2008, was seriously overrated and even managed to get on to the 2009 Lions tour, it was after that that people realised he was out of his depth at international level. The best he could have perhaps got to was an impact sub, but after off field troubles involving golf buggies and QPR fans he has extinguished that possibility as well.

Both players have suffered from the rise of Toby Faletau and the Melbourne Rebels Gareth Delve was surprisingly preferred by Gatland despite preferring to pick Thomas and Powell over the past four years. Both Powell and Thomas are unlikely to win too many more caps after the World Cup either as the Scarlets Ben Morgan will be qualified by then.

Richie Rees probably would have been odds on to go as one of the three scrum halves at the start of 2011 but Tavis Knoyle overtook him whilst he was serving an eye gouging on Dylan Hartley suspension. Tavis Knoyle, Dwayne Peel and Mike Phillips are guaranteed to go now. It's unclear as to whether Lloyd Williams is still in the squad.

Lou Reed was always unlikely to go to the World Cup after he wasn't given a chance in the Barbarians match, neither was Ken Owens who has hardly played all season due to injury.

Andrew Bishop's axing is more surprising but Gatland seems to like Scott Williams despite only starting five Magners League matches all season, Gavin Henson is also retained. I think this is harsh on Bishop as despite his limitations in attack it's hard to say Scott Williams and Gavin Henson are better than him on the basis of a combined total of 8 starts in Magners League, Aviva Premiership and Top 14 competition. (Please don't take this as I'm saying Bishop is better, I'm just saying it's hard to know whether Henson is still good, or whether Scott Williams is good after playing against largely Principality Premiership teams all season)

A few other players are injured and are not in the squad but have not been injured.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Thomas out is good,
Ken Owens out is not.

Huw Bennet for RWC #16 it is...

 

[ZeFrenchy]

Andy Powell's gameplan explained. Good for Wales he's not there.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

To be fair Williams played a fair bit of Magners rugby: http://www.scarlets.co.uk/eng/rugby/people.php?player=88143&includeref=dynamic

Owens removal is hardly a surprise to me because he has not really been fit all season, sadly he is better than Bennett but injuries will ruin his Welsh career.

Cutting Richie Rees infront of Mike Phillips is in my eyes a baffling decision. Phillips should not be near the squad, how can an indefinite ban only lead to 10 days of suspension?

Andrew Bishop can feel hard done by, sadly his defensive skills are overlooked.

 

[Easdon]

Fair play really, players like Andy Powell really got ahead of themselves and as a coach you can't afford to be taking guys like that - just excess baggage really. Good effort Warren!

 

[psychic duck]

To be fair Williams played a fair bit of Magners rugby: http://www.scarlets.co.uk/eng/rugby/people.php?player=88143&includeref=dynamic

most of those matches are off the bench or in LV Cup, I'm not saying he's a bad player because I haven't seen much of him, I would just rather have somebody first choice for their team and playing more matches.

Mapusua, Jean de Villiers, Lovobalavu are all a big step up from Magners League anyway, I would feel more comfortable with him in the squad if he played a bit of H Cup

Bishop is a good defender, limited in attack but is more reliable than Jonathan Davies and Gavin Henson both of whom struggled defensively against the Barbarians

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Bye bye JT. However, I am suprised anolther JT has been retained in his place- Justin Tipuric. Glad, but still suprised.

Disapointed that Ken, Richie Rees and The Bish are out, though.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

I presume Ryan Jones is now the versatile option for Wales replacing JT. Cannot be happier that JT has been dropped ... for now.

 

[psychic duck]

BBC Sport says that the squad has been cut from 45 to 35 players yet there are only 6 names who have been withdrawn as yet, I don't know who the other ones are.

my guess would be Tipuric, Andrews, Tovey and Burns

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

It says that injured players won't be going, so it'll be Tovey, Hibbard, Halfpenny and then probably Stoddart.

 

[dan-the-man]

View attachment 1036
Andy Powell's gameplan explained. Good for Wales he's not there.

That exact gameplan can be applied to Bismarck du Plessis or Wynand Olivier

 

[psychic duck]

It says that injured players won't be going, so it'll be Tovey, Hibbard, Halfpenny and then probably Stoddart.

I know Stoddart is going so it must be someone else

 

[TVH11]

As long as Stoddart stays out of the squad, i'll be content. Like everyones said, Phillips shouldn't be there... Maybe he's the back row cover Cause he cant bloody pass!! JT hasn't shown form for a long time, shame cause he promised so much..... Joys of I guess.

 

[psychic duck]

As long as Stoddart stays out of the squad, i'll be content. Like everyones said, Phillips shouldn't be there... Maybe he's the back row cover Cause he cant bloody pass!! JT hasn't shown form for a long time, shame cause he promised so much..... Joys of I guess.

not his passing that's the problem, it's his decision making

 

[TRF_Cymro]

WRU will announce sometime tomorrow the full party going to Poland and when they come back they will announce their plans for the warm up games.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

That exact gameplan can be applied to Bismarck du Plessis or Wynand Olivier

I don't want to turn this into a BdP defense thread, so let's assume he does play like that. What ****** me off about Powell is that as a n8 he gest A LOT of balls to lose. He picks it up in every scrum and in every ruck he is in (which, let's give him that, are quite a few). Du Plessis doesn't have as many carries and Olivier... well, at least sometimes he (or someone else before WO gets the ball) breaks the line.

 

[welshglory]

Glad to see JT gone doesn't really add anything to the team. Although at the start of the year when he was playing 8 for the ospreys i was impressed.

Im a big fan of Andy Powell, although i perfectly understand why hes been dropped. Theres just to much competition for places with more reliable options available. Gareth Delve, Faletau are better 8s, jury is still out on Ryan Jones though.

Ken Owens shouldnt be dropped, saying that though in world cup experience is key and unfortunately Huw Bennett has.

Wouldn't have dropped Richie Rees myself, i would have gotten rid of Tavis Knoyle hes to similar to Phillips in my view. Glad to see LLoyd williams still in the squad, a smooth scrum half.
However i see a reason for Gatland keeping Knoyle and Phillips. If you think about it, it does make sense. For one LOOK AT THE POOL; South Africa, Fiji, Samoa ...Namibia. These are some of the most physical teams in World Rugby. The times when we have been competitive with SA we've been direct in the forwards and in the centres and then relied on the outside backs to create the tries. I am 100% sure that Phillips will start against South Africa unless hes injured.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

(Pictured: the extended preliminary RWC training squad which gathered for the first Wales camp in Poland in the first week of July â€" the final 30 for the New Zealand 2011 tournament will be selected from this squad with the addition of Gareth Delve, Stephen Jones, Dwayne Peel, Morgan Stoddart and Richard Hibbard who were unavailable at the time of shooting.)

Wales have named the 35 players to travel to Poland next Monday for the second pre-2011 Rugby World Cup training camp of the month.

An initial squad of 42 met the fitness standards required of them for the first camp, with five players ruled out of that trip for various reasons â€" Gareth Delve, Stephen Jones, Dwayne Peel, (unavailable), Morgan Stoddart (thigh), and, although he flew out later as a replacement for the injured Jason Tovey (back), Richard Hibbard (shoulder).

Now the 100-times capped Jones is back in consideration after taking time out for the birth of his first child and, elsewhere, the training party has been reduced due to the different content and focus of the camp.

Joining Delve, Peel, Tovey and Hibbard and remaining in Wales on this occasion will be Scott Andrews, Andrew Bishop, Ken Owens, Andy Powell, Lou Reed, Richie Rees, Jonathan Thomas and John Yapp.

But head coach Warren Gatland is quick to point out that no players have been discarded from his plans at this stage.

“The door is still very much open for those players who are not making this trip,†said Gatland.

“This camp will have a strong focus on rugby whilst retaining the skills and conditioning elements of our first visit to Spala.

“It will give us further opportunity to see more of some players in particular in and intense rugby environment, with the likes of Ryan Bevington, Lloyd Burns, Justin Tipuric and Scott Williams all gaining an extra opportunity to show us their worth.

“The nature of the training regime next week meant we were always going to take a smaller group of players, because of the strong rugby element involved.

“The players on the camp have an opportunity to work hard and impress, but it will not be a case of out of sight out of mind for those players who remain at home.â€

The Wales squad are utilising cryotherapy chambers at the widely respected Olympic training venue in Poland, which improves recovery to the extent that they are able to double their daily workloads during the 10-day camp.

On return from Spala, further announcements will follow in relation to the RWC warm-up fixtures against England at Twickenham on 6 August, the return fixture at the Millennium Stadium on 13 August and Argentina’s visit to the Welsh capital on 20 August.

The announcements and the eventual 30-man RWC squad, to be announced on 22 August, may include any player named in the original extended squad list and is not limited to those on this particular training camp in Poland.

RWC 2011 Spala Camp 2

Gethin Jenkins (Blues), Lloyd Burns (Dragons), Huw Bennett, Ryan Bevington, Adam Jones, Paul James (Ospreys), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Craig Mitchell (Exeter Chiefs)

Bradley Davies, Sam Warburton, Martyn Williams (Blues), Luke Charteris, Danny Lydiate, Toby Faletau (Dragons), Ryan Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Josh Turnbull, Rob McCusker (Scarlets)

Michael Phillips (Bayonne), Lloyd Williams (Blues), Tavis Knoyle (Scarlets)

Jamie Roberts (Blues), James Hook (Perpignan), Jonathan Davies, Stephen Jones, Rhys Priestland, Scott Williams (Scarlets) Gavin Henson (unattached)

Leigh Halfpenny (Blues), Lee Byrne (ASM Clermont Auvergne), Aled Brew (Dragons), Shane Williams (Ospreys), George North, Morgan Stoddart (Scarlets)

Courtesy of WRU Media​

 

[psychic duck]

the players cut are

John Yapp
Scott Andrews
Ken Owens
Richie Hibbard
Lou Reed
Jonathan Thomas
Gareth Delve
Andy Powell
Richie Rees
Dwayne Peel
Jason Tovey
Andrew Bishop

Sale will be happy they've got both their Wales players back for the start of the season

why on earth is Lloyd Williams still in the squad?

any predictions on the final five to be cut?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I don't think Delve and Peel have been cut, they're just unavailable for the training

However with the first warm-up only three weeks away, and them having limited (if any?) training time with Wales then they might as well be