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Wales squad trimmed

No one has been cut as it stands, do people even read the little statement that I posted from the WRU, even Gatland says thy are not cut just not going to Poland.
 
TRF_Cymro said:
No one has been cut as it stands, do people even read the little statement that I posted from the WRU, even Gatland says thy are not cut just not going to Poland.
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they may not have been cut so to say, but their chances of going to the World Cup have decreased, would you agree there?
 
psychic duck said:
they may not have been cut so to say, but their chances of going to the World Cup have decreased, would you agree there?
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The ones named yesterday, I agree, the others because of injuries / not being able to be released due to the PRL not so.
 
ooooo 3 weeks till warm ups :D :D yes please :D I need my fix of international rugby. Be nice to see Shane back at 11, although he should be wrapped in cotton wool for world cup :p :p Him and halfpenny look very similar ;)
 
Peel is apparently still not available according to the BBC : http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/14343990.stm

He may be available for Wales on the 4th of August, 2 days before the England match! This whole player release bol***ks is really starting to get rediculous. Do you see Welsh, Irish or Scottish teams stopping their foreign players joining up with their international squads? Delve was released almost immediately after the Super 15 ended.

Well Peel's chances of making the WC squad is going down the pan imo. If he was Wales' first choice then Gatland may have included him anyway, but it's been a number of years since he propperly performed on the international stage, and he's missed over a months worth of Wales training. Not his fault particularily, but is certainly a clear indication to other Welsh players about what can happen if they don't play their trade in Wales, and why Gatland thought it necessary to bring in his policy over picking foreign based players.

Wonder what's happened to Richie Rees aswell. He was clearly 2nd choice a year ago, and I would have expected him to make the WC squad in front of Lloyd Williams and possibly Tavis Knoyle. He seems to have been completely dropped though. Not heard anything about injury, maybe there's been some kind of incident in camp?
 
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Peel going to Sale has essentially destroyed his Welsh career.
He is always restricted from joining up with the Welsh squad, and his performances are no where near what they used to be.

As far as Powell and Thomas go, I am gutted to see them back as they really are dire. Neither have done anything to merit selection, and apart from NZ in 2003, JT has not put in a good match for Wales.
 
Draggs said:
Peel going to Sale has essentially destroyed his Welsh career.

He is always restricted from joining up with the Welsh squad, and his performances are no where near what they used to be.

As far as Powell and Thomas go, I am gutted to see them back as they really are dire. Neither have done anything to merit selection, and apart from NZ in 2003, JT has not put in a good match for Wales.
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Completely agree regarding Peel.

The fact that Powell and Thomas didn't go to Poland must have meant something, so I'm hoping they still won't make the 30 man squad. Personally I can see the 9 players missing out being:

Scott Andrews
Ryan Bevington
Ken Owens/Lloyd Burns
Jon Thomas
Andy Powell
Josh Turnbull/Justin Tipuric
Lloyd Williams
Scott Williams
Aled Brew

I'd love for Brew to be kept, because he's been on fire for the Dragons this season, but I don't see which other outside back would miss out instead. Stoddart is the only other, but he offers for versatility being able to cover fullback aswell.

Edit. That would leave only 4 props though, is that enough? Are there normally 3 scrum halves taken aswell? It's pretty tough to cut that squad down to 30. Peel and McCusker might still be in the mix aswell.
 
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I agree that Brew has been in good form for us, but I would honestly rather have Stoddart on the wing for Wales over him. Aled Brew is clearly unable to perform at this level, while Morgan has a good eye for the tryline (5 in 7 matches).

I'd personally go for Scott Williams over Henson for the warmups. He impressed me in the Barbarians match, and I would rather have an eager young player like him over a C-list celebrity living off what he has done in my team.

Shame that McCusker is out. He is very underrated and if it wasn't for his injury last season, I could have seen him pushing for a starting spot for Wales. Still not sure which of the two is the blindside and which is the openside. As of right now, this would be my Welsh squad going to NZ.

 
By the noise coming out of the Wales camp, Henson is looking pretty sharp.
 
I suppose it's nice to see him fully fit, I wonder when was the last time that could have been said? But how he shapes up in the gym or in fitness tests is only a small part (afterall we all knew he keeps himself in good nick), he needs to put in a couple of good performances against England and Argentina to show he's capable of being anywhere near his best at the WC. I hope no-one is expecting miracles, I'm certainly not, buta steady improvement on what we saw v the BaaBaas will be good news. He doesn't need to do anything flashy, just show that he can play mistake free and link well with those inside and outside him.

I think he's gonna come up slightly short. He probably needs at least another few months more than he's got, and much more than three warm-up games. Ideally he needed 6 months+ of week-in week-out club rugby. Gatland will probably take him to the WC over the innexperienced Scott Williams, but I'm not sure he'll be a starter against SA in front of Hook/Roberts/Davies. I still hold hopes of a firing Hook/Jones - Henson - Roberts/Davies midfield though.
 
I was hoping Henson would get cut , from what I've seen and heard he is just not what he used to be. Personally i just don't think he deserves it unless he works his heart out for it .


Off topic - saw shane on wednesday , training with his brother on the amman rugby pitch while my cousin some friends and i played 4 v 4 for a laugh , he was repeating "chris ashton , chris ashton , chris ashton" over and over as he trained ( who i presume is who he wants to beat ) , he is strong for his size i might add , i could see he was lifting weights and sandbags that were very heavy . He is putting a huge amount of effort into training , cannot wait to see him perform in the WC.
 
Dwayne Peel's decision to move to Sale has been a terrible decision for him,

it has cost him even a fighting chance of being the Wales number 1 scrum half, as he is constantly not released to train and play some matches, and his performances are out of the eye of the selectors, particularly as Sale aren't in the H Cup

for the first couple of seasons he was rotated with Richard Wigglesworth which sometimes meant he couldn't play for Wales at the Millenium Stadium and was instead sitting on the bench at ground such as Edgeley Park

his move also coincided with Sale becoming a poor team

It's been a terrible career move for him, he should have moved to France, more money, better weather, and wouldn't have destroyed his Wales career to the same extent as playing for Sale has
 

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