Wales Team of the Decade

[TRF_Cymro]

Seeing as it coming close to the end of the decade, anyone thought of a Welsh XV 00-10?

1. Gethin Jenkins
2. Garin Jenkins
3. Adam Jones
4. Alun Wyn-Jones
5. Gareth Llewellyn
6. Colin Charvis
7. Martyn Williams
8. Scott Quinnell
9. Rob Howley
10. Neil Jenkins
11. Shane Williams
12. Scott Gibbs
13. Allan Bateman
14. Gareth Thomas
15. Lee Byrne

16. Dai Young
17. Matthew Rees
18. Bradley Davies
19. Ryan Jones
20. Dwayne Peel
21. Stephen Jones
22. Gavin Henson

The Close Club:

Peter Rodgers
Iestyn Thomas
Darren Morris
Martyn Madden :lol:
Chris Horsman
Jonathan Humphreys
Mefin Davies
Jonathan Thomas
Robert Sidoli
Brent Cockbain
Michael Owen
Gareth Cooper
Rupert Moon :lol:
Mike Phillips
Iestyn Harris
Jaime Roberts
Mark Taylor
Anthony Sullivan
Dafydd James
Mark Jones
Rhys Williams
Kevin Morgan

 

[dullonien]

Tough one, alot depends on where you class certain players. For example, I'd say Howley, Neil Jenkins, Dai Young, Garin Jenkins, Quinnell, Bateman and Gibbs were all '90's, but happened to play a few games at the end of their playing careers in the naughties (hate that word).

I don't think Byrne deserves the 15 shirt. He was very good for 2 years, but was rubbish before and seems to be reverting to that standard again now. However, there isn't really a standout. That ****** Howarth can't be included, whilst Rhys Williams was never a good 15. Kevin Morgan was good during an injury ravaged career. Overall though, I'd go for Gareth Thomas. Not the best fullback, but capable and great attackign weapon from deep.

Here's mine, minus a few positions I can't think of atm.

01 Gethin Jenkins
02 No-one really nailed this position untill Matthew Rees now.
03 Adam Jones
04 Alun Wyn Jones
05 Gareth Llewellyn
06 Colin Charvis
07 Martyn Williams
08 Ryan Jones

09 Dwayne Peel
10 Stephen Jones
11 Shane Williams
12 Gavin Henson
13 Tom Shanklin
14 Mark Jones/Rhys Williams
15 Gareth Thomas

Will complete this tomorrow, just noticed the time....

 

[gingergenius]

surely the end of the decade was last year?

anyway, Cymro's is pretty spot on if you count Gibbs and Bateman as players of the 00s. Otherwise, take Henson and Roberts.

And the general quality of that 'close club' bunch just goes to show why Wales will be hard-pressed to gain any more sustained success than the odd Slam. Serious lack of depth - if some those guys are in the close club (besides Madden, Roberts, Phillips and James) then I'd hate to think how bad you'd have to be not to get in it...

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Tough one, alot depends on where you class certain players. For example, I'd say Howley, Neil Jenkins, Dai Young, Garin Jenkins, Quinnell, Bateman and Gibbs were all '90's, but happened to play a few games at the end of their playing careers in the naughties (hate that word).

I don't think Byrne deserves the 15 shirt. He was very good for 2 years, but was rubbish before and seems to be reverting to that standard again now. However, there isn't really a standout. That ****** Howarth can't be included, whilst Rhys Williams was never a good 15. Kevin Morgan was good during an injury ravaged career. Overall though, I'd go for Gareth Thomas. Not the best fullback, but capable and great attackign weapon from deep.

Byrne was once accepted as the Best full back in the world prior to the Lions Test series, hence why he is in there with me, Rhys Williams had a fantastic scoring record for Wales lets not forget and did a good job at 15. Granted he did make a few errors but generally he was good there.

It would have been interesting to see a Henson-Gibbs midfield combo. Gibbs in 2000 was a good player, good enough to go on the Lions Tour 2001 (as a replacement, but should have initially been picked in the first squad but Henry's dislike for him made sure he was not.) I do agree that some were at their peak in the 90s, hence why the Chris Wyatt of '99 is not included :lol:

 

[cyRil]

15. Morgan Stoddart
14. Anthony Sullivan
13. Matthew J Watkins
12. Andy Marinos
11. Matthew Robinson
10. Matthew Jones
9. Gareth Cooper

1. Spencer John
2. Gareth Williams
3. John Yapp
4. Craig Quinnell
5. Andy Moore
6. Nathan Budgett
7. Robin Sowden-Taylor
8. Andy Lloyd

 

[TRF_Cymro]

15. Morgan Stoddart
14. Anthony Sullivan
13. Matthew J Watkins
12. Andy Marinos
11. Matthew Robinson
10. Matthew Jones
9. Gareth Cooper

1. Spencer John
2. Gareth Williams
3. John Yapp
4. Craig Quinnell
5. Andy Moore
6. Nathan Budgett
7. Robin Sowden-Taylor
8. Andy Lloyd

Pity Robinson was capped 4 times in 1999

Huw Bennett infront of Gareth Williams

There were worse scrum halfs than Cooper, Rupert 'Bloody' Moon is one.

Craig Quinnell was a hero, Deiniol Jones infront please

While your there put in Nathan Brew, Rhys Oakley, Paul Young, James Bater, Adrian Dusrston, Matt Cardey, Arwel Thomas ...

 

[SelimNiai]

Pity Robinson was capped 4 times in 1999

Huw Bennett infront of Gareth Williams

There were worse scrum halfs than Cooper, Rupert 'Bloody' Moon is one.

Craig Quinnell was a hero, Deiniol Jones infront please

While your there put in Nathan Brew, Rhys Oakley, Paul Young, James Bater, Adrian Dusrston, Matt Cardey, Arwel Thomas ...

Woo, ex Bristol, those were the days

yes that is about as insightful as I can be

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Woo, ex Bristol, those were the days

yes that is about as insightful as I can be

You can take Budgett too :lol:

 

[SelimNiai]

You can take Budgett too :lol:

Pass....

 

[Draggs]

Pity Robinson was capped 4 times in 1999

Huw Bennett infront of Gareth Williams

There were worse scrum halfs than Cooper, Rupert 'Bloody' Moon is one.

Craig Quinnell was a hero, Deiniol Jones infront please

While your there put in Nathan Brew, Rhys Oakley, Paul Young, James Bater, Adrian Dusrston, Matt Cardey, Arwel Thomas ...

Cardey had bad luck over Grannygate. He was legally qualified for Wales, but he was injured on his first cap and Rhys Williams pretty much took over.
Coops had a few good matches for Wales- I'd put Rupert Moon ahead of him (or behind, depending on how you look at it)

Craig Quinnell had plenty of potential, but never achieved the success of Scott.

Edit: Wayne Proctor. Dear god, no.

 

[dullonien]

Byrne was once accepted as the Best full back in the world prior to the Lions Test series, hence why he is in there with me, Rhys Williams had a fantastic scoring record for Wales lets not forget and did a good job at 15. Granted he did make a few errors but generally he was good there.

It would have been interesting to see a Henson-Gibbs midfield combo. Gibbs in 2000 was a good player, good enough to go on the Lions Tour 2001 (as a replacement, but should have initially been picked in the first squad but Henry's dislike for him made sure he was not.) I do agree that some were at their peak in the 90s, hence why the Chris Wyatt of '99 is not included :lol:

Yeh go on then, Byrne was awesome for those two years, and probably shouldn't be quite written off yet to come good for the WC. Rhys Williams at 15 was one of my favourite players at the time (along with Jamie Robinson), he was electric from deep. I always thought he was one of the quickest recent Welsh players. Maybe not quite as sharp as Shane, but not far behind, but he had great top speed and very good stamina. Both he and Robinson suffered from injury after injury from early on in their careers, so neither hit the heights they should have.

I'm still not sure if Gibbs should be included due to one or two years playing time, ahead of the likes of Shanklin and Roberts. It's probably a bit early for Roberts, but Shanklin has been a mainstay in the Welsh team for 5-6 years, and was a key player in both '05 and '08. He's never been great without Henson though!

Don't laugh at Madden. Awesome player, who would have been even better if he was atall fit :lol:

 

[peks89]

Seeing as it coming close to the end of the decade, anyone thought of a Welsh XV 00-10?

1. Gethin Jenkins
2. Garin Jenkins
3. Adam Jones
4. Alun Wyn-Jones
5. Gareth Llewellyn
6. Colin Charvis
7. Martyn Williams
8. Scott Quinnell
9. Rob Howley
10. Neil Jenkins
11. Shane Williams
12. Scott Gibbs
13. Allan Bateman
14. Gareth Thomas
15. Lee Byrne

16. Dai Young
17. Matthew Rees
18. Bradley Davies
19. Ryan Jones
20. Dwayne Peel
21. Stephen Jones
22. Gavin Henson

The Close Club:

Peter Rodgers
Iestyn Thomas
Darren Morris
Martyn Madden :lol:
Chris Horsman
Jonathan Humphreys
Mefin Davies
Jonathan Thomas
Robert Sidoli
Brent Cockbain
Michael Owen
Gareth Cooper
Rupert Moon :lol:
Mike Phillips
Iestyn Harris
Jaime Roberts
Mark Taylor
Anthony Sullivan
Dafydd James
Mark Jones
Rhys Williams
Kevin Morgan

fiji wud still beat em lol

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

I saw Martyn Madden in Greggs not too long ago. He walked out with 4 pasties, an iced bun and a sausage roll. Say what you like about him, but I consider him a legend. Quite possibly the least fit pro Rugby player ever.

 

[Draggs]

I saw Martyn Madden in Greggs not too long ago. He walked out with 4 pasties, an iced bun and a sausage roll. Say what you like about him, but I consider him a legend. Quite possibly the least fit pro Rugby player ever.

Chris Wyatt would push him close. Bateman said that while the whole team were eating pasta and the like, Wyatt had a Mars bar and Coca Cola.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Alan Moore and Budgett were apparently just as bad :lol:

 

[Draggs]

The Boks thread inspired my to revisit this...

Best Welsh XV (IMO)

01 Gethin Jenkins
02 Matthew Rees
03 Adam Jones
04 Brent Cockbain
05 Ian Gough/Rob Sidoli/AWJ (All had their moments)
06 Colin Charvis
07 Martyn Williams
08 Michael Owen (05)/Ryan Jones (08)

09 Dwayne Peel
10 Stephen Jones
11 Shane
12 Gavlar
13 Tom Shanklin
14 Mark Jones/Daf Jones
15 Lee Byrne (08)

16 Mefin Davies
17 Chris Horsman/Duncan Jones
18 Bradley Davies
19 Ryan or Michael
20 Mike Phillips/Gareth Cooper (Again, had their moments)
21 James Hook
22 Gareth Thomas

 

[psychic duck]

1. Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues)
2. Matthew Rees (Scarlets)
3. Adam Jones (Ospreys)
4. Ian Gough (Ospreys)
5. Alun-Wyn Jones (Ospreys)
6. Colin Charvis (Newport Gwent Dragons)
7. Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues)
8. Scott Quinnell (Llanelli)

9. Rob Howley (Cardiff)
10. Stephen Jones (Scarlets)
11. Shane Williams (Ospreys)
12. Scott Gibbs (Swansea)
13. Tom Shanklin (Cardiff Blues)
14. Gareth Thomas (Toulouse)
15. Lee Byrne (Ospreys)

Other players who came close: Garin Jenkins (Swansea), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Neil Jenkins (Cardiff), Gavin Henson (Ospreys)

of course when these players were on top form

e.g. Lee Byrne is sh*t now, but was good around 2008-2009

the following players should not be anywhere near this team:
Gareth Cooper
Chris Horsman

and loads from Cymro's "close club"

 

[TRF_Cymro]

1. Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues)
2. Matthew Rees (Scarlets)
3. Adam Jones (Ospreys)
4. Ian Gough (Ospreys)
5. Alun-Wyn Jones (Ospreys)
6. Colin Charvis (Newport Gwent Dragons)
7. Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues)
8. Scott Quinnell (Llanelli)

9. Rob Howley (Cardiff)
10. Stephen Jones (Scarlets)
11. Shane Williams (Ospreys)
12. Scott Gibbs (Swansea)
13. Tom Shanklin (Cardiff Blues)
14. Gareth Thomas (Toulouse)
15. Lee Byrne (Ospreys)

Other players who came close: Garin Jenkins (Swansea), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Neil Jenkins (Cardiff), Gavin Henson (Ospreys)

of course when these players were on top form

e.g. Lee Byrne is sh*t now, but was good around 2008-2009

the following players should not be anywhere near this team:
Gareth Cooper
Chris Horsman

and loads from Cymro's "close club"

Why's that then? Cooper was pretty good until his last batches of Wales games and went on a Lions Tour. Horsman was a very good prop and up until the emergence of Adam Jones did a sterling job at tighthead. You can disagree with Horsman all you like but the majority of Welsh fans will say and who remember will say the same. He did a job in holding that position. If you want to slag him off then feel free but expect a barrage back.

Also the 'so called close club' is infact a mick take, obviously you can't see that hard to get that over the internet <_<.

 

[Draggs]

Coops was solid in the 03 WC and showed some good pace. (Setting up Wellies try v England, IIRC)



Shame he went out in the way he did and won't be remembered for what he was.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Coops was solid in the 03 WC and showed some good pace. (Setting up Wellies try v England, IIRC)



Shame he went out in the way he did and won't be remembered for what he was.

Aye that try was good, 03 he was immense. Aye and its a shame the way he went because he was a good pro and a good player for Wales.