Wales v England - 05/08/23 5:30 KO

[Geordie]

Im also really keen to see how Murley performs

 

[BrokenWing]

They've all been passing and catching and carrying into tackles since they were barely out of nappies. How does this get coached out of them? I don't think you can blame the Prem when even the Quins players are just dogshit at it in the national team

Possibly putting themselves under pressure with a sheer desperation to perform? I'm not sure if Borthwick or any of the team are relaxing presence to the players and there's probably an anxiety with certain players over their places in the team.

 

[Jimbo]

Very true.

I do think if we're going with Steward at 15 you need some pace around him to cover these situations.

I don't want Malins or Cokasaniga anywhere near this squad now.

I understand the desire for a playmaker at 13 or on the wing..I'd genuinely prefer Daly to Malins. At least he has real pace.

I'd agree with all of that, I'm not unhappy with Daly at 13 or wing, I do like the idea of him playing a FB positional role in possession and switching with someone when without the ball, I really rate Malins but I think it's an Alex Goode situation fantastic club player but just isn't quite there for international. Regardless of who's picked it's glaringly obvious and has been for some time that England for what ever reason have an inability to wrestle back any real momentum once things don't go their way I could name countless occasions this has happened since 2019 the come back against the ABs at home when they went down to 14 is about the only exception I can think of, I have no idea what it is but the majority of players just seem to remain uninterested, we could take the simplistic approach and say that our players just aren't as good as we think/want (in part there is probably some truth) but even that doesn't excuse massive amounts of dropped balls (we should probably give a little room for fresh combinations and expect it to be less than polished) opposition getting to the break downs quicker, reloading quicker. I still wonder if we underestimate the significance of someone like Underhill who puts in momentum stopping hits gives descent oppertunity to Jackles and just generally injects a spark into the team while deflating the opposition, a lot does appear to be a mental block of sorts.

 

[Zed]

Sooner we get rid of Jones the better. That's more to do with his mouth, rather than his coaching ability or lack-thereof. A better game against the ABs at the weekend, but they were having an off day. If we played them next weekend, it could be a 40 point shellacking.

 

[TopTen2003]

Would help if he had a wing pairing who had pace or aerial ability aswell. Malins is abother Goode..class club player poor international and he's not a winger and Coka showed he's just not what we hoped he would become.

Yes certainly agree that we need some real pace around him if picked.

I think back three wise where I'm at with it at the moment is a Daly, Watson, Murley/Arundell combination as my chosen combo for this World Cup.

I think we were always going to go with an experienced core and a sprinkle of newer talent so I think that to me looks a selection of that ilk. It will be very interesting to see if SB picks Steward next week as we believe next week is likely closer to a RWC starting XV.

Second Row is the area that really worries me. After what I saw yesterday, I might be thinking I have to go with Lawes there instead of 6. But that's a whole other debate. On that note- anyone got a decent read on the likelihood of Chessum being test match ready in time?

It sounds a massive ask to me. Espec nurturing Billy V back at the same time.

 

[Jashay]

On that note- anyone got a decent read on the likelihood of Chessum being test match ready in time?

It sounds a massive ask to me. Espec nurturing Billy V back at the same time.

Yeah, Chessum took part in live scrum training on Tuesday and his rehab has gone better than expected. Wigglesworth said in an interview that the medics reckon there's a very good chance of him being ready for the world cup as long as there are no complications.

I think the expectation is that he will be named in the squad tomorrow.

No idea on Billy V.

 

[higgik]

Very true.

I do think if we're going with Steward at 15 you need some pace around him to cover these situations.

I don't want Malins or Cokasaniga anywhere near this squad now.

I understand the desire for a playmaker at 13 or on the wing..I'd genuinely prefer Daly to Malins. At least he has real pace.

The whole game plan seems to be confused.
If you want a 2nd playmaker at least put him at 15.
The issue I have with Steward is that teams are now kicking from midfield so he has a huge amount of ground to cover.
Play Daly at 15 and Steward on wing might work with Ford and/or Farrell providing contestable kicks.

 

[dullonien]

Just caught up after being away yesterday. Gotta be relatively pleased with that from a Welsh perspective, especially the second half showing. Few thougts:

- Some technical work ons for Domachowski and Asseratti in the scrum. Didn't appear to overy struggle in the pushing contest when it got that far. Would like to see them go again at some point.
- Jac Morgan had a great game. Physically battered his opposite number on occasion. Was involved in everything, well deserved PotM. Over to Reffell or Basham, who are both capable to matching that kinda performance.
- Wainwright had a great game at 8. He looked dynamic and powerful. If he keeps that up, I'm not sure Faletau walks back into the starting lineup!
- Plumtree had a great cameo I thought. He was involved in everything, caused havok for England at the lineout. Could be a great find.
- Costellow had a nice rounded game. He's capable of far better though, so I hope he get's another shot.
- Tomos Williams was electric when he came on. He's such a threat ball in hand, great marker from him.
- We finally saw LRZ in some space. Need to get him more involved. On another day he bags 2 try's if he didn't trip + the slight knock on.

 

[Lé Ddanno]

The whole game plan seems to be confused.
If you want a 2nd playmaker at least put him at 15.
The issue I have with Steward is that teams are now kicking from midfield so he has a huge amount of ground to cover.
Play Daly at 15 and Steward on wing might work with Ford and/or Farrell providing contestable kicks.

He's slow enough at 15, let alone on the wing where we already lack pace. I get where you're coming from but I'm not onboard with the answer.

 

[Zed]

I'm not really a fan of players playing out of position, it can work, but not often. And England seem to be in a bad habit of that. Especially when getting fly-halves playing centre. But the one positional change I reckon would work is Marcus Smith to 15. He's. a bit like James O'Connor and Matt Giteau. Quick, can kick, can step and skilful. Possibly even 12. Although it seems the preference is for bigger guys at 12. I think Gits is the same size as MS.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

I'm not really a fan of players playing out of position, it can work, but not often. And England seem to be in a bad habit of that. Especially when getting fly-halves playing centre. But the one positional change I reckon would work is Marcus Smith to 15. He's. a bit like James O'Connor and Matt Giteau. Quick, can kick, can step and skilful. Possibly even 12. Although it seems the preference is for bigger guys at 12. I think Gits is the same size as MS.

No, that time is long gone, for now at least

 

[kesh]

This is literally the only chance for any of the standby players who might be called up through injury to get any game time. So a mix of that and some experience is probably about right.

Then we have the final squad. The second Welsh game can be perhaps be experimental in the sense of trying some combinations but the final 2 games should be mostly about some cohesion for the likely starting XV with perhaps a bit of experimentation from the bench.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

The Guardian: Wales' Warren Gatland thinking big as he seeks World Cup height advantage

now see, if we start taller players they will think we are standing closer and they will knock the ball on.

Tactical genius

 

[retired9]

I'm not really a fan of players playing out of position, it can work, but not often. And England seem to be in a bad habit of that. Especially when getting fly-halves playing centre. But the one positional change I reckon would work is Marcus Smith to 15. He's. a bit like James O'Connor and Matt Giteau. Quick, can kick, can step and skilful. Possibly even 12. Although it seems the preference is for bigger guys at 12. I think Gits is the same size as MS.

Literally just wrote this on the other thread... if his tackling is up to it then for me Smith at 15 could be a useful option, small enough to be agile but creative and able to come into the line when (if it was my suggestion), Ford wants him to mix it up.

At 12 I would suggest the option as a carrier being more useful, not sure if he has the bulk to do that without being bullied - from 15 he can use his speed and step to keep the defence guessing.