Wales v England - 10 days.

[The5thOfficial]

Ooh la la, tres classy! lol

Where I am, Wales/England kicks off at noon, so I'll have enough time to be premedicated myself... it'll be harder for FRA/SCO but I think I'm up to the challenge...

Just saying as it is dude!

 

[Mr Ruggleby]

It's always existed (I simply don't believe that he's faster than Denny); was never his strongest suit, and he's slowed a little further with age.
He's also been skinned by the likes of George Ford a few times - and others who've no right to be getting back at a winger.

Can you link to the Ford skinning?

From everything I've seen and heard reported from speed tests and player feedback as well as just watching him play, Ashton has been and still is one of the fastest wingers out there in a straight line.



0.37 - burns Yarde

3.36 - that's Ollie Lindsay-Hague at 15 that he's running away from on the intercept. Anyone that has watched him on the 7s circuit knows how much pace he has.

 

[oj121]

Can you link to the Ford skinning?

From everything I've seen and heard reported from speed tests and player feedback as well as just watching him play, Ashton has been and still is one of the fastest wingers out there in a straight line.



0.37 - burns Yarde

Lost all credibility at that. Yarde in that clip was laboured and not actually sprinting at all. That was the laziest defending I have ever seen. He had no intention of getting to that ball. Sorry but thats the truth on that.

Ashton runs good inside lines so generally puts himself against forwards and 12s. He rarely is seen going past people.

 

[Which Tyler]

Skinned by Ford twice in the barbarians match less than a year ago, was much discussed on here

 

[dullonien]

I think we'll see the following Wales side v England:

01 Nicky Smith.
02 Ken Owens
03 Samson Lee
04 Cory Hill
05 Alun-Wyn Jones
06 Josh Navidi
07 Justin Tipuric
08 Ross Moriarty

09 Gareth Davies
10 Gareth Anscombe
11 Josh Adams
12 Hadleigh Parkes (I'd go with Watkin)
13 Jon Davies
14 George North
15 Leigh Halfpenny (assuming he looks ok this weekend)

16 Elliot Dee
17 Rob Evans
18 Dillon Lewis
19 Adam Beard
20 Thomas Young
21 Tomos Williams
22 Dan Biggar (I'd be tempted with Patchell)
23 Liam Williams

 

[bushytop]

I think we'll see the following Wales side v England:

01 Nicky Smith.
02 Ken Owens
03 Samson Lee
04 Cory Hill
05 Alun-Wyn Jones
06 Josh Navidi
07 Justin Tipuric
08 Ross Moriarty

09 Gareth Davies
10 Gareth Anscombe
11 Josh Adams
12 Hadleigh Parkes (I'd go with Watkin)
13 Jon Davies
14 George North
15 Leigh Halfpenny (assuming he looks ok this weekend)

16 Elliot Dee
17 Rob Evans
18 Dillon Lewis
19 Adam Beard
20 Thomas Young
21 Tomos Williams
22 Dan Biggar (I'd be tempted with Patchell)
23 Liam Williams

Well if you ain't 100% correct I think you'll be fairly close with that. If Halfpenny is selected though, I personally would be tempted to leave North out of the XV and start Sanj on his wing.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

If you wanna combat our pack I think you need to start Young at 7,
Tipuric is a bit better at the breakdown but I don't think he has the physicality, he'll just get blown away.
Bring him on later on when legs start getting heavy.

 

[Dai Yorkshire]

If you wanna combat our pack I think you need to start Young at 7,
Tipuric is a bit better at the breakdown but I don't think he has the physicality, he'll just get blown away.
Bring him on later on when legs start getting heavy.

Yeah we lack a strong 7 and I agree bring tips on later games are won at the breakdown if we cant compete there its going to be a long day for us. In the autumn internationals tipric did well because he had a destructive flanker with him that supported him, ie lydiate, Jenkins, I do think our backrow will be better than our first two outings, but the England Backrow is very good.

 

[Dai Yorkshire]

I think we'll see the following Wales side v England:

01 Nicky Smith.
02 Ken Owens
03 Samson Lee
04 Cory Hill
05 Alun-Wyn Jones
06 Josh Navidi
07 Justin Tipuric
08 Ross Moriarty

09 Gareth Davies
10 Gareth Anscombe
11 Josh Adams
12 Hadleigh Parkes (I'd go with Watkin)
13 Jon Davies
14 George North
15 Leigh Halfpenny (assuming he looks ok this weekend)

16 Elliot Dee
17 Rob Evans
18 Dillon Lewis
19 Adam Beard
20 Thomas Young
21 Tomos Williams
22 Dan Biggar (I'd be tempted with Patchell)
23 Liam Williams

I think Evans and Francis will be our props and Williams at fullback but I'll go for the rest, But I would have Ball on the bench.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

From everything I've seen and heard reported from speed tests and player feedback as well as just watching him play, Ashton has been and still is one of the fastest wingers out there in a straight line.

He's quick enough, but not in the Watson / May league.

Who's the quickest off the mark? That's often what counts more. Robinson's top speed was nothing to write home about, but won out through rapid acceleration over the first 5m.

 

[MikeTheNative]

He's quick enough, but not in the Watson / May league.

Who's the quickest off the mark? That's often what counts more. Robinson's top speed was nothing to write home about, but won out through rapid acceleration over the first 5m.

I agree, Shane Williams was the same, not particularly fast top end wise but amazing acceleration and footwork.

 

[oj121]

Yeah we lack a strong 7 and I agree bring tips on later games are won at the breakdown if we cant compete there its going to be a long day for us. In the autumn internationals tipric did well because he had a destructive flanker with him that supported him, ie lydiate, Jenkins, I do think our backrow will be better than our first two outings, but the England Backrow is very good.

Navidi is a 7 and he is more than strong enough! He happens to be a 7 that can play 6 like Warburton. Jenkins is exactly the same type of players as Tips. A turnover specialist. Wouldnt be shocked if tips is actually bigger but not checked. It doesnt have to he the back row that destruct. Our front 5 need to be more committed and support our back row to steal.

 

[Scotty]

I think we'll see the following Wales side v England:

01 Nicky Smith.
02 Ken Owens
03 Samson Lee
04 Cory Hill
05 Alun-Wyn Jones
06 Josh Navidi
07 Justin Tipuric
08 Ross Moriarty

09 Gareth Davies
10 Gareth Anscombe
11 Josh Adams
12 Hadleigh Parkes (I'd go with Watkin)
13 Jon Davies
14 George North
15 Leigh Halfpenny (assuming he looks ok this weekend)

16 Elliot Dee
17 Rob Evans
18 Dillon Lewis
19 Adam Beard
20 Thomas Young
21 Tomos Williams
22 Dan Biggar (I'd be tempted with Patchell)
23 Liam Williams

I thought Bigger would start for you as hr can challenge the defence with his little chips that he does well and liam williams on the wing giving you 2 attacking wingers that also have alot of experience at FB as well as halfpenny as the solid player at the back.

 

[dullonien]

If you wanna combat our pack I think you need to start Young at 7,
Tipuric is a bit better at the breakdown but I don't think he has the physicality, he'll just get blown away.
Bring him on later on when legs start getting heavy.

Don't agree with you there. Young played reasonably well v Italy, but Tips is world class vs any opposition. I agree that he's not an immovable object at the breakdown like Pocock, but he's still very efficient at getting in early and either slowing down opposition ball, or stealing it. With Smith back on the loosehead and Navidi at 6, there's a couple of strong players who will also compliment Tipuric at the breakdown. It's an area I'm confident of matching or trumping England in.

Tipuric's work rate doesn't drop throughout the 80, so he'll be just as effective against those tired legs starting as if he comes off the bench. Pull Moriarty after 60, shift Navidi to 8 and bring Young on at 6 imo.

I'm most worried about our 10, 12, 13 axis atm. I think Anscombe will come back in, but I do worry about his defence up against Manu. Parkes and JD2 have also been very average thus far.

 

[MikeTheNative]

I don't think England will kick the ball as much against Wales as the other teams so far. I'm expecting a more direct running power game with the likes of Vunipola and Tulangi carrying a lot.

 

[Scotty]

I don't think England will kick the ball as much against Wales as the other teams so far. I'm expecting a more direct running power game with the likes of Vunipola and Tulangi carrying a lot.

I hope we have more running rugby as we have a great mix of power and pace in this team. Would be be a real statement if we could go through the phases and carry hard. Still think may will get least 2 tries as we will still put in kicks through once we have created the space in the back field.

Mako is a huge loss as he doesnt just carry pass and tackle hard but for a big bloke he gets through a hell of alot of work. Genge could be the same kind of player but needs to step up massivly to fill his shoes and be like for like. He does has real potential and could fight for top stop post world cup if he gets gametime.

 

[Mr Ruggleby]

He's quick enough, but not in the Watson / May league.

Who's the quickest off the mark? That's often what counts more. Robinson's top speed was nothing to write home about, but won out through rapid acceleration over the first 5m.

Quickest off the mark in the Prem IMO (no particular order):

Morahan
Watson (both)
S. Simmonds
Ibitoye
Veainu
C. Walker
T. Collins
May

100% have forgotten some.

Interestingly, I read that in 2011 Big George North "smashed" (imagine this is relatively speaking given the distances) the wales 10m and 40m records that were previously held by S. Williams, so it's not always the candidates you'd expect who test the best (even though young George was a freak).

From personal experience (both myself and my brother spent time doing pre-season, training and (almost never) playing at Exeter and Saracens respectively whilst at Uni) the players who top these tests are often surprising, and their tested speed often doesn't translate to the pitch. For example, after Ashton left Saracens it was Duncan Taylor who had the fastest 100m time - I doubt any outside observer would call that. The guy who always used to top out sprint tests at Exeter, Matt Jess, never looked the quickest on a pitch despite his 100m time being habana-esque.

 

[Dai Yorkshire]

Navidi is a 7 and he is more than strong enough! He happens to be a 7 that can play 6 like Warburton. Jenkins is exactly the same type of players as Tips. A turnover specialist. Wouldnt be shocked if tips is actually bigger but not checked. It doesnt have to he the back row that destruct. Our front 5 need to be more committed and support our back row to steal.

Tips is the same kind of player as Warburton and Jenkins, I have to beg to differ sir.

 

[Chief Pete]

Quickest off the mark in the Prem IMO (no particular order):

Morahan
Watson (both)
S. Simmonds
Ibitoye
Veainu
C. Walker
T. Collins
May

100% have forgotten some.

Interestingly, I read that in 2011 Big George North "smashed" (imagine this is relatively speaking given the distances) the wales 10m and 40m records that were previously held by S. Williams, so it's not always the candidates you'd expect who test the best (even though young George was a freak).

From personal experience (both myself and my brother spent time doing pre-season, training and (almost never) playing at Exeter and Saracens respectively whilst at Uni) the players who top these tests are often surprising, and their tested speed often doesn't translate to the pitch. For example, after Ashton left Saracens it was Duncan Taylor who had the fastest 100m time - I doubt any outside observer would call that. The guy who always used to top out sprint tests at Exeter, Matt Jess, never looked the quickest on a pitch despite his 100m time being habana-esque.

I'd also put Charlie Sharples in the conversation.

 

[oj121]

Tips is the same kind of player as Warburton and Jenkins, I have to beg to differ sir.

If you read i said Navidi is a 7 that can play 6 like Warbs and then compared Jenkins to Tips in his focus on the breakdown as both are turn over scavengers on the smaller side...

It is why Navidi and Jenkins can play together effectively at the Blues like Warburton and Tips could. I watch them every week and you can clearly see the skills Navidi has gleaned from Warburton.