Wales v England - 10 days.

[Which Tyler]

2 hugly physical encounters for England, i know they have to train but i just hope they have been allowed to rest properly and recover so they can give this game there all. Win this and the grandslam is on, win with a TBP and the Six Nations is ours even with a loss to Scotland.

I'm not worried about that this year.
Last year it was deliberate to taken the players past their breaking point, so that some could find where that was (including coaching and conditioning staff), and others could experience playing on in the most demanding of conditions. The inevitable injuries were considered a price worth paying with 18 months to recover. They're not now with 6. Now is the time for reaping the rewards of that, with training programs adjusted to individual breaking points, mentally and physically, but with an eye on injury prevention, and another on peaking late October (RWC fixtures have worked out really nicely for us this year, so we can target peaking that bit later into the tournament, without having to worry about hitting the ground running).

Last year's target was 20% past the mental and physical breaking point. This year's is 20% shy of that. We can afford to arrive at the RWC 10-15% shy of it, and not to be at 100% effectiveness until an expected SF

 

[spartan32]

Know it seems odd to say, but this England team owe it to themselves to get this Slam in the bag. They've had a tough 18 months and everyone from us lot on here to the wider media have been on their case as a team and on various individuals, (Slade not good enough, Daly useless fullback, George can't throw, Faz can't captain etc) I agree with above that they have clearly been training really hard behind the scenes and Jones seems to have some grand plan that is coming to fruition.

This is the moment to silence all those detracting voices and prove what quality they have, and I think that this may be the psychological edge that will drive them on in Cardiff. I just really hope that we don't end up losing then having to rely on the Irish to save us. They'll be no loving with them after that.

 

[General Melchett]

even with a loss to Scotland.

Don't worry - not much chance of this. Scotland might have to field their women's team in the last game at Twickers if the injuries continue like this. They still have a physical France and Wales to contend with.

 

[Bluemoon]

If I were to compare Welsh opensides, I'd group them as follows:

- Warburton + Griffiths. Both are/were explosive/quick ball carriers + excellent over the ball.
- Navidi + Jenkins + Young. Quite rounded backrowers, who are good at all aspects of backrow play, but probably don't excel in any obvious areas.
- James Davies. Excels out wide and in the contact area.
- Tipuric. Almost put him with Davies, but I think Tips adds much more in defense, whilst being inferior in the contact area. He's also a world class lineout jumper, which is often overlooked.

I'd agree with a lot of this, except I wouldn't put Navidi and Jenkins together. Jenkins is a little more like Warbs. His skill is quickly getting over the ball, getting to a mass of rucks, captinacy and organising the forwards in defence. Granted he doesn't have the carrying warbs had.

Tips is also the opposite of Davies in terms of physicality. James is a strong and explosive player, who can handle himself at a ruck. Both outstanding in the loose.

Backrows balance is really interesting to me, particularly in Wales where we are lucky to have a mix of back rows who are excellent in different areas.

 

[dullonien]

Problem is that we really, really miss Faletau when he's not playing. Moriarty is a fine player, but he's a destructive blindside playing out of position at 8, and I think it's this more than anything that throws the balance of the backrow off slightly.

When Faletau is fit, we can play any number of combinations on the flanks depending on the game we want to play. My preference would always be Tipuric or Cubby at 7 with Shingler at 6 for an open game, or Moriarty at 6 with Jenkins/Navidi 7 if the gameplan is to keep it a little tighter. Problem is 4 of those 7 are currently injured!

 

[mstar]

I think Wales are in a good spot - a successful autumn and a couple of away wins in the 6 Nations can't be sniffed at even though you might argue France were just awful in that second half.
They have a lot more depth than they used to have and they are not so dependent on stand out individuals. I think that they will have a good WC.

The match against England will be a Grand Slam décider for England and I expect the game to be brutal . Neither side will flinch and the crowd will get behind Wales.
But this England side have i think too much firepower all over the park but I don't believe that we will look to kick in behind for the likes of May. I can see us playing from first phase and keeping the tempo up . Though neither France or Ireland could match the tempo of our game , Gatland sides tend to be quite fit .
Key difference for me though is Tom Curry - I think he was outstanding against Ireland and he could well be the best open side since Neil Back for England .
I predicted +12/14 for England on the basis of a French backlash when what we got was a surrrender : the welsh are always up for it against the English but I think we will win by +14 points .

Famous last words

I agree Tom Curry has been fantastic, he completely nullified Ireland (who are one of the best at the breakdown). With Wilson/Billy i really like balance of the Backrow england have.

 

[Nudger]

Is the roof on for next Saturday?

 

[The5thOfficial]

Is the roof on for next Saturday?

I doubt it - England don't like that!

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Does anyone like the roof being closed? As a fan, I much prefer the weather to be real (if that makes senses) but I understand others may not.

Just curious?

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Does anyone like the roof being closed?

NO.

 

[Nudger]

Does anyone like the roof being closed? As a fan, I much prefer the weather to be real (if that makes senses) but I understand others may not.

Just curious?

Absolutely its a winter game that teams have to develope an all weather teams

 

[bushytop]

Does anyone like the roof being closed? As a fan, I much prefer the weather to be real (if that makes senses) but I understand others may not.

Just curious?

Nice to have the option with the Cardiff weather...

 

[FLOBALOB]

Ashton out of wales game- Brown or Cockasinga to bench?

 

[Which Tyler]

Coka

 

[FLOBALOB]

Coka

Coka

That would leave Nowell to cover FB.
I wonder who was covering FB before out of Ashton and Nowell.

 

[Duck a l'Orange]

That would leave Nowell to cover FB.
I wonder who was covering FB before out of Ashton and Nowell.

I'd have guessed Ashton. Played a lot there for Toulon.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Bet you Jones chooses Te'o to cover 23. Nowell to 14 and also cover full back.

 

[FLOBALOB]

Got a feeling he'll play safe and have Brown @ 23

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I think Teo is the most likely, EJ has a serious chub on for him.

I'd take Joe C and then Brown, though.
Nowell can do as good a job (if not better) at 15 as Daly, if Daly goes down injured.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Does anyone like the roof being closed? As a fan, I much prefer the weather to be real (if that makes senses) but I understand others may not.

Just curious?

I like it - increases the atmosphere dramatically, IMO.

It's only an outdoor game because not many people can afford a building that's large enough to put a field in. It's not of fundamental importance to the sport IMO.

Having said that, with an England hat on, I'd be more than happy for some of the atmosphere to be released through the open roof...