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<blockquote data-quote="dullonien" data-source="post: 547801" data-attributes="member: 13739">Pity Hibbard is out, but considering Owens has all but overtaken Rees for the Scarlets and was one of the few players that showed up in the Autumn, I would have gone for him personally. I hope we see the Gethin Jenkins of old out there, but I would have gone for Paul James in the opening test. Plenty of grunt to bring off the bench at the scrum though with James and Kohn. Coombs is an odd choice, I hope it pays off. He&#039;s got a lot of potential, all the right physical attributes for international rugby, but he&#039;s never looked quite ready for the Dragons. Maybe he&#039;ll show up better behind a strong front-row, and alongside a batter lock than Sidoli.Despite wanting to see Tipuric and Warbs start, I&#039;m not upset with the back row Howley has gone with. Shingler is a fine, fine player.The back&#039;s picked themselves with Eli Walker out, so no complaints there. The bench looks fine, although I&#039;d have preferred to see Byrne filling the 23 shirt, with Hook covering centre, but that&#039;s a minor complaint.Not quite the team I would have selected, but at the same time I&#039;m not overly disappointed.To be fair, I think this is quite a brave selection from Howley (other than 2 at 6 maybe). Paul James is the safe bet at looshead, but Howley has gone for Jenkins in the hope he shows more than he did in the Autumn. Coombs wasn&#039;t a safe call, Lou Reed would have been the unimaginative selection. No idea if it will pay off, but let&#039;s wait and see.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="dullonien, post: 547801, member: 13739"] Pity Hibbard is out, but considering Owens has all but overtaken Rees for the Scarlets and was one of the few players that showed up in the Autumn, I would have gone for him personally. I hope we see the Gethin Jenkins of old out there, but I would have gone for Paul James in the opening test. Plenty of grunt to bring off the bench at the scrum though with James and Kohn. Coombs is an odd choice, I hope it pays off. He's got a lot of potential, all the right physical attributes for international rugby, but he's never looked quite ready for the Dragons. Maybe he'll show up better behind a strong front-row, and alongside a batter lock than Sidoli. Despite wanting to see Tipuric and Warbs start, I'm not upset with the back row Howley has gone with. Shingler is a fine, fine player. The back's picked themselves with Eli Walker out, so no complaints there. The bench looks fine, although I'd have preferred to see Byrne filling the 23 shirt, with Hook covering centre, but that's a minor complaint. Not quite the team I would have selected, but at the same time I'm not overly disappointed. To be fair, I think this is quite a brave selection from Howley (other than 2 at 6 maybe). Paul James is the safe bet at looshead, but Howley has gone for Jenkins in the hope he shows more than he did in the Autumn. Coombs wasn't a safe call, Lou Reed would have been the unimaginative selection. No idea if it will pay off, but let's wait and see. [/QUOTE]

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