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Wales v New Zealand

Cannot wait for this one, any other trf-ers going fancy meeting for a pint or two somewhere?
 
nickdnz said:
I hope Donald gets no time on the field, Dan Carter will be breaking the record, so I hope he has a full 80.

Why Ellis is on the bench is beyond me, Mathewson is a far better player, and Ellis has been average at absolute best, and yet Mathewson has had only one match during this Grand Slam. I'd have given Rokocoko another shot, especially if this could well be his last ever match (I hope not!). I'd have had Nonu in for SBW, but that's just me, and I can see Nonu can offer more from the bench. Other than that, no complaints.
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Agree on Mathewson/Ellis - can't really see what impact Ellis offers from the bench. I think Rokocoko has been offered plenty of shots - he has had 8 test starts this year (and 68 tests in total), if the AB selectors don't know what he has to offer by now they never will! In contrast Toeava has had one start this year for the AB's (and was very impressive against Scotland) - surely they will learn a lot more by starting him than by starting Rokocoko (I personally would have started Jane, though I do rate Toeava very highly). If Rococoko has another strong Super Rugby season next year I see no reason why he won't be picked in the AB's rugby world cup squad, as I think he is far from a spent force.
 
Wales: Lee Byrne; George North, Tom Shanklin, James Hook, Tom James; Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees (capt), Adam Jones, Bradley Davies, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton, Ryan Jones.
Replacements: Huw Bennett, Paul James, Jonathan Thomas, Andy Powell, Martyn Williams, Richie Rees, Andrew Bishop.
 
Risky going for just two backs replacements.....

Edit: also Bennett again on the bench. Arrrggg, what does he have to do to get dropped?
 
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Agree with all who think that Ellis shouldn't be on the bench.
Haven't seen anything from him so far on tour that warrants his place in the squad let alone on the bench.
Alby must feel pretty hard done by as he's played well whenever he's had the chance.

Would like to see Braid get some game time and would of liked to see Hore get a start but can't have everything I want I guess.
 
dullonien said:
Risky going for just two backs replacements.....

Edit: also Bennett again on the bench. Arrrggg, what does he have to do to get dropped?
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Didn't even notice that,
What happens if a winger or Byrne or Stephen Jones get injured?
If Jones and Byrne both go off, then what? Hook can't cover both positions (which is what I presume they were thinking omitting a FB/Winger from the bench)
 
Very surprised with Tom James's inclusion in the starting lineup. I dont wanna start a ***** (i know it'll rile u blues fans up) but i've yet to see him produce a performance playing for wales, which is a shame because he has the physical attributes to be a great winger. But at the time of writing, shown nothing of the sort (at international level). Despite this i really do hope that he shows the welsh public what i he can really do. Being big and fast doesn't mean you can play rugby, it helps, just you need a head to go with it. Run fast and straight is a bit old fashioned these days. But please Mr James, Prove us all wrong.
ANYWAYS
really looking forward to watching the match, gonna be very interesting to see SBW vs Hook, Mr Hook is gonna have is work cut out saturday and it shall be very interesting...... I can't see Mr Carter not scoring 3 points, so congrats in advance for breaking record points. And i'm sure McCaw will have his hands in every ruck and maul that happens.
Ah well.... Its not all pessimism tho, I'm sure we deserve one win in every half a century???? :p :p
 
Henry is in love with Toeava, Jane back from injury had a blinder last weekend and still gets dropped.. rough call.
 
donmcdazzle said:
Henry is in love with Toeava, Jane back from injury had a blinder last weekend and still gets dropped.. rough call.
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Gotta try his options out though,
Everyone knows what a class act Jane is, so why not give Toeava a chance?
 
I'm looking forward to seeing young George North, though I do fear he may have a hard time marking an in form Hosea Gear. It is interesting to see that Wales have a whole loose-trio on their bench - as has been mentioned, they better hope they don't have a couple of injuries in the backs...

I'd expect the AB's to come out firing for their last match of the year - I'm going to predict them to win by 25-30 points.
 
I'm sick of Toeava! He has rarely shined at Test level... Sure he dominates in ITM Cup (so does Donald) but i think that giving him the 'Utility' and 'Special Project' tag ruined him.
It's hard enough for a player to be world class in one position but to expect him to be great playing anywhere in the backline is just crazy! I don't even know what his preferred position is anymore.
Sure players who can cover more than one position are useful, but there's nothing quite like a player who is fantastic in one place on the field.
It does seem that the three wise men do have favourites. Toeava, Donald and Rokocoko seem to get some special treatment at times, the only one of those players who i think is still pretty good is Joe, but it's fair to say that he's been overtaken in recent years, by the likes of Jane, Gear and Dagg
 
Really shocked at Gatland putting Tom James straight back into the team. He had a half decent attacking performance against Ulster, but his defence is still extremely poor. I do fear for that side of the field as Tom may get sucked in by Sonny-bill making space for the opposing winger.

Good looking pack for Wales again but it will be same old game plan for the backs I think. Jonathan Davies hit the nail on the head recently when he said we have become very readable and never play with our heads up looking for space.

Can only see an NZ win by 20 points. Hope we try restore a bit of confidence though.
 
dan the man said:
I'm sick of Toeava! He has rarely shined at Test level... Sure he dominates in ITM Cup (so does Donald) but i think that giving him the 'Utility' and 'Special Project' tag ruined him.
It's hard enough for a player to be world class in one position but to expect him to be great playing anywhere in the backline is just crazy! I don't even know what his preferred position is anymore.
Sure players who can cover more than one position are useful, but there's nothing quite like a player who is fantastic in one place on the field.
It does seem that the three wise men do have favourites. Toeava, Donald and Rokocoko seem to get some special treatment at times, the only one of those players who i think is still pretty good is Joe, but it's fair to say that he's been overtaken in recent years, by the likes of Jane, Gear and Dagg
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Perhaps in his first few years he didn't shine at test level, but in recent years he's had a number of outstanding games at test level. He was outstanding both against Scotland, and off the bench against England. He had a number of very strong games from the bench last year - one game against South Africa particularly stands out in my mind. I also remember him having a number of outstanding games on the 2008 end-of-year tour starting at fullback. If he hadn't been injured at the start of last year I think he may very well have established himself as the first choice right wing for the AB's - he was in line for the position, but injury meant Jane got the chance (and took very well!). In the last two years the only poor test I can remember Toeava playing was the recent match against Australia in Hong Kong (after having played only about 100 mins of rugby after a layoff of about 3 months!).
 
Olyy said:
Hadn't seen that before, does seem a bit harsh,
Also, I'd much rather have Jane in the 22 shirt than Nonu (in my made-up-all-in-my-head-all-blacks)
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completely agree mate, if you have Toeava who can supposedly play every position and CJ can cover wing/fullback you're good to go.
 
darwin_23 said:
Perhaps in his first few years he didn't shine at test level, but in recent years he's had a number of outstanding games at test level. He was outstanding both against Scotland, and off the bench against England. He had a number of very strong games from the bench last year - one game against South Africa particularly stands out in my mind. I also remember him having a number of outstanding games on the 2008 end-of-year tour starting at fullback. If he hadn't been injured at the start of last year I think he may very well have established himself as the first choice right wing for the AB's - he was in line for the position, but injury meant Jane got the chance (and took very well!). In the last two years the only poor test I can remember Toeava playing was the recent match against Australia in Hong Kong (after having played only about 100 mins of rugby after a layoff of about 3 months!).
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hmm CJ has been consistently outstanding for the AB's, I don't think the same can be said for Toeava. And if you think he should be first choice winger, you're mad. I think Ranger is a better winger/centre. Toeava though supposedly can play 12/15/10 so that's his strength.
 
donmcdazzle said:
hmm CJ has been consistently outstanding for the AB's, I don't think the same can be said for Toeava. And if you think he should be first choice winger, you're mad. I think Ranger is a better winger/centre. Toeava though supposedly can play 12/15/10 so that's his strength.
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There is no doubt the Jane has been outstanding at test level, however as I've just pointed out, over the last few years Toeava has also been consistently good at test level (the recent Hong Kong test aside). People's opinions of him seem to be clouded by his poor first few seasons of international rugby, when he was clearly not ready for test rugby. As I've said before, personally I would have started Jane for this test (I think he's the best outside back in NZ), however I do believe had Toeava not been injured at the start of last year he would currently be the incumbent right wing for the AB's, as Jane likely would not have been given a chance. I wouldn't be surprised to see both Toeava and Jane together on the wings next year, as the AB selectors like to play as many fullbacks as possible in their back three (though Dagg also fits the bill as a fullback/wing).
 

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