Wales v South Africa

[Welsh Exile]

Looking forward to this. Expecting a loss partly due to us doing a bit more experimenting but also not being on South Africa's level at the moment doesn't help. Johnny Williams in contention and he should obviously get a chance to put his hand up but I hope he starts Kieran Williams as he was impressive off the bench against England on the weekend. Same for Basham if he's alright from his head knock. I'd imagine that Gatland will want to go as fully loaded as possible, though.

Still gutted about Dewi Lake. Down to 3rd and 4th choice at hooker. If Lakes WC is over before it's started then I imagine Gats will be calling up Owens for one last dance.

 

[unrated]

Please lets just hope for no injuries, and if there is an injury let it be a non kicking back so we can bring Pollard back in.

 

[Welsh Exile]

It's quite hard to predict the line up for this one. I imagine Gatland will be looking to start everyone who he thinks is nailed on for Fiji so I expect Rowlands, Beard (unfortunately), Morgan, Wainwright (if Faletau makes the squad I suspect he'll be eased in during the tournament from the bench), Tomos Williams, Biggar, North, LRZ, Adams and Liam Williams to start but front row, 6 and 12 are anyone's guess really.

 

[dullonien]

I'll predict the following side

Domachowski, Dee, Asseratti
Rowlands, Teddy Williams
Basham, Morgan, Wainwright

Hardy, Costellow
Johnny Williams, Grady
Cuthbert, Rogers, Dyer

Parry, Smith, Thomas, Carter, Tshiunza, Davies, Biggar, Kieran Williams

I think Gats will want another look at the Cardiff props to gauge their scrummaging given how messy it was in the first warmup.

Rowlands has to play to get that last cap needed to ensure his eligibility. Can see Gats giving Teddy a shot alongsidd him then.

Not sure what the protocols are for Basham, but would be great if he could get another shot. That backrow could be super dynamic too.

Hardy needs a start at 9, and I think Gats may want another look at Costellow at 10.

I'd like to see Kieran Williams start, but I think Gats will want to see Johnny Williams with Grady outsidd him.

Cuthbert will likely start on the wing. Would like to see Rogers at fullback, and I think Dyer is still unsure of his spot, so will need another game. Grady could also be tested on thr wing with Joe Roberts given another chance to stake a claim at 13.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Kolisi back apparently. Good to hear if true.

 

[TopTen2003]

Yeah Kolisi is a cracking player and leader. Still underrated in my view.

He deserves the chance to attempt back to back RWCs.

 

[OllyM97]

Kolisi back apparently. Good to hear if true.

Very underrated player despite being a World Cup winning captain. I'd put him definitely in the top 3 most important players for the Springboks. If SA are going to defend the RWC they need Kolisi back and in top form.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Plumtree hasn't been ruled out of the WC but no update on Lake. Obviously neither going to play this game but really hope Lake is ok.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Duane Vermeulen, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Damian Willemse

Glad to see Mostert is seen as back up lock rather than a loose forward. Good mix of first choice and giving the fringes more time considering our injuries. Everything considered I am relatively happy.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

6:2 split

Incoming early backs injury

 

[Welsh Exile]

So as expected that's Kieran Williams done after only been given 15/20mins while everyone else had way more time. Good to see Basham on the bench at least and no beard so not all bad

Wales: 15. Liam Williams, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 13. Mason Grady, 12. Johnny Williams, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Dan Biggar, 9. Kieran Hardy, 1. Corey Domachowski, 2. Elliot Dee, 3. Keiron Assiratti, 4. Ben Carter, 5. Will Rowlands, 6. Dan Lydiate, 7. Jac Morgan (capt), 8. Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements: 16. Sam Parry, 17. Nicky Smith, 18. Henry Thomas, 19. Teddy Williams, 20. Taine Basham, 21. Tomos Williams, 22. Max Llewellyn, 23. Cai Evans.

 

[Welsh Exile]

I thought he would blame him for the not releasing penalty from the England restart even though it was poor support and clearing out so not his fault. I don't mind Max Llewellyn and Tompkins but they've both had ordinary performances while Williams has looked good in the very small opportunity he's been given. Hope Max and Johnny tear it up Saturday otherwise it will be a big injustice on Kieran in my humble opinion.

 

[dullonien]

I thought he would blame him for the not releasing penalty from the England restart even though it was poor support and clearing out so not his fault. I don't mind Max Llewellyn and Tompkins but they've both had ordinary performances while Williams has looked good in the very small opportunity he's been given. Hope Max and Johnny tear it up Saturday otherwise it will be a big injustice on Kieran in my humble opinion.

Yeah, shame about Kieran. His time will come. Was always going to be difficult to give enough gametime to all the centres, especially how many inexperienced options we had in the squad.

Happy enough with that side otherwise though. Not a fan of Cai Evans tbh, don't think he offers much outside his boot.

Glad to see the Cardiff props given another go, wonder if Francis could be in trouble? Beard too? Would have liked to see Basham start at 6 over Lydiate to really show what he can offer from the off.

 

[SG59_]

SA to win of course, but I don't think Wales are the push overs many expect due to the clubs in a mess.

Gatland has his squads training heavily on work rate, which is something Wales tend to struggle with. That alone with give them a boost.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Yeah, shame about Kieran. His time will come. Was always going to be difficult to give enough gametime to all the centres, especially how many inexperienced options we had in the squad.

Happy enough with that side otherwise though. Not a fan of Cai Evans tbh, don't think he offers much outside his boot.

Glad to see the Cardiff props given another go, wonder if Francis could be in trouble? Beard too? Would have liked to see Basham start at 6 over Lydiate to really show what he can offer from the off.

He won't start Basham at 6 for the same reason he won't pick Kieran Williams at 12. Not big enough.

To be fair, Gatland always said the reason for that is wanting a line out option at 6 but is Lydiate really that man? So really it's just wanting a big lump in there rather than looking at who is actually breaking lines and getting over the gain line. I would like to have a look at Reffell at 6 and getting Jac Morgan and Basham going at each other for 7 but knowing that Basham can cover 6 and 8 too. Anyway it's all pointless, Basham and Kieran won't be going. Agree this team isn't bad and maybe Francis and Beards time is up. I didn't expect him to experiment as much as he has done with this team.

 

[West Country Wail]

Really hope to see Grant Williams out that horrible start to bed with a flyer off the bench

 

[Welsh Exile]

Biggar and Liam Williams withdrawn which I'm pretty happy about to be honest. Costelow and Evans start with Rogers on the bench which is also good if we get to have a look at him at 15.

The bad news is that we're probably going to lose this game pretty badly but hoping we can put in a good performance albeit with an inexperienced team.

 

[dullonien]

Costellow to have a blinder and go into the WC as first choice 10!

 

[Welsh Exile]

It's crazy to me that while I'm obviously happy we're having a proper look at Costelow that we've had Jarrod Evans wasting away over all these years whos a more experienced, older, slightly bigger, and significantly better version of Costelow. Hopefully Costelow turns out to be a lot better player than Evans in the future but it's just such a waste.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I really wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be a proper arm wrestle. I see plenty of Welsh supporters here expecting a convincing loss but I'd actually be surprised if we ran away with it.