The RWC and the 6N

First topic message reminder :

So another weekend of warm ups out of the way.

Hopefully your team performed well.

But my question is this - after the last 3 weekends of action, have you changed your view on how the 6 nation teams will do at the world cup? Do you have a better feeling now than you did 3 weeks ago? Do you think that your team is coming good or has the last 3 weeks dented your hopes.

So my question is - which of the 6N teams do you think will go furthest based on what you have seen this month?

Risky - I think you are failing to understand my argument - Maybe that's irony in itself - never mind

So many Welsh posters were concerned that Wales, unlike England and Ireland, had little idea who their first fifteen was going to be. Now it is clear that Wales are no different, with regards to selection to some of their rival 6 Nations opponents, as it appears England and Ireland have just as many selection conundrums to face as Wales did.

We are actually at an advantage as at least the Welsh boys are winning.

Maesteg that post doesnt make sense - The welsh team more or less picks itself now

It almost does now, it didnt a few weeks ago though did it

Ive just realised its your lack of punctuation - the sentence doesn't read very well and thats why I didn't understand it. Us welsh are reknowned for the 400 word sentences

No one is perfect, close but not perfect...

Ruby,

For someone who comments on punctuation you don't have a very close relationship with apostrophes, do you?

maestegmafia wrote:No one is perfect, close but not perfect...

I beg to differ see George North

RubyGuby wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:No one is perfect, close but not perfect...

I beg to differ see George North

Not far off... Knoyle was pretty damn sharp and Hook didnt let us down either...! Though i thought that all were just trying to keep up with the Jonse's

AWJ had his best game in a welsh shirt for me - good timing

Definitely, great to see him hit form.

Likewise for a few other under performers, maybe our coaches are cannier than we gave them credit...?

Andy Powell? How can you even trust he will be there when needed instead of getting in trouble?
Maybe Powell will offer the ABs a ride in his golf cart?

Powell is an absolute liability and 90% of welsh fans dont want him there - Unfortunately Gatland like Johnson likes 'em big and useless with Powell being the forward equivelant of Banahan and Hape

I think Powell is squad joker and Gatland appreciates his morale boosting qualities.

Ruby,
Good analogy between Powell and Banahan/Hape!
Though neither Banahan nor Hape have been in the trouble Powell managed to get into driving a golf cart on the M4, I am not sure Banahan can actually spell 'M4'.

nottins_jones wrote:So all of a sudden Croft and Palmer are first choice? Funny how they weren't when they played Wales in the first fixture.. As for Hartley, I think Thompson is far superior in all hooker aspects.

I've never said otherwise, I thought they obviously were. I'd also rather see Sharples in for Cueto and a completely different centre partnership but that's another story for another time.

As mentioned above, I Powell is meant to be the exact type of person you want to be on tour with for morale. Unfortunately, his brain farts dont stop on the pitch.

That said, I doubt Warburton would have a problem stepping in and having a word with him.

Warbs seems the most professional of the new crop of Welsh players and there seems to be a more subtle determination under him than their was with Rees. Whatever Gats did to them in Poland has worked so far.

Gats if often maligned as Welsh coach, but he's always said judge him on the world cup. And to be fair, basically everyone that deserves to be there is there in the squad and coming back into form (injuries/delve aside but lets not get into delve).

Not so much yourself(well I don't remember you saying it anyway) but a lot of other English bitter posters. Croft should be first choice I reckon with Wood moved to open-side.

It's the Scottish backrow I am most worried about. It's their biggest strength.

Its also their only strength

beshocked wrote:It's the Scottish backrow I am most worried about. It's their biggest strength.

They're a strong unit, but England have the players there capable of matching that unit, just perhaps not the tactics at the breakdown at the moment. I think France/England are gonna be the most successful of the 6 nations at this world cup though.

France are France, theire predictibly unpredictable and have experience of playing and winning in New Zealand.

England have the forward power and kicking ability to get them through games even if they're backs are as stodgy as they have been the last few games. (I'd play a back 3 of Ashton/Foden/Armitage to balance out the lack of pace/penetration they have in midfield).

Comfort wrote:
Gats if often maligned as Welsh coach, but he's always said judge him on the world cup. And to be fair, basically everyone that deserves to be there is there in the squad and coming back into form

I think Gatland has done a good job as Welsh Coach. Instead of chasing wins against lesser sides he has consistently pitched us up against the Southern Hemisphere sides and consistently sought to stretch players. In doing so he has not only prepared the fittest most capable squad we have sent to the WC for decades, he has also added a great deal of depth to the squad.

Comfort wrote:
................................ (injuries/delve aside but lets not get into delve).

This Delve thing is really bugging me. People are making out that he is the second coming of the messiah (normally people who haven't actually seen him play). He isn't (and yes, I have seen him play for both his English clubs and for Wales). Yes he has had some great games at club level, but the fact is he isnt good enough to displace TF or RJ or even AP. He has been discarded from Wales squads by 4 seperate managers - what does that tell you?

Finally, even if Gatland did want him, Delve is INJURED. He was released back to the Rebels for their European mini tour and didn't even feature on the bench for them.