Wales v Fiji Thread etc etc

[bedfordwelsh]

OK so we are now down to the last group game and a win would hopefully see us into the Quarters, by the time we play then SA would have played Samoa and we will know what result we nee.

We have now seen all the 30 man squad have a run out so what would be your starting 22 for Fiji. Heres mine:

P James (given Jenkins time off the bench)
H Bennett
A Jones
AWJ
L Charteris
R Jones (Rest Lydiate until quarters)
T Faletau
S Warburton

M Phillips
R Priestland

S Williams (if fit Brew if not)
J Roberts
J Davies (but would like to see Sc Williams and Roberts get some gametime)
G North

L Halfpenny

Jenkins, Burns, Davies, Powell, S Jones, L Wiiliams (Knoyle disappointed today), Sc Williams

[TBJ9625]

What about having Scot Williams at inside centre and Roberts outside him??? Williams will create the wholes for Roberts to hit or use him as a decoy and have the fullback hitting the line at pace?

[Cymroglan]

Must win game for us we cant just rely on scores from other matches going our way.

[RubyGuby]

Ok here's my effort for Fiji


P James
H Bennett
A Jones
AWJ
L Charteris
R Jones
T Faletau
S Warburton

M Phillips
R Priestland

1/2 p
J Roberts
J Davies (but would like to see Sc Williams and Roberts get some gametime)
G North

L Byrne

Jenkins, Owens, Davies, Powell, S Jones, L Wiiliams Sc Williams


I think this will be the team - I'd prefer 1/2 p at FB and Brew perhaps on wing if Shane not fit but I know Gats and this is likley to be the line up.


.

[SubsBench]

I would'nt have Burns on the bench, I'd have Owens, or even start with him. Ideally we would rest Warburton but cant really afford to do so as we didnt bring another openside!

[dogtooth]

one of gatlands most difficult selections. it is a must win game but we will have half an eye on the quaters. no point in knackering everyone and going into the quaters understrength

a good xxii from bedfordwelsh. the only change i would suggest would be to start with byrne and have 1/2p on the bench. byrne did well today, offered himslef on a few well angled and well timed runs.

[offload]

one of gatlands most difficult selections. it is a must win game but we will have half an eye on the quaters. no point in knackering everyone and going into the quaters understrength

Sorry - can't agree. We need both eyes fully on the next game, or there will be no quarters. A rest for one or two perhaps, but we need to really fire for this one.

[bedfordwelsh]

Dog,

I wouldn't be overly bothered if Byrne got the nod I just think Halfpenny has looked sharp in both his outings now.

This is a must win game and he will have to pick his strongest 22 available to make sure we win it.

It would be nice if we were in a position with 20-25 minutes to go to give some first teamers a rest and use the bench.

[Cari]

No one's picked Powell to start...what's the betting Gatland does though after today?

[Knowsit17]

As Cymroglan said a must-win game, therefore fielding our first XV should be mandatory. If Lydiate is fully fit then he ought to start. Happy to say it's a real headache deciding who should start at centre. Fullback is a less appealing dilemma with opinion divided. I personally thought Byrne played well today aside from his sparse touch-finders. The question is who deals with pressure and high balls better with the Fijians expected to chase their kicks well.

1. Jenkins
2. Bennett
3. A Jones
4. Charteris
5. A Wyn Jones
6. Lydiate (if fit)
7. Warburton
8. Faletau
9. Phillips
10. Priestland
11. S Williams (if fit)/Brew
12. Roberts
13. J Davies
14. North
15. Byrne (1/2p off the bench if this doesn't work)

16. Owens
17. Bevington/James (can't decide)
18. B Davies
19. Powell
20. L Williams
21. Sc Williams
22. Halfpenny

[Pot Noodle Miner]

i think for Wales to be able to step up to the mark of the Tri-Nations sides we'd need a backline that consists of more than 2 out an out international try-scorers aswell as a consistent goal-kicker because our forwards have shown that they are capable of competing with the best so IMO Wales should forget about Hook at FB because we've never had any success when he has played there

and with regards to team selection against Fiji taking possible injuries into account i'd go with

1. Jenkins
2. Bennett
3. Jones
4. Charteris
5. Wyn Jones
6. R.Jones
7. Warburtron
8. Faletau
9. Phillips
10. S.Jones (difficult choice if Preistland was a reliable goal-kicker i probably would have gone with him)
11. North
12. Roberts
13. J.Davies
14. Halfpenny
15. Byrne
(If Williams were fit and HP had been given more of a go at FB i'd be really tempted to go with a backline of Shane, North and HP)

16. P.James
17. L.Burns
18. B.Davies
19. A.Powell
20. T.Knoyle
21. R.Preistland
22. Sc.Williams

[Knowsit17]

Or alternatively could omit Byrne, have Halfpenny at 15 and Wellies on the bench, I'm really struggling to decide.

[RubyGuby]

Any way you look at these selections there is a very large part of the team that picks itself when everyone is fit with perhaps just the front row and FB positions being open to discussion. A good sign but from now on we need the SA performance and some more clinical finishing. Who ever suggested "resting" players for the Fiji game needs a frontal lobotomy

[bedfordwelsh]

No one's picked Powell to start...what's the betting Gatland does though after today?

Cari,

Who instead of, thought Jones had good game at No6 and with Lydiate likely to still be out then Jones should be at 6.

Faletau carried well and had very good game so I can't see him getting the nod ahead of him.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

No, anyone suggesting we rest players for the Fiji game has already had a frontal lobotomy!

[RubyGuby]

Nice one luckless - How about this one - I asked the advice of an emminent psychiatrist when I qualified as I wanted to know how to survive 30 years working in mental health, he said, "Laddy I've always preferred a bottle in front of me to a frontal lobotomy" - Now that might be an old one but I still like it -

[Luckless Pedestrian]

I like it!

[RubyGuby]

Have one then

[WelshinEdinburgh]

1. Jenkins
2. Bennett
3. A Jones
4. Charteris
5. A Wyn Jones
6. Jones
7. Warburton
8. Faletau
9. Phillips
10. Priestland
11. S Williams (if fit) 1/2penny if not
12. Roberts
13. J Davies
14. North
15. Byrne

16. Owens
17. James
18. B Davies
19. Powell
20. L Williams
21. Sc Williams
22. Halfpenny - Brew if Halfpenny starting

if Lydiate is fit he replaces powell on the bench

[bedfordwelsh]

Welsh,

I know we missed him today but I wouldn't risk Lydiate unless absolutely neccessary.

[Gatts]

Wales team v Fiji

James - Geth sublime but rusty
Bennett - owns it right now
A Jones - Fiji scrum not a worry but he is our tighthead
Davies - Only because Charteris makes such stupid errors
AW Jones - On the rise
Lydiate - picks himself if fit, Ryan if not
Warburton - Nuff said
Faletau -
Philipps - Will need his physicality round breakdwon
Priestland - Sorry SJ but you are now his understudy
Brew - I want his physicality v a big Fijian over Shane
Roberts- Picks himself
Davies - Improved v Namibia needs to produce that v big teams
North - wish there was an emoticon for the wood i have
Halfpenny - great back 3 player

Bench - something like
Burns
Jenkins - Gatts decision to bring him justified in 1 moment of Gethin brilliance. Give him a half
R Jones - the ultimate utilty lock/back row
T Knoyle
S Jones - RP's back up
Scott Williams
Hook - fit or not you aren't our 10/12/15 at the moment and that is Gatland's fault

[Shifty]

15 Lee Bryne
14 George North
13 Jamie Roberts
12 Scott Williams
11 Leigh Halfpenny
10 Stephen Jones
9 Mike Phillips
8 Toby Faletau
7 Sam Warburton
6 Andy Powell
5 Luke Charteris
4 Bradley Davies
3 Adam Jones
2 Huw Bennett
1 Gethin Jenkins

16 Paul James
17 Ken Owens
18 Alun-Wyn Jones
19 Ryan Jones
20 Lloyd Williams
21 Rhys Priestland
22 Shane Williams

[TycroesOsprey]

Honestly I think we need to play the best team we can but I am assuming Lydiate, Shane and Hook are out for the Fiji game. All would be in my matchday XXII for Ireland if fit. A lot of teh team picks itself which is a good place to be and we seem to have developed some real strength on the bench.

Byrne did enough today, hes still not back to his best but that was much much better, his defence and solidity under the high ball will be vital against the fijians kick and chase, I do expect some huge bombs put into the air on saturday. Had Shane been fit I possibly would have looked at halfpenny at fullback today for some of the game at least.

The front row needs to be managed carefully, Adam is far more important to us for the Ireland game so I would put James on teh bench rather than bevvington to replace Adam, Gethin would benefit from another 80 mins before the ireland match.

JD and JR are our best centre partnership, they are just developing together and in the two massive games in this group have worked well together. Scott Williams had a great match today but I wouldnt move jamie to a position he has only played when hensons been in on the strength of that one showing, JD is hugely underated and I would probably swap JR out for Scott if we have the game won at 60 mins.

Priestland is our first choice outside half, Wellies is great to have on the bench whilst hook is injured but he has slipped down the rankings now. Honestly I think he was first choice before the Twickenham game in the summer but Priestland has taken his chance and deserves the jersey.

I thought Ryan did well today as a six, not as destructive in teh tackle as Lydiate, but cleared up well, threw himself on looseball, tackled and set up the ball well in contact; even if he still lacks the dynamism he once had. He will do the hard graft taht allows Toby and Warbs to strut their stuff, he will also link well and has an intellegent head on his shoulders, that alone would get him the nod over Powell who nevertheless did well today.

Lloyd Willimams on the bench over Tavis is not that tough a call after today. Honestly Im not a fan of Tavis' but he has been good off the bench. Today however he was way off the pace. He did look to have taken a kick to the head just after half time either that or he always has that blank stare . Lloyd offers somthing completly different to spikey if we need it,.

15 Lee Bryne - Did enough today and with Hook out looks oods on to start
14 George North - First choice now
13 J Davies - He and Jamie our are first choice centres until hook returns
12 Jamie Roberts - one of the first names on teh team sheet
11 Leigh Halfpenny- with Shane out Leigh will go to wing.
10 Rhys Priestland - First choice ten at teh moment deservedly so.
9 Mike Phillips - Physicality in defence needed must speed up.
8 Toby Faletau - Gets better every game
7 Sam Warburton - captain marvel
6 Ryan Jones - did well today lots of grunt work done. Lyds to come back
5 Luke Charteris - needs some passing practice but lineout specialist.
4 Alun Wyn Jones- showed versatility took his try well/
3 Adam Jones - should munch the fijians
2 Huw Bennett - first choice at the moment
1 Gethin Jenkins - A full 80 needed from Geth

16 Paul James - to replace adam if Geth holds up
17 Lloyd Burns - wish Hibbard was in teh squad
18 Bradley Davies - experience and will make an impact
19 Andy Powell - Had a very good game today
20 Lloyd Williams - offers speed of service
21 Stephen Jones - experience to come on and setady the ship if needed
22 Scot WIlliams - deserves it after his hat trick

[WelshinEdinburgh]

What is good is that most matchday 22's are very similar as are most of the starters - it's good to know your best players. Some say Gatland faces selection headaches, i think the 22 picks itself - starting to get a great bench too.

[glamorganalun]

Alyn:

I am not sure of your logic of your choice but I assume the idea is to keep some key players back for the last 20 mins. I would not select S Jones, A Powell or B Davies as first choice but could be used to prevent the guys on the bench from injury. I don't have a problem with your 22. Some on here and Gatland will pick JD2, in fairness he is much better when not playing with Roberts as shown today.

[TycroesOsprey]

What really excites me is the change in personnel, As long as we dont implode against fiji the team we put out against Ireland will be considerably different to the one that struggled to a win in the six nations, and the players that have come in have made a real impact, If the Irish think they know what to expect I think they may be suprised by some of this team. We have somthing like fifteen changes from the team in march and in key positions down the spine of teh team, Only Smiler is a loss but Bennett has been doing well so far.

wesh team vs Ireland in teh 6 nations and current incumbents
15. Lee Byrne/Hook/Halfpenny
14 Leigh Halfpenny /George North
13 Jonathan Davies
12 Jamie Roberts
11 Shane Williams
10 James Hook/Priestland
9 Mike Phillips

1 Paul James /Gethin
2 Matthew Rees / Bennet
3 Craig Mitchell / Adam Jones
4 Bradley Davies / Charteris
5 Alun Wyn Jones
6 Dan Lydiate
7 Sam Warburton
8 Ryan Jones / Faletau

16 Richard Hibbard / Burns
17 John Yapp / James
18 Jonathan Thomas/ Bradley Davies
19 Rob McCusker/Ryan
20 Dwayne Peel/ Lloyd Williams/Tavis
21 Stephen Jones/ James Hook
22. Morgan Stoddart/ Byrne/ Halfpenny

[glamorganalun]

Tycroes:

The team that played in the 6N and the current players, there is little in it, the main improvement is the front row from the 6N, I think Bryne will 15 and Halfpenny will replace Shane. In the 6N match Hook kicked Ireland of the park, I suspect our Irish friends will be glad not to be playing against Hook at 10. Overall I see little difference in the teams and we may not get a Scottish line judge. Our biggest improvement is the training and improved team spirit.

[TycroesOsprey]

Hey Alun,

I think the pack as a whole is a massive improvement as well as the forward bench. North in the backs is the big plus though hes on fire.

not honestly a great fan of Hooks at 10 and thought we were lucky in the 6ns. I really like priestland in the role. Before the world cup I would have had hook as first choice because I felt wellies' powers have waned considerably this last year and I didnt think Priestland was ready.

I was totally wrong about that the guy has been a revelation. Personally I like hook in the outside centre channel where he can play instinctively. Priestlnad takes good options,kicks from hand wel, distributes right on the gain line. Its that top two inches that James seems to lack.

[Shifty]

Hook or Lydiate wont be fit though, so there is no point considering them, you have to basically have the same tools as Gatland would.

[bedfordwelsh]

Some may shoot me down but IMO I wouldn't start Hook anyway even if he was fit.

Priestland has done nothing wrong that would warrant dropping him and Halfpenny or even Byrne, who looked good (admittedly against Namibia) would be my choice at XV.

Lydiate is another matter but I wouldn't risk him against Fiji let R Jones have another outing at No6

[Gatts]

Some may shoot me down but IMO I wouldn't start Hook anyway even if he was fit.

Priestland has done nothing wrong that would warrant dropping him and Halfpenny or even Byrne, who looked good (admittedly against Namibia) would be my choice at XV.

Lydiate is another matter but I wouldn't risk him against Fiji let R Jones have another outing at No6

I wouldn't start him...but mainly because i don't know where i wouldn't start him and that is the fault of WG.

Hook should be hacked off. A player of his class should have a position. He should play in it until he is outclassed by another or has a howler or is injured. When he returns from injury he should get that position back. But Hook can't do that because he is Mr Utility.

We are wasting Hook by using him this way and taking advantage of his desire to play anywhere in red.

[bedfordwelsh]

Gatts,

Some of the blame has to lie with the O's as well who themselves have moved him back an for between 10, 12 and sometimes 15.

10 - 12 to accomodate Biggar FFS

[Gatts]

Well maybe JPR is right, he should tell em to foxtrot oscar.

I wonder f his 7s background works against him sometimes

[Seagultaf]

The reason Hook is not the best no 10 in the game is Gatlands fault and Scott Johnsons fault and everyone else's fault for not recognising his supreme talent!!!!!!!!!

Or maybe its just that Hook is simply not a top class 10, Gatland rates Jones and Preistland ahead of him, Scott Johnson rates Biggar. I have allways rated him in the Centre but now he is behind, Roberts, Davies and Scott Williams. When Hook is focused and concentrates on playing for the team he is very good, but he does not do that often enough.

[welshy824]

i have to agree i wouldnt start hook against fiji, it would also be a tight call about him being on the bench for me.

priestland in form fly half and gets the players around to play well, i mena is it a coincidence that JR is suddenly playing well when priestland is at FH rather than hook in the 6n?

also about kicking, halfpenny would be on to go for difficult kicks ( wing or fullback depending on shane) if on wing then i think byrne did the basics right and supported well (yes it was nambia) but he showed some return in form.

JD also played well against nambia and why would we swap him out when him and roberts are playing well togther and their defence is superb.


now onto bench, a game against fiji we need to keep control- would i really want hook on bench covering 10 for that kind of situation or would i go for the ever reliable and steady hand of Stephen jones?


this is the difficulty now, would i have scott williams on the bench who played superbly against nambia scoring a hat trick who can cover centre?

or hook who can cover centre, FH or fullback?

i would be tempted with scott williams as after his nambia game i think he deserves to be on the bench, (and priestland can cover fullback, with SJ covering FH and Scott covering centre)

[bedfordwelsh]

Read today that Gatland HAS to name his squad before the SA Samoa game actually finishes so they might not know the result.

With that in mind, he has to name his strongest possible 22 not that there should have been any doubt IMO about that anyway

[gilla]

Gatts,

Some of the blame has to lie with the O's as well who themselves have moved him back an for between 10, 12 and sometimes 15.

10 - 12 to accomodate Biggar FFS

Utter rubbish.

The Ospreys picked Hook at 12 consistently for the last 2 years - only moving him (if at all) when the game has started to break up.

[Shifty]

The bookies are giving Wales a good win for the Fiji game, frankly if Wales can get rid of their Samoan demon, then the Fijian one should be easier.

Wales are nearly equal to South Africa. South Africa are 46 points better than Fiji, and Samoa are to points better than them, so using the paper, scissors, rock theory, Wales should win by about 25-35.

For Wales to lose to Islander games there has to be 2 things wrong, Wales have to be in the gutter, which we are not, or supremely over confident where we pick weakened teams, we won't do that either.

[gavstar]

i wouldnt pick hook ,same as a few posters, mainly because others are now ahead of him in 'each of of his positions' put my neck on the block yesterday, its still there, steven jones to start fiji game.

[LordDowlais]

Fiji will give away a lot of penalties at the ruck and scrum, so we need a reliable goal kicker to keep the board ticking over. We all know what Fiji are capable of, both in the positive sense and the negative sense, god know's we have come a cropper to them enough times now, if we keep the board ticking over and go 15 to 25 points up they will loose interest and we will put them to the sword, if they think they are in with a sniff then they will hit the holy crap out of us and try and run it from everywhere. If you ask me, I think we should keep it tight and in the forwards for the first fifty or sixty minutes and use Stephen Jones to kick our points then when there is clear daylight, bring on Preistland/Hook to let our backs try to run a few tries in.

[Cymroglan]

Whatever the South Africa Samoa score is we need a good win against Fiji.
If we play like we have done in the previous matches in this world cup then we should be fine.

[welshy824]

i think we should start with priestland i mean he is not a bad kicker and offers more in attack and we will (hopefully) have halfpenny on the field and we know what he is like with the boot

[scoi]

The majority of the team picks itself but i'd go for:
Jenkins to start, played well and probably as effective as James but has the potential, given game time, to be better this tournament. Obviously hard to tell his scrum effectiveness.
Jones at 6, played well, needs game time as will be a key bench player when Lydiate is back.
Priestland deserves the start his pass accuracy gave Roberts great ball against SA and likes to mix it up more than Jones which will keep Fiji (and others) defences true opening up space for the centres.
Halfpenny, Byrne, North back 3, Halfpenny looks lively and long range kicking option, Byrne showed enough and if he performs gives the back line a much better feel to it.
Owens on the bench, Burns gives away too many penalties and havent seen him add too much in the set piece or loose to warrant the place.
Lloyd Williams, I've never thought that Knoyle was anything special even when he got MOTM in the warm ups, but if you wouldnt pick Williams for the quarters then stick with Knoyle for the experience.

[Gatts]

The majority of the team picks itself but i'd go for:
Jenkins to start, played well and probably as effective as James but has the potential, given game time, to be better this tournament. Obviously hard to tell his scrum effectiveness.
Jones at 6, played well, needs game time as will be a key bench player when Lydiate is back.
Priestland deserves the start his pass accuracy gave Roberts great ball against SA and likes to mix it up more than Jones which will keep Fiji (and others) defences true opening up space for the centres.
Halfpenny, Byrne, North back 3, Halfpenny looks lively and long range kicking option, Byrne showed enough and if he performs gives the back line a much better feel to it.
Owens on the bench, Burns gives away too many penalties and havent seen him add too much in the set piece or loose to warrant the place.
Lloyd Williams, I've never thought that Knoyle was anything special even when he got MOTM in the warm ups, but if you wouldnt pick Williams for the quarters then stick with Knoyle for the experience.

all good picks, had been picking brew North and 1/2 but now very much in the 1/2, North Byrne camp. Give byrne the chance to come good. I felt Jenkins was rusty but of course he would be and he showed his absolute class. I give him the nod with Bennet and Jones. AWJ and BD, Ryan, Toby and Warbles.

[welshy824]

i think we need charteris as he has been immense, then sub him off for BD with 25mins left

[Guest]

1. Gethin Jenkins
2. Huw Bennet
3. Adam Jones
4. Luke Charteris
5. Alun Wyn Jones
6. Dan Lydiate if fit otherwise Ryan Jones
7. Sam Warburton
8. Toby Faleatau
9. Mike Phillips
10. Rhys Priestland
11. Shane Williams
12. Jamie Roberts
13. Jonathan Davies
14. George North
15. Lee Byrne

16. Lloyd Burns / Ken Owens
17. Paul James
18. Ryan Jones if Lydiates fit otherwise Andy Powell
19. Bradley Davies
20. Lloyd Williams
21. Leigh Halfpenny
22. Scott Williams

[Gatts]

Yeah that is the team isn't it....looks good guys...I would rest Lyds either way...feel sorry for James but the The Gethin is a world class winger and needs to come back now so that he can step bod in the 1/4.
Sorry to say i would also rest Shane as those Fijians will toss him around like a doll..1/2 on the wing for me.
Charteris seems to be the popular pick and i admit he is doing well but when you are 75 feet tall and have hands the size of a small country you ought to be able to hold onto and pass the ball!
LLoyd not tavis....seems a tad premature based on a few miuntes v a knackered namibia try or not

[maestegmafia]

i think for Wales to be able to step up to the mark of the Tri-Nations sides we'd need a backline that consists of more than 2 out an out international try-scorers aswell as a consistent goal-kicker because our forwards have shown that they are capable of competing with the best so IMO Wales should forget about Hook at FB because we've never had any success when he has played there

and with regards to team selection against Fiji taking possible injuries into account i'd go with

1. Jenkins
2. Bennett
3. Jones
4. Charteris
5. Wyn Jones
6. R.Jones
7. Warburtron
8. Faletau
9. Phillips
10. S.Jones (difficult choice if Preistland was a reliable goal-kicker i probably would have gone with him)
11. North
12. Roberts
13. J.Davies
14. Halfpenny
15. Byrne
(If Williams were fit and HP had been given more of a go at FB i'd be really tempted to go with a backline of Shane, North and HP)

16. P.James
17. L.Burns
18. B.Davies
19. A.Powell
20. T.Knoyle
21. R.Preistland
22. Sc.Williams

We also halfpenny who is an excellent goal kicker so I would take priest and over the out of form jones

[RubyGuby]

S Jones

[bedfordwelsh]

If Preistland doesn't get picked then its a travesty, he has done nothing wrong to warrant being dropped and would right feel p eed off.

Its nice to have the experience of Jones on the bench and I am sure he will get game time but Priestland deserves the starting slot.

Knoyle disappointed against namibia and would prefer L Williams on the bench, I know it may not happen in this tournament but I would like to see Roberts and Sc Williams get some decent game time together as have been impressed by Williams.

[Sponsored content]