Matthew Rees straight back in? Other changes?

I think we can safely say that Huw Bennett's mini revival and cult following has now come to an abrupt end after that HORRENDOUS display in the lineout. Back to the days of old when even Banwen under 8's had a better lineout percentage than Wales.

For this Matthew Rees will be welcomed back with open arms, BUT I think we are on a roll with the Warbinator as captain. Despite the goings on of today and the attention it will bring, Warburton must be kept as captain.

I hope Stoddart makes a full recovery and plays some matches before January.

I think Henson is slipping into the abyss and unless he can find a club soon then he won't be near a Wales squad again.

Scott Williams needs to keep doing what he's doing and compete for a starting spot in the Six Nations. Pressure on Roberts and JD2 is what they need.

Hook has played more game time at 12 rather than 15 and needs to be tried there at Perpignan and he can then compete with Roberts for a Wales place. He isn't a 10, well not an international one.

I don't think Gatland will change an awful lot. He doesn't need to. Wales have exceeded expectations. It's just a shame that we could have actually gone further and should have.

POSITIVES FROM WORLD CUP:

Faletau has developed into something awesome that can only get better
Preistland is the man with the plan and it's his shirt to lose
Our defence is EXCEPTIONAL and so is our fitness
Roberts is back to his best, especially when playing with Priestland
Wales are running straight more often and scoring tries again
North is a man mountain

One important thing to look at is the goal kicker. Both Hook and Jones faultered when it counted and they messed up several drop goal chances. I think Halfpenny should be the number 1 kicker permanently.

Agree with pretty much all of that.

wwc,

I have been Bennetts biggest critic and always worried his 'mini reviavl' as you said would come to an end BUT I do think he gives us something in the scrum and loose that maybe the others (Rees) aside doesn't.

Bennett has had a good world cup overall, but the lineout faultered when it mattered and in the most important game of all. I am not saying the whole lineout farce is his fault, but losing Warburton shouldn't have made a difference.

When will they learn that throwing it the front at least secures possession? I've pulled my hair out for years over it, it's madness.

It's a miracle that the score stayed 9-8 considering how much possession we lost to France with many lost lineouts in a row. Wales only needed one of those lost lineouts to go their way and put a bit of possession together and they would have made the chance to win the game.

Bennett was good today - his work in the loose is phenominal.

The lost lineouts were mostly just the French jumpers getting infront of the Welsh.

OK then answer me this.

Why do so many opposition teams challenge our lineout and Wales don't? When Wales do they very rarely steal it.

If we are honest I think it's Faletau's turnovers that absorbed a lot of the lost possession through lineouts.

That kid is phenomenal and I can't wait to see if Ben Morgan chooses Wales and if they battle for a place.

Nothing really needs changing as you said Rees back in a Warburton still captain and Stoddard back in right wing or fullback like wise with Halfpenny and North left wing.

Things are looking good for us at least.

Six nations prediction?

Wales to finish 4th on points difference?

view,

I have never felt confident with Stoddard at XV so for me I would put him on the wing and leave Halfpenny where I said he should have been ages ago.

Halfpenny is similar to Hook in the fact he can cover several positions.

The difference with Halfpenny is that I have hardly, if ever, seen him make a mistake. He has gas, tackling, a monster boot and is good under pressure.

Keep him at 15 for the time being as the Six Nations is round the corner. Wing is an easier position to plug than a full back.

North can cover both wings anyway he's a beast.

walesworldcup wrote:Halfpenny is similar to Hook in the fact he can cover several positions.

The difference with Halfpenny is that I have hardly, if ever, seen him make a mistake. He has gas, tackling, a monster boot and is good under pressure.

Keep him at 15 for the time being as the Six Nations is round the corner. Wing is an easier position to plug than a full back.

North can cover both wings anyway he's a beast.

Halfpenny can only play in the back 3 - there are loads of players that can/do, doesnt really compare to Hook.

Halfpenny now HAS TO BE our 1st choice XV. I have called for him there for a long time and been shot down in flames by a lot of others but he proved tiem and time again he is head and shoulders above Hook and an out of form Byrne.

Halfpenny has proved that he can be competitive in the air and still be an attacking threat and come into play often.

Fullbacks are often put under pressure and he is one of the players in the squad with a cooler head than most so it makes sense.

I hope Mike Phillips plays for as long as possible he is in a golden period of form.

When it was announced that Rees was out of the RWC, i thought Wales have no chance. But Huw Bennet as realy stood up for Wales,

Yes his line out throwing may not of been perfect, but Wales did alot better than i thought they would, and alot of that could be down to Bennet the Hooker.

I still think that Bennet is our third choice at his best, despite his rise to form.

Behind him there is also the promising Lloyd Burns and Ken Owens to challenge too...

Nice to have options and if all these lads feel that they may be playing for Wales soon then they will push each other to be the best they can.

That is one reason why i dont think Rees should have the captaincy handed back to him.

The other hookers need to feel they are competing for a place. You know if the captain is in your position you stand little if any chance of usurping his pole position.

Warburton deserve his place as seven and skipper

On the TV this morning they said that Shane Williams had retired (I assume from test rugby). So one change will be a replacement for Shane.

Candidates are probably Stoddart, we will have to see how and when he recovers from his serious injury. Or Brew, who allways seems to struggle at test level. Perhaps Byrne back at 15 with 1/2p switched to wing?

Obviously Rees will come back in, and after Warburton being red carded, probably regain the Captaincy to take some of the pressure off Sam. Hibbard will probably push Bennett off the bench. Some options at tight head would be good.

Sea,

Sam is free for our next game after the 3rd place one so IMO should keep the captaincy, also will Rees be back and match fit come December?

Not know how he's getting along

1. Gethin
2. Smiler
3. Adam
4. Charteris
5. AWJ
6 Danny L
7 Sam the captain
8 Toby.
9. Phillips
10. Priestland
11 George North
12. Doctor Roberts
13. JD
14. Stoddart
15 Halfpeny

16. Hibbard
17. Paul James
18. Bradley
19. McCusker
20. Lloyd Williams
21. Jason Tovey
22. Scott Williams

I think Mikey will be the only non welsh based player to get a look in, maybe mitchell in Exeter. No Shane, Wellies, Hook, Ryan, Byrne, Powell, Nugget.

If we maintain the levels of intensity we have found we will win the championship and rise to second in the world by the time we go to Oz next summer.

Loose head - No problems here, Bevington being brought along nicely for the future.
Hooker - Strange position, after Rees (assuming he gets back to form) the next 4 all have some major weeknesses. Moderate concern
Tight head - Quality back up desperately needed
Second row - 3 isnt enough, untested below that
Back row - some good experience being given to the back ups, something to focus on going forward
Scrum half - Williams and Knoyle have a good battle for second spot and have shown they can step up if Phillips goes off the boil
Outside half - Jones has gone, Hook cant play consistantly, Bigger hasnt performed to international standard, someone needs to step up quickly, lots of potential though
Centres - 3 again ignoring Henson
Back 3 - No concern here, from North, Halfpenny, Byrne, Brew and Stoddart a good back 3 can be found

Squads need to continually bring people through and for me priority is in the second row and centre. Why coaches cant sort out the lineout in what must be close to 10 years confuses me.

Bennett has done OK. I thought hooker would be our biggest problem but he stepped up. I think the line out problems on Saturday were a lot to do with our jumpers. If Rees captures his recent form he is still our best hooker by some distance.

Huw Bennett is one of the stand out players of the RWC2011 ,, Played his everything and doing the Welsh team proud ,, But i do agree Wales need to secure lineout ball ..

player1,

As one of his biggest critics I can't believe I am agreeing with you biut I am. Some of his frailities re-appeared on Saturday but his scrummaging has always been strong and his loose play was very good.

When things were getting a bit panicky in games he just took route one made ground and recycled ball.

Tycroes,

I wouldn't write Hook off cpmpletely as I think he is still a good squad player but not the 'need to get him on field' player people have said. I would love it if Tovey finally makes break through this season.

With regards to the Front Row and props in particular, what about Eiffion Lewis Roberts, he can play both sides of the scrum and is playing for Toulon weekl in week out now isn't he??

I think Smiler will come straight back in and may well be given the captaincy again. i think gatland likes him a lot and warbuton has plenty of years to take over, although the line out is the achillies heel of all welsh hookers.

In the second row we have three excellent players and we also have other options such as Ryan Jones and youngsters coming through like Dominic Day in the Scarlets.

Back row we have lots of options, with the likes of Tuperic, ben Morgan (maybe) and the scarlets boys.

Scrum half - happy days with phillips and back up options.

Out Half - its Priestlands to loose, but Hook is class and sadly had a bad day at the office when we really need him to fire and hopefully Tovey will start to play more consistently and push too.

Centres - I would like to see the Doc and Scott williams together as I don't think JD2 does enough, but i would love to see Henson get a club and play some rugby.

Back three is looking good and we have options who can step in.

The Future is Bright, the future is Red!!!

skippingpig,

Lewis Roberts should be given some gametime IMO but his move overseas might hamper him, wish one of the Regions had come in for him.

Hook just isn't consistent enough he tends to be brilliant or awful much like it seems Cooper of Australia.

Until he ites down one position (centre) for me, then he will only be a squad player rather than 1st choice.

JD2 had some of his best games during the WC and him Roberts and Priestland are our first choice 10,12,13 for the foreseable future but agree Sc Williams has huge potential and will push them all the way.

bedford, i thought JD2 had his best game against Namibia, who were poor opposition but he was also at inside centre, which may be his position as opposed to filling the 13 shirt.

With regards to Hook i did read a stat the other day (i don't wear an anorak!!) that wales had won, before Saturday, 71% of their games when he started at 10 so thats not a bad record. I do agree though that he needs to play in one position and i hope moving to France will improve his game.

I've never understood why Halfpenny isn't first choice kicker when he starts a game. He only gets to kick from 45 metres plus and his percentage from that range is phenomenal. If he misses it is normally just short or within a couple of feet either side of the post. He always seems calm under pressure and I'm sure he'd revel in the role.

Has Shane officially retired? He seemed forced into saying it would prob be his last game when asked on Tele the other night but he def didn't seem 100%

Wouldn't surprise me if he had one last 6N campaign left in him

Eclipse,

I've been saying it for years.

Rees needs to earn back his place, whatever the case it's not a good idea to consider anyone good enough to get in by default.

There's no need to worry either way, if you're right and Bennett's stream of form has run dry then Rees should have no problem. If Bennett's still good then we have a nice dilemma on our hands.

Sam Our Captain to keep the armband.