Positives STILL Outweigh Negatives

So we finished fourth overall but considering most didn't give us a chance of getting out of the group and certainly no chance past the quarters for me the positives clearlt still outweigh the negatives.

Positive:

Fitness - We have finished games stronger than all teams.

Players - 10 of the 22 on duty today were 23 or under and some players like JD2, Faletau, Priestland, North, Lydiate, Sc Williams, Warburton, Ll Williams proved they are not out of place at this level, special mention to Bennett yes I know never thought I would say that.

Attitude - The players carried themselves very well off the field and played to a very high standard and committment on it.

Coaching - Despite the losses we played a style that suited us and proved that if Gatland can get time with the players he can bring the best out in such as Charteris and Bennett.

Negatives

Kicking - Our goal kicking was poor buy our two supposed front line kickers and indeirectly cost us our last two games.

Mental Edge - We still only beat 1 'big' team and failed to close out games we should have one against SA, France and possibly today (though not so much).

Selection - This is the one area where I still have some doubts over Gatlands choices, Hook is not a 10 and never has been IMO whilst I questioned his decision to play James out of position when we had specialist T/Head in Mitchell available.

For me the future seems far brighter than before the WC and am looking forward to the 6 Nations and the coming games etc we do need however to start winning these big games against SH teams

bedfordwelsh wrote:So we finished fourth overall but considering most didn't give us a chance of getting out of the group and certainly no chance past the quarters for me the positives clearlt still outweigh the negatives.

Positive:

Fitness - We have finished games stronger than all teams.

Players - 10 of the 22 on duty today were 23 or under and some players like JD2, Faletau, Priestland, North, Lydiate, Sc Williams, Warburton, Ll Williams proved they are not out of place at this level, special mention to Bennett yes I know never thought I would say that.

Attitude - The players carried themselves very well off the field and played to a very high standard and committment on it.

Coaching - Despite the losses we played a style that suited us and proved that if Gatland can get time with the players he can bring the best out in such as Charteris and Bennett.

Negatives

Kicking - Our goal kicking was poor buy our two supposed front line kickers and indeirectly cost us our last two games.

Mental Edge - We still only beat 1 'big' team and failed to close out games we should have one against SA, France and possibly today (though not so much).

Selection - This is the one area where I still have some doubts over Gatlands choices, Hook is not a 10 and never has been IMO whilst I questioned his decision to play James out of position when we had specialist T/Head in Mitchell available.

For me the future seems far brighter than before the WC and am looking forward to the 6 Nations and the coming games etc we do need however to start winning these big games against SH teams

+1 on most of that, bedford, but I think it was a massive ask wanting to close out the game against France with only 14 men, and yet you so nearly got there - hats off, anyway, very bright future

Maybe one of the negatives should be that you lost 3 of your 4 games against tier one nations?

wrfc,

See mental edge!!!!!!!!!!

Agreed. It just goes to show how expectation changes. We would have taken this going into the world cup but a couple of good performances and we are massively disappoined. Yes we may have lost a higher percentage of world cup games than England and Ireland but that is because we played more.

Positives still massively outweigh the negatives for wales imo. i wouldnt even feel the need to debate that issue it is so clear cut. Still areas to work on but you have discovered a new 10, a great 2nd row, a great great backrow, a solid full back and you have dangerous backs like North and Roberts.

Bodes well

Certainly the positives outweigh the negatives. Young squad, performed well, excellent coaching team.

Yes, pipped to the post on 3 occasions, but I think Wales can count themselves unlucky against South Africa and France.

As a Scot, I'm not looking forward to facing this Welsh side in the 6 Nations, I must say.

I like this article. Realistic but positive. Hard to argue with it.

You should be very proud of Wales.

red_stag wrote:I like this article. Realistic but positive. Hard to argue with it.

You should be very proud of Wales.

+1

I think its incredible how quick things change, this time last year no one would have thought that:

George North, Rhys Priestland, Halfpenny(at fb), Faletau, Lydiate would end up being first choice for their country and undroppable.

So glad that Gatland has decided to go for form over reputation

You've got a very good group of players who are capable of playing extremely well. This has been the case for a good few years now but they are younger than before. Unless they start winning these games has there really been an improvement? Things are looking positive at the moment (certainly better than before the World cup) but unless they crack on it'll be meaningless

I agree with the OP. If you'd said we would make the semis before the WC a lot of wales fans would be delighted ( and maybe shocked ).

Gatland and co chose to go with talented inexperienced players and it came good. I hope he stays with this as it can reap rewards in the 6 nations.

They've showed they have the potential to be a good team now can they establish that in the next half dozen games.

After a couple of years looking clueless when trying to run the ball, Wales have put together a team that plays an attractive brand of rugby that should threaten all teams.

Other than the arrival of some fantastic new talent - the biggest gain was in fitness. It will be interesting to see if these fitness levels are maintained when players are back with their clubs.

We cannot ignore the fact that Wales had just one win in four tier 1 opponents - but with experience they will learn how to win those tight games.

The biggest issue is perhaps the strength in depth. Injuries to either first choice prop, Warburton or Priestland will (and have) caues major problems.

While Ireland and england had better win/loss ratios most fans of those teams will envy the position you guys are now in.

Congrats Wales.

LondonTiger wrote:The biggest issue is perhaps the strength in depth. Injuries to either first choice prop, Warburton or Priestland will (and have) caues major problems.

I agree that this is the next point to resolve. Getting the likes of Turnbull, Tipuric and Tovey into the squad and competing is key now. Gatland now has the opportunity for a pretty settled 1st XV, but behind that he needs to work on getting the back-up up to scratch.

Faletau has been the find of the RWC with his alround game and impact allowing others to shine in the backrow and hence quick ball for Roberts to run in midfield. The Welsh front row still looks shaky without Jones and the lineout has improved but can still be targeted. The future looks bright - but do we really want to see games with 32 phases before tries are scored?

Tovey (even from a bias Dragon POV) must be the next person invested in. Despite not going to Dave other than 1 month thhis guy is class (if a bit inconsistent) which can surley be improved on

Tovey would be worth a look if he gets playing regularly which is hard if you're injured every other game

Iron,

Looking at Tovey, even formn my view point ( 1 a month) his kicking seems very in consistent which I am sure more regular visitors to Dave might correct me on (hopefully)

I rate Tovey very highly, just needs to stop getting so frequently injured and put a good run of games together...

Could be in the running for the Six Nations

I see Wayne Evans is back to fitness and playing for the Dragons this weekend.

Evans (even with my bias head on) is a class act as is Lewis Evans but again injury prone

I like Tovey but he is injury prone as others have said. Biggar could come back into the equation but I think its too soon for Morgan. We still need to find back up for Adam and a replacement for Shane. Mitchell shoudl get some hard games in England so hopefully his scrumaging will improve.

Before teh world cup this was the best I hoped for now that weve got there I want us to kick on in the next four years.