Luke Charteris

Now that the World Cup's over I thought this would be a good time to assess how well Luke Charteris has played. Dragons fans have known for a while how good he is, but when his selection for Wales has been the topic of discussion, most other Welsh posters have said that he's too lightweight, that he doesn't get around the park enough. Would those posters still say the same?

Definitely not. I've been watching Luke play since he was about 16/17 and he always stood out at school level (and not because of his height!) as being a hugely talented guy, a level up from anyone else. The run of games he's had in the warm ups and rwc itself have shown what a work horse he is. his rate of tackling is superb and his work in the lineout and disrputing mauls etc, is amazing. For me he's been nothing short of brilliant, and I hope his great form continues.

nothing to add, hes been spectacular, I did feel I was fighting his case on my own sometimes in the past, but its good to see him get some recognition!

Ruddock knew.

i have abeen a fan for some time. he was in the shadow of gough and awj for quite a while but his form at the dragons always looked pretty good. he stuck to his task at the region and the international rewards have come for him. another dedicated proffessional.

i hope the orange one takes note of the chartris's of this world.

A very good player who really stepped up to the mark. Another one of the Welsh players that appear to have a huge future in front of them.

I remember talking to him in Oakwood when he was in Uni and just starting with Newport. He was training so hard he couldn't bulk up as he just couldn't stomach the food they insisted he ate after such exertion. It just shows everybody is different and everybody matures differently. There is no one size fits all in the development of players.

I'll admit to being one of Charteris' knockers on occasion, and I'm a Dragons fan! I've been left scratching my head in the past as to why he wasn't bossing the lineout with his clear height advantage, and why at times when he was calling the lineout he would rarely call it to himself! I put this down to lack of confidence or something.

Anyway, over the last few seasons he's really come into his own and is a far more confident player. This world cup he's really kicked on and, for such a big guy, to be one of the top tacklers in a number of games is credit to his workrate. He's put in a lot of hard work to get where he is so full credit to him.

He also shops in my local Sainsbury's and I've always wondered if he can see over the tops of the aisles, as it looks like he can. Maybe I'll ask.

Nice bloke and all. Not full of himself (to be fair it would be a job to fill!)

That's like Brian O'Driscoll a few seasons ago. He put on too much muscle and it took away his dynamism and speed off the mark. They changed his training programme and he was back to his best.

Great player, always had fantastic work rate,

is it me or does anyone else think a lot of our players have found form at the best time?

I think he's certainly had an outstanding RWC and warm-up and hopefully he will kick on from there, but to be honest, this is the first period that I've ever seen him playing to this level - hats off for the improvement, but previously there were always better options for Wales based on the evidence at the time

His frame is quite deceptive because he looks pretty scrawny, and he's been told to bulk up in the past, but he's 20 stone. 20 stone is 20 stone, and he's going to be pretty hard to bring down at 20 stone whether he's 6'9" or 5'9". Not sure that an extra few stone would help much apart from slowing him down.

He looks lightweight but there's not many 20 stone locks around, so he's not depowering the scrum in weight terms. Where I have heard he has a problem is in the fact that due to his height, when he scrummages he can't get a straight back and his butt is up much higher than his shoulders. Not a very powerful position. Still, the Wales scrum seemed pretty good so I won't complain!

Even as a Dragons fan I ofetn questioned his inclusion in the Welsh Squad, cos whilst he has always been great for us he never, until recently (and not just WC) done it in red of Wales.

But the guy has been awesome this tournamnet and his workrate was just unbelievable, he seemed to pick up few injuries 12-18 months back on regular basis so just hope he stays injury free

Gatland has always rated Charteris highly, he could just never get a good run of games to prove himself. The guy has been slagged off by fans from the other regions, so glad he's finally gone and proved all his doubters wrong. Not only is he a top player but you'd struggle to meet a nicer guy aswell, a credit to the Dragons and Wales.

I hear there are a number of sides looking to try and tap him up, hopefully he's come this far with the Dragons he won't leave us now.

WAsn't a fan at all....now feel that he can shag my sister whenever he likes

Gatts wrote:WAsn't a fan at all....now feel that he can shag my sister whenever he likes

strange boy

No higher accolade can he give Oakey. If you tried it, he'd castrate you with his teeth.

Always rated him for the dragons, never saw him as a weak link for Wales but always hoped he could do more. He just spent the RWC proving he can. Great player for Wales now, currently our best lock.

Another one of the Welsh squad to have chosen this tournament to turn in the form of his career. Did nearly everything that could have been asked of him, imposed himself strongly at the lineout, tackled like a demon and played a role at the breakdown.

Defining games for Charteris I felt were the opener against SA and the half he played against Ireland. Just hope he can keep it up for the few years left he'll be available for Wales.

He would actually be my 2nd choice of skipper right now. He leads with his balls and that's why my sister would love to have him

Knowsit17 wrote:Another one of the Welsh squad to have chosen this tournament to turn in the form of his career. Did nearly everything that could have been asked of him, imposed himself strongly at the lineout, tackled like a demon and played a role at the breakdown.

A great deal of credit has to toto Gatland and his team for the prep of this squad. Fitness and form clicked so well at just the right time.

I hope that they heed the advice of a fellow Welshman from the scrum V show the other week who said that when the England team he played in 1999 were knocked out by SA, they all got together in the changing room and vowed to come back and win the RWC in 03. They did it too...!

These lads were one stupid tackle, or a missed kick away from a final. They will be devasted. But more importantly they should be hungry for more.

maestegmafia wrote:These lads were one stupid tackle, or a missed kick away from a final.

Just correcting that for you.

There has been some wonderful praise for Charteris. He has made several pundits team of the tournament.

He must be good then