Wales backline for Six Nations

First topic message reminder :

If Jamie Roberts is injured or not firing on all cylinders then I would like to see Henson return to 12. Against England in August and last night for the Blues he still showed he can play well without any form or run of matches.

The Jamie Roberts crash ball is only effective sometimes and it doesn't free up the backline. Henson's flat passing and offloading can bring the likes of JD2, North & Halfpenny into space and make Wales a threat again.

I believe JD2 is the most potent threat in the backline at the moment and should be the first back on the teamsheet. I would like to see North remain on the wing, but involve himself as much as possible. Halfpenny does a great job at fullback and I would play him there until Stoddart recovers, but he must be more involved as he was great last night.

I would pick:

15. Halfpenny
14. North
13. JD2
12. Henson
11. Cuffbutt
10. Priestland / Hook (depends how well Hook continues to play at Perpignan)
9. Phillips

20. Williams
21. Hook / Priestland
22. Byrne / Roberts

Alyn,

If your picking purely on form then the centres would be Hughes and Beck but can't dis-agree with side much.

But Peel hasn't figured much under gatland and can't see him being involved, Byrnes in good form so expect him to start with Halfpenny on the wing.

Cuthbert was poor yesterday but would be happy to see him start.

Beck is faster than he appears to be and he is another player who is over 15 st, Powerful runner who scored the 2011 Magners league try of the year.

bedfordwelsh wrote:Alyn,

If your picking purely on form then the centres would be Hughes and Beck but can't dis-agree with side much.

But Peel hasn't figured much under gatland and can't see him being involved, Byrnes in good form so expect him to start with Halfpenny on the wing.

Cuthbert was poor yesterday but would be happy to see him start.

B... B... B... but If Cuthbert is on one wing, and 1/2P on the other, with Bryne at Full back, where do we play "Georgies gonna get you"?!?!?!?

With Peel I think he is getting the ball away quick and passing it well, and I'd like him to unleash our back line. I know Gatland doesn;t like him though.

What has Hughes done that Beck hasn't? I don't get all this hype about Hughes..

Yes he's been one of the only decent players in an awful Dragons backline this season, but that's the only reason that he's standing out.

You're wrong. Hughes consistently tackles above his weight makes good runs and goes looking for the ball.

As does Beck, but in a much better backline. This might be to his advantage but it's also harder to stand out with quality players around you.

Adam Warren and Owen Williams have had their fair share of brilliant runs this season and both seem to look for work, what I'm asking is, what makes Hughes any better than the rest?

He's done it consistently for the past two seasons behind a much poorer pack . If you have better players around you treme you SHOULD play better , if you don't its harder and down to individual effort

munkian wrote:You're wrong. Hughes consistently tackles above his weight makes good runs and goes looking for the ball.

haha he is 6'0 and 15stone 10 lbs, he is far to small for a Welsh back, he needs to be at least 6'3" to get into Gatlands team!

munkian wrote:He's done it consistently for the past two seasons behind a much poorer pack . If you have better players around you treme you SHOULD play better , if you don't its harder and down to individual effort

Williams and Warren have been very effective behind an arguably worse pack. With Faletau, Lydiate, Charteris and Burns all recently having played for Wales (in the World cup no less) and G.Thomas & Sidoli having racked up a fair few caps between them the Dragons pack isn't as bad as people make out. It can't be blamed entirely for the mis-firing backs.

Not saying it can , that'll be Wayne Evans out of form

Rhodri Williams? Kahn Fotuali'i? Again it's not a problem that only the Dragons have suffered with. Besides, it's only this season he's been out of form.

In fact this season Biggar has been out of form and Parks is constantly out of form whereas Dragons fans are calling for Tovey to be in the Welsh squad and singing the praises of Steffan Jones and young Robling.

9. Phillips
10. Priestland
11. North
12. Roberts/Beck
13. Davies
14. HP
15. Byrne


20. Webb
21. Hook/Biggar
22. Beck

Must confess that I'm a bit concerned about North.He seems to lack pace,power and nouse this season.Not ideal.Brew at least has power!

Brew drops the ball a lot though

north
hp
byrne

the only realistic back three pick at the moment.

with cuffbut, brew, harries, henson and hook in the mix we could change things around a bit, we would have options but i would bet lots on north, hp, byrne being our starters agaisnt ireland

Dog, I think you are probably right

To your in the mix list I would add Adam Hughes and Liam Williams too.

CurlyOsp wrote:As does Beck, but in a much better backline. This might be to his advantage but it's also harder to stand out with quality players around you.

What quality players around Beck would these be, Biggar and Bishop?

AlynDavies wrote:

munkian wrote:You're wrong. Hughes consistently tackles above his weight makes good runs and goes looking for the ball.

haha he is 6'0 and 15stone 10 lbs, he is far to small for a Welsh back, he needs to be at least 6'3" to get into Gatlands team!

Exaggirated a lot by the website stats Alyn. I can tell you that for a fact having been stood next to him in Rodney Parades Buisness Suite! I'm a fan of Hughes, but when Dragons played the Scarlets big backline players like North really exposed his size. Having said that, that was the only time I have seen this happen.

Morgannwg wrote: What quality players around Beck would these be, Biggar and Bishop?

Well, yes. As the top point scorer and most capped back for the most successful region in Wales respectively, yes they can be considered "quality". Unless quality down at Dave Parade is measured by how many times you've won the basement battle at the bottom of the table.

And if they wont do then Williams and Bowe are certainly quality players.

Curly,

Didn'y say Hughes has done more or less than Beck just stated that if you were picking the form centres it would be those two.

Out of those two if any get selected then I am expecting it to be Beck but Hughes isn't far behind him.

Back 3 will be Halfpenny Byrne North.

Agree with Dogtooth, if Byrne is in any decent form. Cuthbert is too raw to start in Dublin. Centre is harder to call; if Roberts is out, it has to be the Scarlets pairing, unless Henson impresses the living daylights out of Gats in the last Heineken and the training camps. I'd be pleased if he did, though.

I guess it is likely to be Phillips against Ireland rather than Lloyd W.

There's a lot to be said about Club combos and if Roberts is out then a 10,12,13 of Pruestalnd Davies and Williams would seem the logicla choice.

However, Becks form will be hard to ignore and its not as if Williams is hugely experienced.

BlueNote - I do feel Beck's regional form will be hard to ignore - particularly as Williams hasn't been on fire this season - that's if Dr Bob is out of course.

Guys, you're right, I'd not be upset if Ashley Beck were to start at 12. Gats is a bit inconsistent about whether he's happy to stick people straight into big games, I'm guessing he might not for a 12.

I suppose on the plus side we have plenty of options in the centre and I wouldn't be too worried about any of them

Roberts JD2

Roberts Beck

JD2 S Williams

Roberts Hook

Henson JD2

Roberts Hughes

Hughes would be a big surprise, not that he doesnt deserve it.