Rhys Priestland-not all he's cracked up to be!

In my opinion Priestland isn't the player everyone thinks he is.There is a lot of talk about how he stands flat and attacks the gain line however from my viewing I don't see what they're talking about.
Most of the time he gets the ball he does an up and under that can only be called average.One thing I'd give him is he has a big boot on him but from their on I don't really see what all the hullaballu is about.
He is a mediocre tackler at best maybe a bit better then O'Gara but not by much.
For example when you compare him to Sexton ;
Kicking for touch:Priestland
Goal kicking:Sexton
Attacking:Sexton
Tackling:Sexton
Tactical kicking:Sexton
Passing:Sexton (although not by much)

I don't think any wales fans would claim he's the finished article and he needs to cut down on the errors but he mixes his game up well, is generally an excellent tactical kicker and without doubt has made our talented three quarters click in a way that jones and hook had been failing to the last couple of years.

He's come a long way in a short space of time and will get better. I agree that sexton is ahead of him overall (though not necessarily attacking play or tactical kicking) but he also has plenty to work on IMO.

Priestland has his limitations right now, most Wales fans and definitely Scarlets fans know this. He's a confidence player and when he misses kicks etc you can see his head gone down. He can on occassion be tactically very astute (see the Scarlets' away game against Northampton Saints). That said he's been quite poor this season, certainly no where near a completely excellent 10.

He does however get out backline, especially Roberts and Foxy, working very well. Considering the way Wales are looking to play, that is absolutely key for me.

So no he's not great, but he's certainly doing the business for Wales

Priestland is a work in progress for sure, however he was highly rated by pundits from all over the world at the World Cup.
I was impressed by his confidence and skill in the last minutes when Wales worked the ball up the field against Ireland leading to 1/2Ps penalty. I'm not sure Sexton was still on the pitch at the time.
As Dreamer says, it is what he brings to the team that is his biggest plus.

Not the best 10 in Wales, but certainly the best 10 for Wales!

thebluesmancometh wrote:Not the best 10 in Wales, but certainly the best 10 for Wales!

I assume the best 10 in wales must be... Dan Parks

His Welsh, he plays No10!

So it's only natural that the rest of us will be subjected to the F A C T that he is the most talented 10 in the NH.

listen now-whats going on? Priestland is,at the moment, the BEST FH in Wales so where's this going?

HERSH wrote:His Welsh, he plays No10!

So it's only natural that the rest of us will be subjected to the F A C T that he is the most talented 10 in the NH.

Well I haven't seen anyone say that but actually there's a real lack of quality 10s in the NH at the moment when you think about it. No one remotely world class. sexton would probably just about wi the best NH 10.at the moment but that's no saying much.

senghenydd1913 wrote:listen now-whats going on? Priestland is,at the moment, the BEST FH in Wales so where's this going?

The BEST FH in Wales? eh My own personal opinion is that Stephen Jones is a far better FH than Priestland.

But he is getting on a bit.

And i9f Priestland is the best FH in Wales. Then boy are Wales in trouble.

majesticimperialman wrote:

senghenydd1913 wrote:listen now-whats going on? Priestland is,at the moment, the BEST FH in Wales so where's this going?

The BEST FH in Wales? eh My own personal opinion is that Stephen Jones is a far better FH than Priestland.

But he is getting on a bit.

And i9f Priestland is the best FH in Wales. Then boy are Wales in trouble.

I'd choose Priestland head of charge down charlie any day thank you very much. Or flood. Or farrell.

Post WC season, of course there aren't any experienced blooded top class 10's around, noone can touch Carter, but the likes of Sexton, Flood, and Preaistland are heading forward nicely, and all pretty young, I'd put all 3 ahead of the likes of Cruden and Lambert, and if all 3 carry on I expect them all to be very strong next world cup!

I have to say I totally agree with the post, his strength is the little breaks and offloads and his general passing but, his kicking out of hand is terrible and he kicks too much. I don't care he is not the best goal kicker as Wales have other better options. When I say kicking out of hand I include drop goals. The good news is he will get better and Wales are winning despite this weakness.

Why are Wales in trouble majestic? I suggest you re watch the last 10 Wales games, Preistland is at the heart of everything good.

glamorganalun wrote:I have to say I totally agree with the post, his strength is the little breaks and offloads and his general passing but, his kicking out of hand is terrible and he kicks too much. I don't care he is not the best goal kicker as Wales have other better options. When I say kicking out of hand I include drop goals. The good news is he will get better and Wales are winning despite this weakness.

very harsh to say his kicking out of hand is terrible. Too inconsistent at the moment yes but he can be excellent - as someone else posted scarlets vs northampton being a prime example.

Anyway it is only England next.He'll have clicked into top gear come the big game against France.

I agree about the Count great player and servant to rugby.

I don't see how Wales are in trouble. Priestland is a very good fly half. Yes he's a bit green but he does attack the gainline and he certainly can distribute in the right areas.

Hersh I think you're being a bit unfair there. Welsh fans are usually the first to criticise our fly half. Think of all the stick Jenkins and Jones gave had over the years and virtually all of it from Welsh fans. For me Priestland has great skills and all he lacks is experience.

the fact that Wales are scoring tries from open play is surely an indication of how good he is

Cadair Idris wrote:

HERSH wrote:His Welsh, he plays No10!

So it's only natural that the rest of us will be subjected to the F A C T that he is the most talented 10 in the NH.

Well I haven't seen anyone say that but actually there's a real lack of quality 10s in the NH at the moment when you think about it. No one remotely world class. sexton would probably just about wi the best NH 10.at the moment but that's no saying much.

+1. Haven't seen any Welsh posters needlessly bugging the lad up tbh. Most seem pleased with how his game has come on over the last year or so, some even surprised, but universally most seem to think he's still got some way to go and that his best has not yet been seen

Preistlands greatest quality is that he never looks rushed when he has the ball, hopefully that we change on the 25th.

But I'd take him any day of the week over Biggar.

Luckily taff, I think the 2 Hodgson tries have highlighted one of Englands true strengths, the pressure game they are excerting is forcing teams to make mistakes, allbeit Italy and Scotland only (no offence) the strength of Preistland is keeping cool under pressure and playing in the players around him. He also loves the show and go and if you pay attention Hodgson flies out of the line on his own at times, Preistland and Davies will exploit this at some stage, but it depends on how we convert linebreaks to points.

I think this game will come down to how well Wales deals with the English pressure game, I don't think England have the firepower or flexibility to worry Wales, but does Wales have the class to score tries???

Yep - it's a fair point.

Not knocking Priestland - he's a decent enough player - but the honeymoon period is well and truly over and he is a hopeless kicker by test standards - out of hand and off the tee. The pull/hook sideways is never far from the surface.

It's the inconsistency that irritates. Stephen Jones got given 7 years before he was international calibre and it looks like Priestland is a shoe-in regardless of form.

Hook - a vastly more talented player, who was brilliant when he debuted at 10 - was never given a chance to develop there.

Hooks damaged goods nowadays, far too much baggage

He was quite poor against Scotland. He's not the best all round flyhalf out there, but his particular qualities are an asset to Wales and how they play. And as long as Halfpenny is starting, his poor goal kicking won't be a major problem. I wonder will Gatland persist with allowing him to kick and trust he'll improve with experience.

For all he's not the finished article, he gets Wales playing in a way which really suits then at the moment

He's there to bring our dangerous runners into the game. He does that very well. His kicking is inconsistent but its good enough.

He's not the finished artcile, who has said he is?

But he has been the one who has got the best out of our centres of late and for me is clearly No1 by a long way.

I would like to see some of the others get a chance on the summer tour and through the AIs because if Priestland is injured then its back to Hook who at the moment just doesn't fill me with confidence.

I don't think there us really anyone else who can do the job. Morgan would get destroyed at full international level and we already know how biggar gets on. The only one left is tovey. hook makes me far too nervous. Jones isn't dangerous enough so Priestland is the best option and for the Gameplan we play he is ideal

Mckay,

Thats why I hope we look at that area during summer tour and AIs.

HERSH wrote:Preistlands greatest quality is that he never looks rushed when he has the ball, hopefully that we change on the 25th.

But I'd take him any day of the week over Biggar.

You and most of wales Hersh. Apart from biggar's immediate family. And sean holley. And scott johnson - oh he's buggered off now thank god

Holleys gone bye bye!!!

thebluesmancometh wrote:Holleys gone bye bye!!!

He has though he seems like a perfectly decent bloke to be fair. Scott johnson on the other hand..

Cannot stand Holley, spends more time on camera than looking at the game, talks total drivvle, and just wreaks of ineptitude!!!

Maybe a nice bloke I wouldn't know, but don't want him involved in the top tier of Welsh rugby!

As for Johnson... Don't get me started!!!

I'm a new poster here, to be fair to Rhys Priestland the criticism of his tactical kicking game is a bit harsh in my opinion, particularly for Wales.

Wales look to keep the ball in field as much as possible to try and use their fitness advantage that they believe they have over opponents, especially in the forwards who are then dragged all over the pitch, and also due to not really having someone who can tear apart opponents lineouts like O'Connell.

For the 'game management' side as people love to talk about with 10's at the moment with the talent in the Welsh backline Priestland doesn't have to be outstanding at any one area, he just has to make the right decisions and execute them. Within Wales I believe he is the best all rounder in terms of being able to kick, pass or run at the right moment, without necessarily being the best at each part of the game.

I shouldn't worry too much sospan I think this was probably a wum.

hugo124 wrote:In my opinion Priestland isn't the player everyone thinks he is.There is a lot of talk about how he stands flat and attacks the gain line however from my viewing I don't see what they're talking about.
Most of the time he gets the ball he does an up and under that can only be called average.One thing I'd give him is he has a big boot on him but from their on I don't really see what all the hullaballu is about.
He is a mediocre tackler at best maybe a bit better then O'Gara but not by much.
For example when you compare him to Sexton ;
Kicking for touch:Priestland
Goal kicking:Sexton
Attacking:Sexton
Tackling:Sexton
Tactical kicking:Sexton
Passing:Sexton (although not by much)

WUM!

hugo is either a relative of or has a crush on Sexton.Lord knows how we keep beating Ireland with such rubbish players!

sosbanscarlet wrote:I'm a new poster here, to be fair to Rhys Priestland the criticism of his tactical kicking game is a bit harsh in my opinion, particularly for Wales.

Wales look to keep the ball in field as much as possible to try and use their fitness advantage that they believe they have over opponents, especially in the forwards who are then dragged all over the pitch, and also due to not really having someone who can tear apart opponents lineouts like O'Connell.

For the 'game management' side as people love to talk about with 10's at the moment with the talent in the Welsh backline Priestland doesn't have to be outstanding at any one area, he just has to make the right decisions and execute them. Within Wales I believe he is the best all rounder in terms of being able to kick, pass or run at the right moment, without necessarily being the best at each part of the game.

Spot on!

And welcome to the forum

I have just checked all of hugo's contributions thus far.My conclusions:someone has smuggled a laptop in past security!

So if you don't think Priestland is the new Barry John - that automatically categorises you as a "WUM".

Objective.

Who mentioned Barry John? It's not so much the ideas as the tone.

Casartelli wrote:So if you don't think Priestland is the new Barry John - that automatically categorises you as a "WUM".

Objective.

No, it's a very Subjective post title - with no evidence of where people have said how marvelous priestland is

if the title was - "I think Sexton is better than Preistland" then we'd all know what the thread was really about

slartibartfast wrote:

Casartelli wrote:So if you don't think Priestland is the new Barry John - that automatically categorises you as a "WUM".

Objective.

No, it's a very Subjective post title - with no evidence of where people have said how marvelous priestland is

if the title was - "I think Sexton is better than Preistland" then we'd all know what the thread was really about

Exactly - I think there is quite a gap in terms of range of ability between the "average" and "mediocre" description of Priestland by the OP and the genius of Barry John. And I think it's fair to say that both Priestland and Sexton are somewhere in the between the two, both talented, promising international 10s with much to work on.

I don't want priestland to work on anything other than staying fit!

He's doing a job - that's all we/I want.

The thing about Sexton so far is that he's majestic for Leinster. His HEC final performance was brilliant. His goal kicking, tactical kicking, passing and running game are all class, when wearing blue.

He has not produced that consistently for Ireland. His kicking success rate is about 50%. He isn't playing his natural game in open play. I personally think he's the best in Europe, but Kidney is asking him to play in a style that doesn't suit him and he's not comfortable in green as a result. But that's just my opinion. Until he does it consistently at test level the jury remains out on him.

His one great all round performance at test level was against England in the 6 Nations last year. He was superb and I want to see him playing like that in every game.

OP have you even watched Preistland for more than 5 minutes. Nothing you say really applies to him.

Here lads just telling the truth you can't lie about the statistics

he doesnt up and under all the time, his passing brings the best out of our backs, he kicks very well out of hand and to be fair to him,, he hadnt even practiced goal kicking since his injury

Once again I feel I must say, some of you need to learn that just because people don't rate a player as highly as you do, it doesn't make them a WUM. Some of you really need to grow up.

I don't relate him highly and he's my cousin (2nd, once removed)