Rhys Priestland-what did I tell you!

First topic message reminder :

I for one am one of the few to have not fallen into the illusion that Rhys Priestland is the next big thing in world rugby.Priestland showed today during the match against England all of the problems with his fluctuating game.Last week I said that Priestland was a mediocre tackler (better than Ronan O'Gara)but after that display I'd say he is right up their with the worst of them.
Every time he seemed to get the ball his first instinct was to kick , half the time he didn't even look up to see what was on but stared down at the ball and kicked aimlessly into the middle of the pitch.One of those times he was charged down which resulted in an England penalty and his sending off.
At this point I was thinking England actually have a chance is this exciting game however the sending off of the "brilliant" Priestland seemed to have only strengthened the Welsh giants , this is backed up by the fact that in that 10 minute time period Wales got 3 points and England got 0.
If you have an outhalf who can't place kick , can't tackle and can't kick for touch then you can't win against the power houses of world rugby and it is as simple as that.

Strange decision by Gatland, could have cost us the game. It was in the last 20 that RP butchered the penalties to touch, gave away a penalty in front of the posts, and delivered a hospital pass to JD2 in our own 22.

Was it not detrimental to the development of Biggar for Howley to diss him in public, then turf him from the squad? And he was 20 at the time, not 25.

howley should have left the welsh set up . if this kicking in field is his instruction, it 'aint working. his coaching of 9,10 is lacking basic intelligence of what moves to execute in which area of the field.

supposed to 'chase kick and defend further up the pitch' is the theory
we all know whats been happening in practise.......back at you with interest.

accurate touch kicking ,halfpenny will get distance , and we can still defend further up the pitch, with a chance of robbing a lineout, and the benefit of more of the opposition in positions we can expect them to be in from a set play, rather than all spread around and meeting us at pace in broken play.

and yes ,tango will return at sometime, go gav! and biggar deserves another pop, playing well. and he DOES PUT PEOPLE IN TO SPACE!

The best Wales played during the game was when RP was off the park it was also the turning point of the game. Preistland's kicking is very poor it was terrible against Scotland but he normally makes some nice short breaks but not against England. Preistland is over hyped and was totally outplayed by Farrell today in fairness. I thought the yellow was harsh on RP as the scrum half butchered the possession forward anyway.

Priestland didnt have a great game, he showed his inexperience some what. Tried to run a little too much from Wales defensive third, kicked away some ball when we had mismatches and his defence (although it was only Tuilagi he actually failed to bring down) wasnt as good as it has been.

Still, I dont recall anyone dubbing him the next Barry John etc and the media is always going to hype up the welsh number 10 because of the players who've worn the jersey in the past. What priestland does do well is bring the centres/back 3 into play very well for the way the Welsh team play the game. His tactical kicking can range from pretty bad (yesterday) to fabulous (Northampton away in the HC) and his reading of the game is very, very good.

Gatland kept him on to try to develop his awareness in that situation, it was the right decision, we still won and Priestland will have learnt from it.

He's flaky and a wuss.

Monday morning eh Glas

Glas a du wrote:He's flaky and a wuss.

now your just trolling. bugger off will you

I imagine they'll play Priestland for the game against Italy, the thinking being that dropping him would dent his confidence and playing him gives him a chance to regain confidence; but what if he has another shocker? Who starts against France?

Oh diddums, does he need a dummy?

I'm not trolling, whatever that means. Argumentative, belligerent, catty I will accept as suitable descriptions from time to time

RP is a difficult player to get excited about, especially in the way us Welsh like to get excited about 10's, on his day he can kick and run very well and some of his passing is excelent. Unfortunately he is not consistent when under pressure, when Wales are winning the forward battle his passing skills are just what Wales need to unlease a great backline but when we are going backwards or, like on Saturday just achieving parity, then his passing can deteriorate. He doesn't kick as well as Steven Jones or run as well as James Hook so if the forwards dont win the space to allow his passing to be influential he's probably going to look at best average.

Isn't it great that we can beat England at Twickenham with a 10 playing poorly, often in the past we had to rely on the 10 playing out of his skin to get a win there.

Unfortunately he is not consistent when under pressure, when Wales are winning the forward battle his passing skills are just what Wales need to unlease a great backline but when we are going backwards or, like on Saturday just achieving parity, then his passing can deteriorate.

Flaky then.

I bet you feel really big calling Priestland a wuss Oright keyboard warrior, id like to see you try and tackle Tuilagi.

OK so he didn't have a good game but since he was thrown in at 10 during the WC warm up games he has been by far our best 10.

That aside mind I did say we now need to try and develop one of the back ups through the summer tour and the AIs.

I would pick him against Italy, he knows he didn't play well and he knows he will have to buck his ideas up so lets give him the chance.

Even leaving aside the mistakes, I didn't think he was doing much of a job of "getting the backline going" either, tbh.Not saying this was entirely his fault, of course. Partly the gameplan, partly Roberts running predictable lines, partly great defence from English 3/4s. But this last we have to expect. In fact, French defence (Rougerie etc.) will be even stronger.

On Tuilagi - Scott Williams took him down several times, also did the tackle on Botha that saved a certain 7-pointer. The smallest man in the team, I read somewhere.

Scott Williams showed more than any other back on Saturday when he came on, he shows a real hunger in the tackle area, making big hits and hsi steal yesterday was Rennie-esque before the foresight to see the space and the skill to execute it inch-perfect and the acceleration to get to the bounce first.

Also, the backline wasnt "getting going" because the forwards werent takign the ball up dynamically around the fringes, we were trying to play too much rugby without 'earning it' through the forwards (for the lack of a a better phrase) and the English defence was set, this helped England, and didnt help our backs.

gowales wrote:

I bet you feel really big calling Priestland a wuss Oright keyboard warrior, id like to see Priestland try and tackle Tuilagi.

That's all I asked for

OK wuss is not polite or accurate probably. I do however feel that for a guy who's 6'1" he could do better. ROG gets slated for perceived weakness in that area, but you cant fault his commitment.

Comfort wrote:Scott Williams showed more than any other back on Saturday when he came on, he shows a real hunger in the tackle area, making big hits and hsi steal yesterday was Rennie-esque before the foresight to see the space and the skill to execute it inch-perfect and the acceleration to get to the bounce first.

Also, the backline wasnt "getting going" because the forwards werent takign the ball up dynamically around the fringes, we were trying to play too much rugby without 'earning it' through the forwards (for the lack of a a better phrase) and the English defence was set, this helped England, and didnt help our backs.

True, but that is what you have to expect against the big boys. I had another look at the opportunity Williams butchered and had more sympathy for him. The inside player was too far behind him, so his only real option was North, who was quite a long way away on the touchline.

And he's probably been told not to chuck speculative passes.

Heresy, I know, but I thought the backline looked better with Williams. You need a blend of power and guile, and with the starting backline we lacked guile.

Why is it everyone comments on single players at single times but never mentions the situations surrounding why players do what???!!!

In reality Williams came on 2nd half and absolutely butchered 1, he then did very well to score but he was by no means perfect!! I'm sure he wouldve come on with at least 20 to go to try to unlock the English midfeild, who offered little going forward and Tuilagi really creaked late on!

Preistlands kicking was constantly under pressure, partly due to Englands spoiling, and partly due to Phillips checking his emails between rucks, or having a chat with his pack! Chargedowns are a product of 2 things, slow ball and an confident and organised fringe defence!

We all know what Preistland offers with a bit of forward momentum, which he had little if any of at Twickers, but we also know you cannot miss pen kicks to touch!!

The kicking game is a tatic used, Preistland, JD2, 1/2p and Phillips all kick the ball the same way, long and onto the 5 metre line, making most fullbacks carry into a red wall with little support, and even if he is supported well it's by 2 wingers. It keeps the ball live, it moves the oppoising pack backwards constantly and wears the opposition out mentally and physically, and most importantly IT IS WORKING!!!

Tuilagy targeted priestland - although priestland got knocked over he was still there next time to get knocked over again. Unlike most of the posters on here who would probably be strechered off after the first hit or suddenly catch chicken pox.

The only inexcusable was two missed touch finders from penalties. Wales lost a lot of momentum due to them.

As highlighted the long ball down the middle and a good chase has been a welsh tactic for years . Wales don't want the ball to go out of play! That's not bad kicking.

Priestland was also happy to take the ball in to contact

I'm sure I saw Gatland say "Stephen jones" to rob Howley about 20 mins from the end - but then didn't do the sub. I wonder why?

Phillips didn't have a great game against Scotland - perhaps Lloyd Williams to come on against Italy.

Bluesman, Priestland had an age to get his kick away, an absolute age. In any case, he should have seen Botha coming and pulled out of the kick.

Tuilagi ran down the 10 channel time and time again, but only managed to make contact with Preistland properly once, Roberts is a great protector of the 10 channell, despite what everyone else thinks they see!

Luckless

Like he did the time before and got caught out, resulting in a penalty, like I said situational comments!!!

He tried the step a few times but because the ball was so slow coming back England chased in numbers, and caught him easily.

thebluesmancometh wrote:Why is it everyone comments on single players at single times but never mentions the situations surrounding why players do what???!!!

In reality Williams came on 2nd half and absolutely butchered 1, he then did very well to score but he was by no means perfect!! I'm sure he wouldve come on with at least 20 to go to try to unlock the English midfeild, who offered little going forward and Tuilagi really creaked late on!

Preistlands kicking was constantly under pressure, partly due to Englands spoiling, and partly due to Phillips checking his emails between rucks, or having a chat with his pack! Chargedowns are a product of 2 things, slow ball and an confident and organised fringe defence!

We all know what Preistland offers with a bit of forward momentum, which he had little if any of at Twickers, but we also know you cannot miss pen kicks to touch!!

The kicking game is a tatic used, Preistland, JD2, 1/2p and Phillips all kick the ball the same way, long and onto the 5 metre line, making most fullbacks carry into a red wall with little support, and even if he is supported well it's by 2 wingers. It keeps the ball live, it moves the oppoising pack backwards constantly and wears the opposition out mentally and physically, and most importantly IT IS WORKING!!!

100% spot on.......... there some sensational lemins here all spouting the same,

Priestland did have a poor game I agree, but wasn't helped by some snail like distribution by Phillips, he also made a great defensive tackle on Tom Croft early in the 1st half, and it was his decision to run into the gap that created the distruption and England penalty to get Wales back to 12-12.

As I said there have been many worse performances by some 10s in a welsh jersey over the last five yrs

samuraidragon wrote:Heresy, I know, but I thought the backline looked better with Williams. You need a blend of power and guile, and with the starting backline we lacked guile.

The guy also butchered a 3 on 1 pass,

flyhalffactory wrote:

thebluesmancometh wrote:Why is it everyone comments on single players at single times but never mentions the situations surrounding why players do what???!!!

In reality Williams came on 2nd half and absolutely butchered 1, he then did very well to score but he was by no means perfect!! I'm sure he wouldve come on with at least 20 to go to try to unlock the English midfeild, who offered little going forward and Tuilagi really creaked late on!

Preistlands kicking was constantly under pressure, partly due to Englands spoiling, and partly due to Phillips checking his emails between rucks, or having a chat with his pack! Chargedowns are a product of 2 things, slow ball and an confident and organised fringe defence!

We all know what Preistland offers with a bit of forward momentum, which he had little if any of at Twickers, but we also know you cannot miss pen kicks to touch!!

The kicking game is a tatic used, Preistland, JD2, 1/2p and Phillips all kick the ball the same way, long and onto the 5 metre line, making most fullbacks carry into a red wall with little support, and even if he is supported well it's by 2 wingers. It keeps the ball live, it moves the oppoising pack backwards constantly and wears the opposition out mentally and physically, and most importantly IT IS WORKING!!!

100% spot on.......... there some sensational lemins here all spouting the same,

Priestland did have a poor game I agree, but wasn't helped by some snail like distribution by Phillips, he also made a great defensive tackle on Tom Croft early in the 1st half, and it was his decision to run into the gap that created the distruption and England penalty to get Wales back to 12-12.

As I said there have been many worse performances by some 10s in a welsh jersey over the last five yrs

Many??? Think you may be exaggerating there FHF. Aside from Stephen Jones against Italy last year (running metres gained, three, remember that!) I can't think of another one anywhere near as poor.

Priestland is a decent player and may be a good international one day - but he had an absolute shocker against England. Luckily, with Warburton, Phillips and Roberts around him the damage was limited.

Henson has the best OH performance away to Ireland a few years ago

I think RP is carrying a knock, he's strapped up to the hilt and his composure has gone south, he will come through he's a smart guy

Calm down.Played 3 Won 3.Not too shabby!

luckless_pedestrian wrote:Bluesman, Priestland had an age to get his kick away, an absolute age. In any case, he should have seen Botha coming and pulled out of the kick.

Agreed. The pass from Phillips was good in this case. RP was under zero pressure and simply unaware of what was going on around him.

IMO, it was a lot worse than the Dan Parks effort vs. England (for which he was crucified by the Scots fans).