ready to give Hook a crack at 10

over the last few seasons Hook's best possition was on the bench. wales had quality players availble for FH, centre and FB. Hook's ability to play well in all these positions was, for him, a poison chalice. it may have kept him out of the 10 spot but did give him much international experience.

The retirement of Stephen Jones leaves Wales short one international class fly half. it seems only Priestland now stands in Hook's way.

it is time to give Hook a crack at 10.

his experience of playing across the backs should make him the player most aware of wales' back play. a real playmaker with more than one weapon in his arsnenal. and the guy is only 26 with years of top flight rugby ahead of him.

it has been a long and frustrating apprenticeship for Hook, but his experience means he is uniquely placed to make Wales' back line the most dangerous it can be.

I think that Priestland is the future but he has had a torrid time of it as late. Hook will always be there or there abouts. His biggest downfall is his versability. Hell of a player to have in a squad though

See link below for Hook's thoughts on his time in France. I'm not convinced that he's our future ten - I guess time will tell. I was surprised that he has over 60 caps though, it doesn't seem that many.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2012/05/22/james-hook-believes-french-experience-will-aid-no-10-quest-for-wales-91466-31016924/

It's been a while since we last saw Hook's angular fizzog

Spoiler:

I don't really think that Hook is the man for the job. However I think that both Hook and Biggar should be given some time in the shirt this summer. Maybe a half each against the Baabaas (most likely Hook in the second so he can shine) and then decide what happens from there. As for him having over 60 caps, I guess it does show how many international matches are played in the modern game.

Sugar - fair play

Hook has the potential to make the 10 spot his own, Priestland is and has been off form for a while, Biggar lacks the temperament but deserves another crack and therefore it boils down to wheather Hook's game manangement has improved since his time in France. The advantage Hook does have is that with Wales he will now be able to play on the front foot behind a solid pack and hence he will have the platform he needs. He will also have monsters all around him in the back division willing to take the ball up. Let's see how the mercurial Hooky goes

Ruby - would you say that this is pretty much the now or never stage for him though? After all like you said he should have good service, a decent set of backs to take the pressure off him etc. So if he fails to perform we have to admit that it is him that failed and not start looking for other scape goats.

his time has come. he might donkey it up a bit at first but he is worth sticking with. rotating hook and priestland would work well. one starting one on the bench. we need them both. i still dont see the need for biggar.

and, sugar. your post is one small step away from ponies. carefully now.

Not really Scarlet - Hook for me is a class player who has struggled to control games from 10 in a welsh side going backwards. Giving him 1/2 or a whole game in a fragmented welsh side v the Baa Baa's will tell us little IMO. He needs to get some Test match time in Australia. Conversley Priestland needs to start getting his act together as his honeymoon period is coming to an end, at least we know he has the raw materials to produce the goods. Biggar for me will remain a nemesis and he will probably try to take too much on rather than just play the percentages and as a consequence he will suffer.

Ruby - Preistland needs to be benched for at least one game on tour just so that he is kept grounded. So that is when whoever out of Biggar/Hook that shown best against the Baabaas (Hook most likely) should start. But if Hook does start against Aus, and gives that sort of performance that he did (in most postitions) during the RWC then I would say that his time should be up. I hope that he has a cracker and we can have him PRiestland and Biggar all on form fighting for the jersey, but I'm just playing devils advocate.

Never got the Hook thing. He's a fairly average FH but an excellent centre. So play him at centre - he'd probably make it there in the other NH sides.

I think your talking sense Scarlet rather than being the devils advocate. It must be tough for Hook however knowing that he's relatively out of favour - Hooks erors at the moment are magnified whilst Prieslands are largely excused. As you say, it would be great to have the 3 of them at the top of their games.

I think the only reason Priestland can get away with some mistakes that Hook can't is down to a difference of 50+ caps to be honest.

I'd add to that that Rhys is squeaky clean and a very likeable fella. Hookys a nice lad but Rhys and Jonesy are very favourable in most peoples minds and it excuses them a lot. Both Priestland and Jonesey missed crucial kicks in the RWC but everyone seems to remember Hooks misses - I'm a fan of all of them but can't warm to Biggar who doesn't seem capable of taking constructive advice and lacks humility

Still a bench option at best for me. Has a tendency of bottling up on the big occasions as evidenced in Auckland. Not a player who has shown himself capable of holding his nerve when that kind of pressure is on.

That said he's undoubtedly talented and made a positive contribution off the bench during the GS. But until he's shown he can handle the pressure a first-choice fly-half must be able to deal with (Priestland has equally been guilty of lacking this composure of late btw) then I don't consider him first choice.

Oh, and with Biggar in the form he's in it's unjust to say Priestland is Hook's only obstacle.

"Still a bench option at best for me. Has a tendency of bottling up on the big occasions as evidenced in Auckland. Not a player who has shown himself capable of holding his nerve when that kind of pressure is on."

The thing is, Priestland has shown this of late yet he odesn't seem to get criticised - Also played like this a lot for the Scarlets this season in cricial games that they went on to lose

I've been one of Biggars biggest detractors, but he's flourished so far under Tandy. Ok the packs been pretty dominant, but the Wales pack has been evens at worst with every pack they've come across since the world cup.

Perhaps Biggars performance this weekend will give us a view to how he's grown. I still think Scott Johnson was 1 of the worst things to happen to the ospreys development as a team.

Next season could well be the making of Biggar, but the boy's very young, his kicking game is world class at its best, he just needs to find some consistency, hes got the sort of arrogance in yourself you need, he just needs to keep his mouth shut on the field, I'm sure Biggar being partnered with Phillips could teach him a thing or 2, I'd like to see him mouth off at Phillips....


I dont think he shoul dbe written off.

Same with Tovey, although he seems a lot further back in his development than we all would have hoped, injury has played a part in this and hopefully he can regain that promise at the Blues, I know us Blues fans are certainly hoping he can.

Hook seems to have gone in circles for years. The fact hes got that many caps and still makes the basic mistakes he does says more about him as a player than him being messed about from position to position IMO.

Comfort I'd love to see Biggar succeed but personally and professionally I think he has the type of arrogance that will limit his ability rather than enhance it

RubyGuby wrote:"Still a bench option at best for me. Has a tendency of bottling up on the big occasions as evidenced in Auckland. Not a player who has shown himself capable of holding his nerve when that kind of pressure is on."

The thing is, Priestland has shown this of late yet he odesn't seem to get criticised - Also played like this a lot for the Scarlets this season in cricial games that they went on to lose

I know, that's why I said in between brackets "Priestland has equally been guilty of lacking this composure of late btw"

I think it's fair to say it's an open contest for the 10 jersey Down Under. Hook'll have to wait his turn being an exile and encouraging others to jump ship along with him

Knowsit - I need to read the whole post instead of being selective - apologies - seems like we see it pretty similarly though

Im with you guys in the main, Priestlands 50caps down on Hook, Gatlands stuck with the Priest in his troubling times and teams have been targetting him as the weakest link in that backline, and to be fair, they're not going to rattle any of the others. He's done well though, every talks about how badly hes done but hes still lead us to a grandslam. That speaks volumes.

He hasnt dazzled since the 6nations, but we know what he brings to the welsh gameplan, and so far this season (other than biggar of late ) no other welsh flyhalf has shown a consistency in their game to go along with flashes of individual brilliance that can create scores.

Hook I hear you cry, "fits and spurts" I says, as usual.

No apology necessary

It does seem that fly half is one of our most problematic areas. In fact you might say it has been over a stretch of years now with many candidates struggling with the pressure that comes with that particular jersey. Hook has undergone dips and returns, one minute he seems to be the man in possession and the next he's collapsed into a string of mediocre performances. Possibly one of the most inconsistent men around, doesn't really bode well for him considering it's been this way for years now. He may add some creativity but effectively seems to lack management of his backline.

Stephen Jones has been the contrary, isn't that exciting but was reputed for at least distributing well amongst his backs. The only consistent contender from 2005 up until last year, out of the frame now.

Priestland displayed a bit of both these traits in NZ, not really looking the part as a runner but threw some excellent passes and known thus far as being able to spark scintillating movements more often than not leading to tries. There weren't many key ones last year that he didn't have at least a small hand in. His confidence and decision-making looked to have taken a blow in the 6N but it's his first bad patch in a budding Welsh career so we'll have to see how he reacts to it.

Biggar is something of an unknown entity this time, the least involved of all of them and has earned his place purely through regional performances. Still young enough to be a revelation or a disappointment, I say the jury's still out.

For me, Biggars development is key at the moment. He's the only Welsh 10 in any real form at the moment and needs to be exposed to the international scene while his confidence is high.

We already have two talented running 10's in Hook and Priestland, both of whom are flakey to say the least. I'm not suggesting that Biggar is the be all and end all of 10 play but his style would give us a different option in the event of either of the others losing their head.

Given the option of the three, I know who I'd like to see in the driving seat in the last quater of a close game.

Is Biggar going on the tour to Aus? I havent seen the squad. If so then i would give all three a run at 10 during the tour.

Yeah he's in the 38 man squad, the problem is that it's vital for Wales to do everything they can in Australia to increase their chances of getting a SH scalp in order to build on this new found confidence. Experimenting in such a key area would be dangerous against the Aussies

Its a hell of a gamble but its one that has to be taken i feel. Give Priestland the first match and if he has a mare then Hook or Biggar will have to be given a shot. I truely believe that Wales have the team to cause the Aussies some issues and can get at least 1 win.

Dan Biggar is your best option in my humble opinion.

Humble and Aussie? , C'mon mate you must be jesting about Biggar

Give Biggar and Hook half a game each whilst Priest is down under. Take all three as part of the touring squad. I'm not convinced by Hook. His performances against France and then Australia in NZ were enough to put me off for life. Has a lot of skill but it is not quick enough to execute at times and it leads to mistakes.

I think Wales really need to have a second choice option to Priestland. As we saw from this year's Six Nations, he can go off form and Wales really need to have another experienced option to play at 10. Wales should try either Biggar or Hook against the Barbarians to see who gets the bench spot for the tests against Australia.

I would start with as close to possible as the GS winning team but then players such s Hook and Biggar need to be given a chance.

The mid-week game will be a decent challenge for Wales and I see Biggar being given that opportunity with Hook on the bench in the Tests

Sounds about right Guby. If Davies and Williams don't make it though, we could see him in either of the centres .

Yeah that would be my option but a lot will depend on injuries to JD and Sc Williams I guess

for all the talk of priestlands flakiness, he was targetted by England, Italy and France.

And correct me if Im wrong, but he played pretty much the whole of each of those games and lead us to 3 victories.

Would Hook have done the same whilst "having a mare"? Or Stephen Jones? Or Dan Biggar? Honestly?

Priestland gets a lot of flak, hes still very fresh at test level, Gats stuck by him to give him some lessons in test rugby. I believe that was the right thing to do and he showed the mettle to still have the vision to have his hand in tries and hes not going to be the only flyhalf bumped off by Manu Tuilagi.

Priestland has earned his position as number 1 Comfort and few would argue with that, he just needs to get some confidence back for the big games

absolutely Rubes! I can just imagine what would have happened had Hook been playing with 3 defenders harrying him down every phase in each of those games.

I think people were a bit quick to jump on the Priest for those games, we won a grandslam in a controlled, aggressive, intelligent rugby manner, and people STILL werent happy with the flyhalfs contribution!

Just sums up the welsh obsession with the 10 shirt

Comfort - to be honest, and I am a Scarlets fan, Priestland has not had the best of seasons. I think that if he were to be on the bench for one of the matches on the tour and either Hook or Biggar (whoever is showing best) were to start it may just give him a reminded that the shirt is just on loan and that to wear it you must earn it.

That said with the current Welsh options I would say that he is probably the best option, then Hook/Biggar, and then Tovey.

Scarlets - Priestland is an intelligent lad and he has been disappointed with his performances for both club and country of late - He doesn't need to sit on the bench to know that there are others wanting to stake a claim for the 10 jersey - If the opportunity presents then the others have a chance - will they take it??

I agree SS, i think this wales squad has been going through their 2nd season syndrome - in the way that every team knew what they were going to do after the world cup, how they would play, and that Priestland was the weakest link in that backline.

This is what made me so happy about the grandslam, with teams targetting our weaknesses, we still managed to win. I havent seen that from a welsh side in my time.

Priestland hasnt been at his best, but thats because hes now being analysed and we'll really start to see what he's made of! Still, so far for me its a GS in the bag and a 4th place at the world cup, I honestly believe if he was playing that would have been a finalists place even with Warbs red card and missing Adam Jones.

I think he's that valuable to the way Wales are playing the game at the moment.

For me, Biggars next in line on form. It wouldnt do any harm to give Biggar some time over the Priest though, healthy competition can never hurt!