Wallabies v Wales match day teams and matchday thread

[munkian]

First topic message reminder :

Captain Sam Warburton returns to lead Wales against Australia

Australia coach Deans makes wholesale changes against Wales


TEAMS



Australia: Adam Ashley-Cooper (NSW); Cooper Vuna (Melbourne Rebels), Rob Horne (NSW), Pat McCabe (ACT), Digby Ioane (Queensland); Berrick Barnes (NSW), Will Genia (Queensland); Benn Robinson (NSW), Tatafu Polota-Nau (NSW), Sekope Kepu (NSW), Rob Simmons (Queensland), Nathan Sharpe (Western Force), Scott Higginbotham (Queensland), David Pocock (Western Force, capt), Wycliff Palu (NSW).

Replacements: Stephen Moore (ACT), Ben Alexander (ACT), Dave Dennis (NSW), Michael Hooper (ACT), Nic White (ACT), Anthony Fainga'a (Queensland), Mike Harris (Queensland).




Wales: Leigh Halfpenny (Blues); Alex Cuthbert (Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Scott Williams (Scarlets), George North (Scarlets); Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Mike Phillips (Bayonne); Gethin Jenkins (Toulon), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Blues), Luke Charteris (Perpignan), Dan Lydiate (Dragons), Sam Warburton (Blues, capt), Toby Faletau (Dragons).

Replacements: Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Paul James (Bath), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Blues), James Hook (Perpignan), Ashley Beck (Ospreys).


Scott Williams at 12, ken Owens hooker which is a great call , no Webb on bench though which is a bit gutting, Lloyd was awful against the Baa Baas

Tour Previews
http://www.v2journal.com/wales-summer-tour-preview.html
http://www.v2journal.com/australias-june-tests-preview.html

[Pal Joey]

Thanks dreamer and biltong

Looking forward to the 2nd match already... and going to the 3rd!

[Guest]

Seriously, from Hook? Did you not see how Hook played today?

The shirt's Rhys', no question about that.

Need to improve the breakdown, fringe defense and being more clinical.

Ha, not much eh?

[offload]

Very well played Australia. We were far far worse than I expected. Not at the races, poor kicks, and no invention. Can't believe we had a chance towards the end.

Hook isn't good enough to be on the bench. Alan Wynn and Jones made a difference. Phillips was ordinary but we have little depth at 9.

Very disappointed. Huge improvement needed just to compete.

[Rory_Gallagher]

Well, I would have liked to see North stay on the field. He looked monstrous when he had the ball, it would have been interesting.

[Guest]

actually, I've changed my mind, I won't blame the team, I'm going to blame Rodders

Rodders! where are you? I told you the other day not to put the mockers on us!

[Cymroglan]

We lost control of the ball far too often today. As we have been told all week a wounded Australia side will be out for revenge against us.
So I guess the same can be said about a wounded Wales in the next test.

[kingjohn7]

We are fking Poopie. hope we lose the next 2 tests by 50 points, then i can get back to normal and not get my hopes up

[Knowsit17]

Wales have a lot of lessons to learn from this. Tackling's gone down the toilet compared to prior performances and failed to maintain a thick, solid defensive line that has been proven to frustrate the Wallabies.

Mission failed as far as I'm concerned. Not taking anything away from Australia, Pocock and Genia are both geniuses at their respective jobs but for two players who have played twice in five days I can't help but feel we played right into their hands. Painful to watch as a Welsh fan.

We've got it all to do now

[HQ matt]

wales shouldnt be too hard on themselves there they were competitve throughout.

They'll have to up the intensity and probably commit more players to the breakdown to get quicker ball. Oz had a measure of control over the breakdown and that allowed their playmakers time on the ball. Wales will also have to kick better from hand.

plenty of positives for wales though and i think they can beat this australian team, the series is probably gone now though.

[Rory_Gallagher]

Seriously, from Hook? Did you not see how Hook played today?

The shirt's Rhys', no question about that.

Need to improve the breakdown, fringe defense and being more clinical.

Ha, not much eh?

It could be worse though, you could be a rubbish team and have 2 more games against NZ. There will be a lot of improvement in the welsh team. Expect a very different performance in game 2. As for Ireland, we have 2 more games against the world champions, and we certainly don't look like solving anything any time soon.. the score line probably even flattered us a bit today.

[wales606]

Shaun Edward is going to be furious - they might be a few 'training injuries' this week

Gatland needs to pack his bags and get on a plane, now.

[Guest]

HQ matt - I never thought we'd win the series anyway! One win, that's all I'm after.


Rory - truth! although perhaps not a nice one I guess....

Lots for both of our teams to ponder.

[doctor_grey]

Yes, plenty of positives. Came back from way down and the match was anyone's.
But:
Need more creativity from the half backs.
Better going into the tackle. Seemed a lot of turnovers from poor rucking.

[TycroesOsprey]

Seriously, from Hook? Did you not see how Hook played today?

The shirt's Rhys', no question about that.

Need to improve the breakdown, fringe defense and being more clinical.

Ha, not much eh?

Yeah but I think Priestland was poor today, trying to take a ball that was on a miss move to JD and knocking on when we had an overlap, poor kicking from hand and even his distribution which has been his saving grace was off a bit.

[anotherworldofpain]

Do you think Wales will spot the "inside ball" next week? Australia using it repeated times and score the tries from doing it.

[doctor_grey]

Also Wales surrendered three tries on the entire 6 Nations, but three today. Tighten the defense, eliminating the gaps at critical times.

[Guest]

Seriously, from Hook? Did you not see how Hook played today?

The shirt's Rhys', no question about that.

Need to improve the breakdown, fringe defense and being more clinical.

Ha, not much eh?

Yeah but I think Priestland was poor today, trying to take a ball that was on a miss move to JD and knocking on when we had an overlap, poor kicking from hand and even his distribution which has been his saving grace was off a bit.

what you mean knocking on from trying to jump to catch a pass that was a metre above his head? how dare he!

Distribution was fine for me, but very wobbly on his kicking out of hand. Hook isn't exactly better in that area, so don't really see how he could be picked to start over Rhys to be honest. Hook was poor today.

[TycroesOsprey]

Do you think Wales will spot the "inside ball" next week? Australia using it repeated times and score the tries from doing it.

Well most welsh fans talked about Oz using the inside ball and expected our backrow to have that sorted as we all knew it was coming. Maybe Rob didnt but honestly

I dont mind losing if weve done ourselves proud bhut I think the players standards slipped. Next week cant come soon enough, we simply have to improve the chase and breakdown.

[mckay1402]

we'll call that one a warm up.

[Cymroglan]

One consolation I have is we played very poorly but we were still in with a shout.
We have not performed this badly for a while and I hope todays performance is the kick up the ass we badly need

[wales606]

Seriously, from Hook? Did you not see how Hook played today?

The shirt's Rhys', no question about that.

Need to improve the breakdown, fringe defense and being more clinical.

Ha, not much eh?

Yeah but I think Priestland was poor today, trying to take a ball that was on a miss move to JD and knocking on when we had an overlap, poor kicking from hand and even his distribution which has been his saving grace was off a bit.

what you mean knocking on from trying to jump to catch a pass that was a metre above his head? how dare he!

Distribution was fine for me, but very wobbly on his kicking out of hand. Hook isn't exactly better in that area, so don't really see how he could be picked to start over Rhys to be honest. Hook was poor today.

Dan Biggar

[CurlyOsp]

Is Gatland in Australia? If not he needs to be flown out.

And he should bring Biggar and Byrne with him.. And anyone else who can take Hooks place.

[2ndtimeround]

Without Gatland our game plan was non existent, Howley might be a decent backs coach but his st attempt as head coach has showed he has not learnt much from Gatland about managing the game as it happens.

Aimless kicking out of hand throughout the whole game and continuing with the same thing when getting punished for doing it shows real naivety.

Australia have just shown us you dont need a dominant set piece to put a team on the back foot, especially with a ref that likes the game to flow so doesn't blow up for every little misdemeanor.

[wales606]

Howley's coaching does not make me feel positive about next years 6Ns without Gats.

[Rory_Gallagher]

I was waiting for you welshies to start saying the lack of Gatland had a part to play in the loss. I hope you see the irony there?

[Cymroglan]

I just wish refs would be more consistent with their timings on the engagement in the scrums.

[Knowsit17]

Having mentioned the defensive frailties, I do feel we looked far more competitive when we opened up and started taking some chances. First half we looked conservative, even camera-shy confronting a fierce team. Second half from 14 points down we started living on the edge a little bit more and our only try came of it.

Apologies for my pessimism but all I can do is admit I'm bitterly disappointed. It appeared we were actually surprised and unprepared for the Wallaby rally, I've been saying all week they'd be fiery but Wales just looked caught off guard most of the game.

[Rory_Gallagher]

I just wish refs would be more consistent with their timings on the engagement in the scrums.

Must be karma for the mess that was made in the Ospreys-Leinster game then! I agree completely!

[TycroesOsprey]

Seriously, from Hook? Did you not see how Hook played today?

The shirt's Rhys', no question about that.

Need to improve the breakdown, fringe defense and being more clinical.

Ha, not much eh?

Yeah but I think Priestland was poor today, trying to take a ball that was on a miss move to JD and knocking on when we had an overlap, poor kicking from hand and even his distribution which has been his saving grace was off a bit.

what you mean knocking on from trying to jump to catch a pass that was a metre above his head? how dare he!

Distribution was fine for me, but very wobbly on his kicking out of hand. Hook isn't exactly better in that area, so don't really see how he could be picked to start over Rhys to be honest. Hook was poor today.

The pass was a miss to JD Priestland shouldnt have even tried to touch it and Halfpenny would have been in.

Hooks kicking from hand is fine as long as he doesnt do it with a couple of minutes on the clock when we need to keep ball in hand. I dont see how Hook was poor He came on and did his job at 15.

[Guest]

nah we aimlessly kicked in the 6N's too, just in that we actually commited players to the breakdown and didn't miss tackles, and chased well, so it didn't matter.

Take those 3 things away and Australia punished us.

[Cymroglan]

Howley's is not the one responsible for our poor passing that was all down to our players being extremely sloppy at times.

[Coleman]

Dan Biggar

Not on Rob Howleys watch mate! :/

[maestegmafia]

Shaun Edward is going to be furious - they might be a few 'training injuries' this week

Gatland needs to pack his bags and get on a plane, now.

True our defence was poor...! Too much aimless kicking.

Looking forward to Beck and Davies in the Centre though. Though Scott Williams played well but he has limited skills in attack, he's a runner and passer no a footballer. Beck more of an all rounder.

The difference was the Aussies defence and Will Genia, what a player. Notable mention to the Aussie pack who were superb...

[Duty281]

Good win that for Australia, a very good kicking game and clinical in attack all spearheaded by Will Genia - what a player he is.

[Cymroglan]

Will Genia is truly world class

[mzan]

A heavily depleted side, down to their 4th choice 10, the 3rd game in a week for most, half the side were fighting off hypothermia only a few days ago, only a week together as a squad, and they still gave a lesson in attacking rugby.

RD, looks like we got a banned user on a new ID returning to WUM. Sort it out.

If you say so mate.

Not everything is about Wales, my comments were about the quality of Australia despite the circumstances.

Good luck against a properly rested depleted side next week.

[wales606]

Dan Biggar

Not on Rob Howleys watch mate! :/

Maybe on Gatlands...

In all honesty, Biggar isn't ready yet - but if Preistland and Hook continue to be Poopie, then we will have no choice but to trust Biggar in some being games with the 1st 15.

[Rory_Gallagher]

BTW - I do believe that the lack of your usual coaching shown on the field. A coach makes a big difference to a team, that is a fact.

[wales606]

BTW - I do believe that the lack of your usual coaching shown on the field. A coach makes a big difference to a team, that is a fact.

Wales looked very rusty - based on how Wales have played in their first game for a while while Gatland was in charge was a big difference (SA in the WC and Ireland in the 6N).

Just a frustrating loss.

[Rory_Gallagher]

I think there was a real lack of cohesion and organisation though, that I haven't seen from Wales in a long time.

[anotherworldofpain]

Excuse Bingo #1 : RUSTY.

[CurlyOsp]

no coinsidence that Warburton's game stepped up a gear when Jones came on either, Faletau wasn't pulling his weight!

Jones has to start 8 next game, even though he's better at 6, Lydiate was amazing.

Hopefully Ian Evans/Charteris and Alun Wyn Jones in the Second Row.

Back three needs to be shuffled so Cuthbert, Halfpenny and anyone but Hook are starting.

Plus how many chances does Priestland get? good player, but off form.

[maestegmafia]

Scott Quinnell is talking about the lack of chasing good kicks and conceding too many poor ones.

[maestegmafia]

The thing that makes me really sick is that the Aussies played the game we have been playing...! They played in our style that we have been playing during the RWC and 6N..

[Morgannwg]

A heavily depleted side, down to their 4th choice 10, the 3rd game in a week for most, half the side were fighting off hypothermia only a few days ago, only a week together as a squad, and they still gave a lesson in attacking rugby.

RD, looks like we got a banned user on a new ID returning to WUM. Sort it out.

If you say so mate.

Not everything is about Wales, my comments were about the quality of Australia despite the circumstances.

Good luck against a properly rested depleted side next week.

Cyril?

No matter, the Grand Slammers got quite a while before they are challenged for their title anyway.

GrandSlammers

[Knowsit17]

I believe Howley and Davies both said in the build-up to this game that they were anticipating Wallaby determination and pressure. It's easy enough to anticipate anything but it'll do you no good if you just freeze over when it's time to deal with it. Unprepared, off-guard, wrong-footed, whatever you want to call Wales today

[Rory_Gallagher]

Warburton is the only real good player in your back row, honestly. Higginbotham and Pocock, and also Hooper when he came on, just made your back row look weak. Faletau was totally anonymous. Disappointing when you see how good he is for the Dragons.

[Pal Joey]

Must admit I felt a little sick at 20-19... it could have been disastrous for us from that point onwards.

I know it's relatively early days but I prefer watching a young Will Genia to a young George Gregan. Better rugby instinct, takes on the line so well and is a great team player. We are so lucky to have a guy who can almost single-handedly take the game by the scruff of the neck and pull off a pearler on a night like that... when Australia so desperately needed to win.

[CurlyOsp]

Warburton is the only real good player in your back row, honestly. Higginbotham and Pocock, and also Hooper when he came on, just made your back row look weak. Faletau was totally anonymous. Disappointing when you see how good he is for the Dragons.

Lydiate was devastating in defence, easily out played Warburton. Faletau was the only weak in the starting back row today.

[Guest]

Rory - no offence, but that comment shows what little you know of the Wales backrow. Lydiate was superb today, better than Warburton, easily. Do agree with you that Faletau had a quiet game though.


Maes - I know, twas so weird seeing a team play the game we like to play, and us not being able to execute it ourselves!

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