Player by Player Analysis- Wales

Reliving the horrors of yesterday at this moment watching our beloved S4C. Alot has been said regarding different players and there performances yesterday. Heres my take:

Leigh Halfpenny: A short spell team mate of mine at Swansea College. Superb. Kicking off the tee was exceptional and has developed into a true world class kicker and all round performer at full-back. Dealt with many of Australias high bombs with aplomb. Needed more support from his wingers to cover the touch lines which gave Australia vital territory at times. 9/10

Alex Cuthbert: Worked hard in defence, although he needed to cover the touchlines better from Oz kicks. Looked for work but the game plan never really allowed him to get into the game too often. Lineout misfunction once again took away his main supply of set piece move ball. Developing well defensively, needs to work harder to cover line breaks. 7/10

Jon Davies: A very hard working performance from JD. Was tasked with defending the blind side and stopping Will Genia making decisive breaks. Got a great breakaway try showing his much improved pace. Tackled hard but never really carried often due to lack of ball. 7/10

Ashley Beck: A quiet but efficient game from Beck. Was hung out to dry when Warburton was caught watching the dummy runner for OZ try just before half time. Developing his defensive skills and adds something different to the Wales backline. No ball to run with. 7/10

George North: A great pick and go in the first 7 minutes to give Wales the lead. Like Cuthbert, struggled to get any decent ball (supply-lineout) but looked strong when carrying down the flanks. His strength is very impressive as is his ability to stay in field when swamped by tacklers near the touchline which cannot be underestimated. 7/10

Rhys Priestland: Probably the most contentious discussions prior to the match were around this guy. I do not believe he lost us the game. However, he has struggled since the world cup and look tired and lacking ideas in the 6 nations. Tactical kicking has been poor throughout and not the same running force he has been. Playing too deep and not taking the ball to the line. Very predictable running of the backline then ensues. 5/10

Mike Phillips: Slow and ponderous at times. Lack of go forward ball hasn't helped but knocked on when Wales were going forward in the scrum in 2nd half. Led to Oz penalty from resulting scrum and phase play. Box kicking has never been strong and not his usual explosive self. One good run in 2nd half was his major contribution. 6/10

Ryan Jones: A powerhouse in the boiler room. A willing carrier and never lacked effort. Did pick and go at times when it needed to go wide away from the strength of Pocock, but solid all round. Tackled furiously. 8/10

Dan Lydiate: A quiet but very effective game. Stuck one on Pocock which brought a smile to my face. Again, he tackled furiously and his work rate absolutely huge. Didnt really have too much ball to carry. 8/10

Sam Warburton: Tried very hard to impose himself. A long season and a long layoff has killed his form. Struggled to make an impact at the breakdown but puts his body on the line to make tackles. At fault for the try at the end of the first half. 6/10

Alyn Wun Jones: Work rate was again very high. Looked physically shattered and lacking in size for dynamic carrying and lineout option. Was however, vital for wales in terms of tackles and the slowing down of OZ ruck ball. 7/10

Bradley Davies: Very effective when able to take the ball at pace to carry. Didn't have much opportunity to do this. Looked solid at the lineout and is Wales' enforcer. Slowed down much of Australias ruck ball but must work harder to roll away after the tackle. Gave away a couple of penalties. 7/10

Adam Jones: Looked seriously fraggled at the end of the match. Annoyed at team mates (though he didnt say it) for giving away a needless penalty at the breakdown at the end of the game to give OZ territory and lineout. Worked hard and out himself about. Solid in the scrum. 7/10

Matthew Rees: Awful at the lineout. Unforced errors when throwing in and looked shaky throughout. Struggling for fitness and form. Still a good scrummager. 5/10

Gething Jenkins: Another stalwart but has looked tired since they touched the turf at Brisbane. Still a very high workrate for a prop but hasnt imposed himself physically when carrying. In need of a very long rest. 6/10

Total: 102/150

Subs:

Rhys Webb: Box kicking was good when he came on. Gave his chasers a better chance of regaining possession. A good quick pass but had little opportunity to show his running ability. Overall a good impact. 7/10

Richard hibbard: Tried hard when he entered the fray. Had little opportunity to enforce his usual carrying game. Dropped maul to give penalty away. 5/10

Luke Charteris: Has been lacking fitness. A good lineout option for wales but must find his form of the world cup when carrying and tackling around the field. 6/10

A freshen of up needs to take place next week. Changes I would make:


Paul James for Jenkins (Jenkins on bench)
Ian evans in for Alyn Wyn (Charteris on bench)
Ken Owens in for Rees (hibbard on bench)
Tupuric in for Warbs
Webb for Phillips
Hook for Priestland

Agree, more or less, though maybe your numbers are a bit high for the forwards as they gave away all the penalties (I think) and were unable to get a single turnover (don't remember seeing one, anyway). I thought Webb's speed of service did make a difference when he came on, though he made some mistakes, not least shipping the ball back to the Priest for the final play. The lineout improved after Hibbard and Charteris came on.

Fair point samurai. I think they did work very hard to slow down the ball and Australia were sealing the ball off very quickly (not illegally) though. Hibbard did improve the lineout but he often gives away too many penalties hence why i would bring owens in and put him on the bench.

R.e. Webb passing to priestland, the blame usually lies with the 10/captain for that i suppose?

What changes would you make?

I'd give Warburton a 3/10 to be honest, was our least effective forward and that's saying something.

I was willing to lose a couple of lineouts for Rees' carrying - he carried about 8 times in the first 20 - but to lose so many lineouts was COMPLETELY unacceptable. He should be out of the 22 next week.

If Owens/Hibbard and Tipuric had started we would have won that test match.

I agree with most of your changes. I wasn't as impressed with Bradley, who gave away penatlies and got isolated, and would probably not pick him for the next game.
On the miscommunication - when Phillips is there, it seems to be him who decides whether to pick-and-go, pass or kick. I suppose Webb doesn't have the confidence to make the call himself, in which case the backrow should have told him. By standing so deep, Priestland was effectively setting himself for the kick (which he lacks the skills to find touch with, a la O'Gara or Barnes). Everyone at fault, Sam included.

Wales606- Completely agree about rees. Woeful at the lineout.

I think we need to change our gameplan and play a bit more rugby next week. Thats not to say our gameplan was wrong this week but Oz will be better prepared for it next week.

I hope we look to run the ball more next week.

There is often a huge gap behind the OZ line as they have at least 3 players deep expecting long kicks. We could vary our kicks. Priestland did that well in the first 20 before reverting back to type.

Samurai- Bradley really does divide opinion, even my own sometimes. Secind row is the toughest call. Its the balance of lineout options and ball carriers. In my opinion Bradley does give both and Evans or Charteris needs to be in there with him.

But i certainly wouldn't say dropping him would be far off the mark either because of his ability to give away penalties.

I think he needs greater support when carrying. Again, a communication problem must be there because he is either not communicating that he is picking or supporters aren't reacting quick enough?

We need our ten to be less predictable, as i said in my analysis. He was predictable because he was so deep.

I agree with all bar Beck, I thought he was very poor defensively and it was him that took the dummy not Warburton, which then left Sam with to much to do.

Agree with all your changes bar one, I would start with Evans and Charteris and have AWJ on the bench with Ryan as skipper.

Bedford, could be my mistake then mate. As I saw it there was lydiate and warburton defending one runner with beck martialing the outside backs.

Im sure I heard Warburton copping the blame for that one himself but never matter.

On the whole it was poor defence. How OZ split the midfield like that is schoolboy. Wales have to sure that up. Missing Roberts there badly.

Halfpenny is the oldest guy in the backline at 23. This is a very young team with a lot of talent. It was a close game we could have won.

I am disappointed that we haven't won this series, as we have a good enough squad to do so. We can compete with the Aussies down under.

We may still get a win next week.

Halfpenny has been exceptional for a while now and has been a real stand out player in both tests,
a few comments around 606 suggest playing him at 10 but i think it isn't the way forward he should be left to settle in to the 15 shirt and by the 2015 RWC he could be one of the best in the NH if not world rugby at 15.

Overall thou the team is doing alright just need to keep their heads a bit calmer when the pressure is on.

If we can get this close to taking a southern hemisphere scalp without clean line out ball and such limited possession we aren't that bad!

Gatland has got Wales up to the standard but them top two inches come down to the regions, week in week out if the Welsh players are coached to a high standard on how to play heads up rugby we would be celebrating right now not sulking.

Tandy has give me hope that regional rugby can be a success with home grown coaches and a home grown team.

"Richard hibbard: Tried hard when he entered the fray. Had little opportunity to enforce his usual carrying game. Dropped maul to give penalty away. 5/10" -- He might have dropped the maul (hard to see), but he definitely gave away the pena at the ruck near the Aus 22, which gave them the pen to kick for the lineout and field positiion. That moment was the killer. So two pens in a row? If that's the case he should be dropped -- he should be dropped for the first pen anyway.

Coaches have to be far more ruthless when players show appalling discipline or lack of form.

I remember when Zac Guilford was on his first season for the All Blacks,
he made a defensive mistake which resulted in a try i think v South Africa in the tri nations,
what stood out to me was the look of fear on his face and the look of annoyance McCaw give him,
it was the look of someone who knew they will be dropped, the Welsh players need the fear of God put into them,
then they will play till the final whistle with 100% concentration.

wales606 wrote:I'd give Warburton a 3/10 to be honest, was our least effective forward and that's saying something.

I was willing to lose a couple of lineouts for Rees' carrying - he carried about 8 times in the first 20 - but to lose so many lineouts was COMPLETELY unacceptable. He should be out of the 22 next week.

If Owens/Hibbard and Tipuric had started we would have won that test match.

Warburton did not look fit but I would lay most of the balme on the Ozzie try on Beck, who took the dummy leaving to big a gap for Warburton to cover. I thought Beck was pretty anonymous throughout the game and would bring back Williams (who reminds me of a young Scott Gibbs) if fully recovered.

I am not sure what the problem is in the lineouts, one was called not straight, one was long but the tail jumpers did not jump so was the call wrong? In fact there were other lineouts where Wales jumpers did not get into the air. So not sure that Rees should take the sole blame and he really put himself about the park with some great tackling and carries.

I didn't realise that it was Hibbard who dropped the last ruck, if it was, then he is an idiot and should be dropped. He looks good for the Ospreys but looks pretty average for Wales.

Changes for the 3rd test:Bring Williams back into 12, Ianto in place of Bradley, and maybe Tipuric or Shingler in place of Warburton, who does not look fit.

Yesterday McCaw was giving Carter some right grief aswell, one of his best mates but a Captain must demand nothing but the best.

Could you imagine Martin Johnson playing in that game yesterday and accepting Mike Phillips poor box kicks?
Or giving away two penalties whilst the clock was red?