Reports from the Wales camp

From the WRU website


JONES READY FOR BATTLE

2 November 2012 16:42pm
By Simon Rimmer


Alun Wyn Jones is at the end of a long week of intense training, 'evil saunas' and 6am starts in Spala, Poland but he knows it could all be for nothing if Wales don't get it right against Argentina in the Dove Men Series opener a week on Saturday.

Jones, who has played 66 times for Wales and is still only 27, is an integral part of the training squad currently working at the same Olympic training village in Eastern Europe which was 'home' for him and his team-mates for two ten day periods prior to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
The visit to Spala last time was followed by a World Cup semi-final appearance and a trip to a similar resort in Gdansk pre-dated Wales' 2012 RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam winning performance.

The Ospreys lock knows the physical value of these training camps to the national squad but he is quick to point out the players will need to take a psychological edge into match day as well.

"We are all out here working hard and putting the time in which is what we know we have to do to ensure we prepare properly to face some of the top sides in the world," said Jones.

"But, what we do or don't do in Spala will be irrelevant if we don't get it right when we get out on that pitch against the Pumas and we are all acutely aware of that fact as well.

"Coming out to Poland has been a welcome change of environment and a chance to get back into the groove at international level.

Jones, who made his international debut on the 2006 tour of Argentina, has been an ever present in the Wales side through the 2011 World Cup and two Grand Slams (in 2008 and 2012) but it is the three test tour to Australia this summer which is his strongest motivating force at the moment.

"Australia was tough to take for us all. To end the series with a difference of only 11 points across the three matches shows we weren't far away but that's not good enough for us and we are determined to keep going," he added.

"This team has reached the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup and won the Grand Slam last season. After success like that there are always going to be tough times ahead as teams will be well prepared for you.

"But we didn't drop off, we know we could and should have won anyone of those games in Australia and we are pushing the top teams in the world game hard.

"We have the top two teams in the world in our own back yard this autumn and we have another great opportunity to make our mark.

"But Argentina are fresh from a baptism of fire in the Rugby Championship, they will be battle-hardened and coming to Wales looking for victory, so we will have to be ready for them.

"We'll definitely need to keep on our guard, when you come up against these teams you have to front up and show where you're at as a player.

"When Warren Gatland first took over Wales he had a mantra to play against the top three sides in the world, namely New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.

"So as a nation we should be a little envious of Argentina now, seeing them in the Rugby Championship and playing against the best sides in the world.

"They're only going to benefit from it and as I say, look at their performance against South Africa. They were very close to taking a scalp there and as we've improved in our performances, so have Argentina.

"They have got a history of having a strong forward pack and a bit of class behind with the likes of Hernandez.

"They've had a bit of a dent in their forward pack of late with the retirement of some key forwards but they've showed in patches in the Rugby Championship what they can achieve and obviously playing consistently in that competition is only going to benefit them as a team."

Wales also face Samoa, New Zealand and Australia on consecutive weekends at the Millennium Stadium in the 2012 Dove Men Series and will be looking to start their campaign with a win against the Pumas on November 10.

And Jones feels in good form as he looks to help Wales climb the IRB World Rankings and possibly pick up an elusive Southern Hemisphere scalp.

"Personally I'm pretty happy," added Jones.

"I've featured in every game for the Ospreys since the start of the season which I wasn't able to do last year because of the World Cup and when I got back from New Zealand I was injured. Touch wood I'm going okay at the moment."

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Rob Howley's Wales squad have been in intense training in Spala, Poland, this week ahead of their Dove Men Series encounter with Argentina at the Millennium Stadium next Saturday 10 November.

Wales then face Samoa, New Zealand and Australia on consecutive weekends at the Millennium Stadium and interim head coach Howley says the camp has again proved a success.

"The team will benefit from Spala physically and mentally from the time we have spent together. The players feel refreshed mentally and have also been able to focus on recouperating from various injuries that have been managed or sustained over the previous weeks.
"Spala is a fantastic and unique facility. It has given the players the opportunity to spend time together, they've bonded and enjoyed the experience. There's been a lot of banter, the team dynamics in professional sport are important and we have been impressed with the players this week.

"The mantra of this national team over the last few years since the current coaching team has been together has been about hard work and this facility is unique in the way it allows you to do that.

"Our sessions are pretty short and intense, enabling us to put the players under pressure in defence and attack and, whilst we work hard both on and of the pitch, it's also about working smart and maintaining that intensity."

From WRU

Full-back Liam Williams is putting everything he has into Wales' gruelling training regime on their pre-Dove Men Series camp in Spala, Poland this week in a bid to make his dreams come true for a second time this year.

Williams made his international debut against the Barbarians at the Millennium Stadium last summer and, after having a taste of what it is like to play in front of 60,000 plus people at the home of Welsh rugby, he is desperate for more.

The Scarlets youngster went on to tour Australia as part of interim coach Rob Howley's squad and figured in the uncapped midweek victory over Canberra Brumbies. But now he wants to take the next step and repeat his national stadium experience and appear in front of his home fans against one or all of Argentina, Samoa, New Zealand and Australia.

"The greatest memory from the Baa-Baas game was singing the anthem," said Williams who was again named in Howley's 35-man training squad after impressing on tour and putting in some scintillating performances for the Scarlets this season.
"Playing for Wales is something I've always dreamed of doing and I know certain players like to lock their emotions away and avoid singing but that was never going to be an option for me," he added.

"The game itself is a bit of a blur but it was obviously brilliant to get the victory and it was an amazing experience to be out there doing something I'd dreamed of since I was a boy.

"All my friends and family were in the stadium and the 'Waun-massive' will be there by the busload if I get a chance again.

"They are all waiting to see before they get their tickets, but that's one of the things that would make it really special as many of my friends don't necessarily come to see me at regional level as they are all playing in some form or another themselves.

"All I can do is work really hard at times like this in Poland when the coaches push you hard to get the best out of you and try to show that I can be an asset.

"I'm surrounded by a great group of players and I'm learning all the time off people like Leigh Halfpenny, who is a British Lion and a great player.

"I'm rooming in Poland with Alun Wyn Jones, who is the ultimate professional, he has really looked after me and he is a great room-mate.

"He always has the water bottles stacked up ready when you get back to the room after the day's training and he brought a four point adapter plug with him. I couldn't believe it, you can't get much more organised than that!"

Williams is on his second visit to Poland, after being involved with the training camp in Gdansk which prepared the 2012 RBS Grand Slam winning squad and he has a unique way of coping with the rigours of the infamous cryotherapy chambers.

"We play word association games to keep our minds off the cold when we are in the chamber but just to make it a bit more interesting we have introduced a forfeit where you have to do five squats in the chamber if you repeat a word or use a colour word, which are banned," added Williams.

"The dry ice in the chambers in Spala is particularly dense, its worse than the one in Gdansk and whilst its obviously extremely cold everywhere, it's even colder on the floor.

"The first forfeit we had was five press ups, but it was too brutal putting your head down there, so now we have settled for squats - I've had to do them a few times, but it's all part of the experience.

"November will be tough for everyone, but we are well prepared. It would be another dream come true to run out at the Millennium Stadium again and we have four great teams in opposition so there is everything to look forward to."

Is this thread sponsored by Dove Men?

What do the guys actually do at Spala that makes it so much better (apparently) then any other way of preparing for Internationals?

And if it is so much better then why isn't anyone else trying it out.

yappysnap wrote:What do the guys actually do at Spala that makes it so much better (apparently) then any other way of preparing for Internationals?

And if it is so much better then why isn't anyone else trying it out.

Three main things IMO :-

1) gets the players out of Wales so they are more focused.

2) use of cryotherapy which apparently helps your body to repair itself more quickly & therefor the theory is you can pack more training into a smaller time frame.

3) A lot of it is psychology you are doing something different which hopes to give the players an edge.

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

yappysnap wrote:What do the guys actually do at Spala that makes it so much better (apparently) then any other way of preparing for Internationals?

And if it is so much better then why isn't anyone else trying it out.

Three main things IMO :-

1) gets the players out of Wales so they are more focused.

2) use of cryotherapy which apparently helps your body to repair itself more quickly & therefor the theory is you can pack more training into a smaller time frame.

3) A lot of it is psychology you are doing something different which hopes to give the players an edge.

As a rival fan do you think it gives them an edge?

Since using the polish facility Wales won a Grandslam and had a semi final spot at the RWC.

As an opposition fan I don't think there's any doubt that fitness-wise Wales are one of the top teams out there. This is really highlighted in the 6N's.

But your playing skills are still poor at times and psychologicaly you're still brittle eg a few times you had the chance to grab the game by the horns in Oz and didn't.

Likewise when you have that extra fitness i'm surprised you don't up the tempo of the game a lot more to make it count.

So would you say it's having a good effect on your team?

If it helps us be the best in the NH then yeah I guess it is a good effect.

If they could put some similar facilities in a desolate corner of Wales I'm sure it would be cheaper than going to Poland a couple times per year.

Well, we've always been brittle psychologically so I guess the only positives from Spala are the training effects and the change of scenery. Both I think have led to improvements in the last few years. We're beating our 6N rivals fairly regualrly, and we're closer on the score board to the 3N teams these days. It wasn't long ago that playing the 3N was an absolute hammering. Now people, both from Wales and from outside, seem genuinely disappointed if we don't beat these teams. We've therefore come a long way. Still a way to go though!

So I'd say keep the trips. Fitness wise they seem to be working. Team cohesion seems to improve from them too. Also, it would probably have a reverse affect if we stopped going now. We'd probably underperform because we didn't go to Spala. We can't not go now!

One question though. Why can't they build a cryo chamber at the vale of Glamorgan training place where they train at home? Would be costly, but how much does it costs to fly a squad and coaches to Poland and stay in accommodation, etc? Maybe the whole 'getting away from it' thing is the biggest factor in Spala?

Cross posted there Morgannwg, but yeah I think we're wondering the same thing.

Coz Vale of Glamorgan hotel is too close to Cardiff. If they build some sort of facilities in Wales I think it would be best if it was as far away from any media or pubs as possible.

Griff wrote:Well, we've always been brittle psychologically so I guess the only positives from Spala are the training effects and the change of scenery. Both I think have led to improvements in the last few years. We're beating our 6N rivals fairly regualrly, and we're closer on the score board to the 3N teams these days. It wasn't long ago that playing the 3N was an absolute hammering. Now people, both from Wales and from outside, seem genuinely disappointed if we don't beat these teams. We've therefore come a long way. Still a way to go though!

So I'd say keep the trips. Fitness wise they seem to be working. Team cohesion seems to improve from them too. Also, it would probably have a reverse affect if we stopped going now. We'd probably underperform because we didn't go to Spala. We can't not go now!

One question though. Why can't they build a cryo chamber at the vale of Glamorgan training place where they train at home? Would be costly, but how much does it costs to fly a squad and coaches to Poland and stay in accommodation, etc? Maybe the whole 'getting away from it' thing is the biggest factor in Spala?

Sounds about right.

Most non welsh posters on here obviously think we should be beating SH teams more regularly. They often comment on how surprised they are when we haven't.

The respect and acknowledgement by the Kiwi, SA and British press is certainly very welcome to hear.

MM,

As the best 6Ns team over the period Gatland was in control we expect Wales to beat SH opposition more regularly than the other 6Ns teams. that you have not (excluding Italy) is a disappointment.

I dont want to tread on any bodys toes here But dont we normaly hear this kind of thing nearly every time from some one in the Welsh trainiing team?

You usaly hear some one say that the welsh team is in fine form and looking forward to getting on the field and showing what we can do.

The thing about the Ais is for the NH teams to stop talking them selves, and saying that they are ready for whatever the SH as to throw at them. And start putting in the perfomances and prove that they are up for the game and what ever the SH may throw at them.

majesticimperialman wrote:I dont want to tread on any bodys toes here But dont we normaly hear this kind of thing nearly every time from some one in the Welsh trainiing team?

You usaly hear some one say that the welsh team is in fine form and looking forward to getting on the field and showing what we can do.

The thing about the Ais is for the NH teams to stop talking them selves, and saying that they are ready for whatever the SH as to throw at them. And start putting in the perfomances and prove that they are up for the game and what ever the SH may throw at them.

So they should stop doing interviews and fulfilling media commitments? That's all that's been posted here. You could argue that there's no need for the OP to post yet another boring interview, but for players to 'stop talking' would be to stop holding interviews with the press. What's the point in that? England, Scotland, Ireland will all speak to journalists and answer their questions honestly before their AI games. I guarantee it.

griff this guy doesn't even watch rugby. Don't waste your time.

Morgannwg wrote:griff this guy doesn't even watch rugby. Don't waste your time.

What makes you think that?

I watch every game i can thank you very much.

Going by your posts you don't. Nor do you pay any attention when people give you the facts on here, so is there any point in your V2 existence?

Paul James must start vs Argentina at TH after his recent performances for Bath and indeed for the O's last year. Have Gethin come on later for his energy to take advantage of a tiring argentina pack. If Adam's out which I assume he is, will Jarvis be next in line? How's he been playing this season?

Did will st Leicester despite lottery of ref calls

Morgannwg wrote:Going by your posts you don't. Nor do you pay any attention when people give you the facts on here, so is there any point in your V2 existence?

What is your problem with me?

Liam wrote:Paul James must start vs Argentina at TH after his recent performances for Bath and indeed for the O's last year. Have Gethin come on later for his energy to take advantage of a tiring argentina pack. If Adam's out which I assume he is, will Jarvis be next in line? How's he been playing this season?

Jarvis has been great all season. Really happy with him and very unsurprised at his call up.

maestegmafia wrote:

Liam wrote:Paul James must start vs Argentina at TH after his recent performances for Bath and indeed for the O's last year. Have Gethin come on later for his energy to take advantage of a tiring argentina pack. If Adam's out which I assume he is, will Jarvis be next in line? How's he been playing this season?

Jarvis has been great all season. Really happy with him and very unsurprised at his call up.

That's good to hear. Obviously we don't want to rush Smason but its nice now that we do have some sort of back up to Adam at TH. At 26 Jarvis is a great age, heading towards his prime and hopefully Adam can guide him at both regional and International level.

James and Jarvis for me too. Never been a big fan of Gethin's scrummaging, but obviously he brings other things to the team. Therefore, an out and out scrummager in James would be my choice to get the all important 'platform'.

Joe Rees had a mixed game today, some very good some poor.

He has ability but we had a light weight front five compared with Leinster. He could also be a good guy for the future

Re: the discussion about the costs of going to Poland above ^^^. I'd actually be surprised if there being a similar facility in Wales saved you any money. Accommodation would be at least as expensive unless the Welsh Union owned it themselves, which would require a huge amount of money up front that they probably don't have in reserve right now.

thomh wrote:Re: the discussion about the costs of going to Poland above ^^^. I'd actually be surprised if there being a similar facility in Wales saved you any money. Accommodation would be at least as expensive unless the Welsh Union owned it themselves, which would require a huge amount of money up front that they probably don't have in reserve right now.

Considering it is only Poland that specialises this area of athletic training, it may well be more scientifically specialist than just chucking a few blokes in a very cold freezer.

Just caught scrum v

Good report on the spala camp.

thomh wrote:Re: the discussion about the costs of going to Poland above ^^^. I'd actually be surprised if there being a similar facility in Wales saved you any money. Accommodation would be at least as expensive unless the Welsh Union owned it themselves, which would require a huge amount of money up front that they probably don't have in reserve right now.

Or the players could just drive the max 45 minutes home and sleep in their own beds!

Team announced tuesday

my team vs Argentina:

1. James
2. Owens
3. Jarvis
4. AWJ
5. Evans
6. Jones
7. Warbs (c)
8. Faletau
9. Phillips
10. Preistland
11. North
12. Roberts
13. JD2
14. Cuthbert
15. 1/2p

16. Jenkins
17. Rees
18. Lee
19. Charteris
20. Tips
21. Williams
22. Biggar
23. Hook

Id be in favour of Rees over Owens at the moment, maybe Hibbard too. But I agree on the rest of the team.

Owens seems a bit off the pace so far this season.

Thing is I thought Owens was unlucky in Oz. I thought he threw superbly well in the line outs but then just disgarded him. Rees came in and threw awfully and was for me an idiotic decision by Howley.

So I hope Owens is given a chance. Perhaps this training camp in Poland will sharpen everyone up, it should do in theory.

maestegmafia wrote:

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

yappysnap wrote:What do the guys actually do at Spala that makes it so much better (apparently) then any other way of preparing for Internationals?

And if it is so much better then why isn't anyone else trying it out.

Three main things IMO :-

1) gets the players out of Wales so they are more focused.

2) use of cryotherapy which apparently helps your body to repair itself more quickly & therefor the theory is you can pack more training into a smaller time frame.

3) A lot of it is psychology you are doing something different which hopes to give the players an edge.

As a rival fan do you think it gives them an edge?

Since using the polish facility Wales won a Grandslam and had a semi final spot at the RWC.

When Gats was at Wasps & even possibly before we used it on our squad & Wasps notoriously were known as a particularly fit squad then. So there may well be some fitness benefit. I'm sure the players must think all that pain has got to mean something come game time!

I think the psychological aspect to it is just as important personally & it may particularly be useful this time round if it can help put many of the Welsh squads current poor form behind them & help to kick on.

Liam wrote:Thing is I thought Owens was unlucky in Oz. I thought he threw superbly well in the line outs but then just disgarded him. Rees came in and threw awfully and was for me an idiotic decision by Howley.

So I hope Owens is given a chance. Perhaps this training camp in Poland will sharpen everyone up, it should do in theory.

I agree, though this season at Scarlets that has switched around, Rees has been form and Owens not so. Owens may well benefit from a good couple of weeks in the Welsh squad, but in my opinion Hibbard is first choice, Rees second and Owens third on current seasonal form.

yappysnap wrote:As an opposition fan I don't think there's any doubt that fitness-wise Wales are one of the top teams out there. This is really highlighted in the 6N's.

But your playing skills are still poor at times and psychologicaly you're still brittle eg a few times you had the chance to grab the game by the horns in Oz and didn't.

Likewise when you have that extra fitness i'm surprised you don't up the tempo of the game a lot more to make it count.

I agree with all of this. It seems to me that we try to stay in games and hope our fitness tells in the final quarter, when it would surely be better to look to have the game won by then. We certainly seem happy to give the opposition the ball, which strikes me as a stupid way of going about things.

Liam, why have you chosen Warburton over Tipuric? It can't possibly be on form.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Liam, why have you chosen Warburton over Tipuric? It can't possibly be on form.

Warburton has been great in a couple of games, against the dragons for the blues he was every bit the player we know he is, he had a great battle with Lydiate, Toby and young Evans.

The hype over lack of regional form is suffering from post rationalised hype.

Post-rationalised hype?

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Post-rationalised hype?

It means that you make a decision on what actually happened after the event and get carried away with believing what you said not what you saw.

maestegmafia wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Post-rationalised hype?

It means that you make a decision on what actually happened after the event and get carried away with believing what you said not what you saw.

Andy Howles observations are similar to mine & most others I would suggest,

"As far as I’m concerned, if a player is not consistently delivering the goods for his region he shouldn’t be in the Wales team.

Let’s start at the very top with Sam Warburton. I don’t know what’s wrong with the captain but, apart from the win at the Dragons, he has been pretty anonymous for the Blues.

I tracked him during last Saturday night’s Halloween horror show against Leinster in Dublin – when some of the Blues’ so-called stars were so far off the pace during a 59-22 RaboDirect Pro12 battering it was downright embarrassing – and saw the openside flanker jog from ruck to ruck, stand on sentry duty and hardly get his hands on the ball or make many tackles.

His up-and-coming back-row colleague Josh Navidi made far more of an impact, while Warburton’s main rival for the Wales No 7 jersey, clever and skilled footballer Justin Tipuric, has been consistently excellent for the Ospreys."

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Post-rationalised hype?

It means that you make a decision on what actually happened after the event and get carried away with believing what you said not what you saw.

Andy Howles observations are similar to mine & most others I would suggest,

"As far as I’m concerned, if a player is not consistently delivering the goods for his region he shouldn’t be in the Wales team.

Let’s start at the very top with Sam Warburton. I don’t know what’s wrong with the captain but, apart from the win at the Dragons, he has been pretty anonymous for the Blues.

I tracked him during last Saturday night’s Halloween horror show against Leinster in Dublin – when some of the Blues’ so-called stars were so far off the pace during a 59-22 RaboDirect Pro12 battering it was downright embarrassing – and saw the openside flanker jog from ruck to ruck, stand on sentry duty and hardly get his hands on the ball or make many tackles.

His up-and-coming back-row colleague Josh Navidi made far more of an impact, while Warburton’s main rival for the Wales No 7 jersey, clever and skilled footballer Justin Tipuric, has been consistently excellent for the Ospreys."

Fair point. I didnt watch him individually. Nalvidi is a hard worker and is a great future prospect. There may well have been a number of reasons Sam was not so committed. I just cant think of one to justify his actions.

By the way, starting a post referencing Andy Howell in relation to any point to prove is about as relevant to Welsh posters as using HERSH, Cyril, or EnglandGloryforever as your reference point.

Howell is an absolute idiot and has no regarded opinion in Wales.

maestegmafia wrote:Howell is an absolute idiot and has no regarded opinion in Wales.

That's true and I've never agreed with him before, but he's right on Warburton.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Howell is an absolute idiot and has no regarded opinion in Wales.

That's true and I've never agreed with him before, but he's right on Warburton.

With Howell though you know it is not an opinion, he just looks to write something he think will be controversial, invariably something depressing rather than positive.

Warburton has been poor in most games this season, that is undeniable. But a reasoned article discussing that and the likelihood of whether or not that would effect Wales would be good journalism rather than just slamming the guy.

maestegmafia wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Howell is an absolute idiot and has no regarded opinion in Wales.

That's true and I've never agreed with him before, but he's right on Warburton.

With Howell though you know it is not an opinion, he just looks to write something he think will be controversial, invariably something depressing rather than positive.

Warburton has been poor in most games this season, that is undeniable. But a reasoned article discussing that and the likelihood of whether or not that would effect Wales would be good journalism rather than just slamming the guy.

Poor enough to get dropped ? At what point do you say sorry your form isn't good enough?
By naming him captain early some would say shows loyalty others would say shows weakness in making tough decisions to change things & failing to reward those that deserve it.

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Howell is an absolute idiot and has no regarded opinion in Wales.

That's true and I've never agreed with him before, but he's right on Warburton.

With Howell though you know it is not an opinion, he just looks to write something he think will be controversial, invariably something depressing rather than positive.

Warburton has been poor in most games this season, that is undeniable. But a reasoned article discussing that and the likelihood of whether or not that would effect Wales would be good journalism rather than just slamming the guy.

Poor enough to get dropped ? At what point do you say sorry your form isn't good enough?
By naming him captain early some would say shows loyalty others would say shows weakness in making tough decisions to change things & failing to reward those that deserve it.

Obviously depends on the player.

The ABs wouldn't drop McCaw as Captain or the Aussies drop Pocock.

maestegmafia wrote:

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Howell is an absolute idiot and has no regarded opinion in Wales.

That's true and I've never agreed with him before, but he's right on Warburton.

With Howell though you know it is not an opinion, he just looks to write something he think will be controversial, invariably something depressing rather than positive.

Warburton has been poor in most games this season, that is undeniable. But a reasoned article discussing that and the likelihood of whether or not that would effect Wales would be good journalism rather than just slamming the guy.

Poor enough to get dropped ? At what point do you say sorry your form isn't good enough?
By naming him captain early some would say shows loyalty others would say shows weakness in making tough decisions to change things & failing to reward those that deserve it.

Obviously depends on the player.

The ABs wouldn't drop McCaw as Captain or the Aussies drop Pocock.

Very true but would you ever see them put in a run of bad form like Warburton & play so abjectly like he did against Leinster?

Trev everyone has bad form, it's about getting over it quickly that makes a player great.

I am sure we will find that our about young Sam in the next few weeks.

maestegmafia wrote:The ABs wouldn't drop McCaw as Captain or the Aussies drop Pocock.

If they were playing poorly enough and there were better alternatives available, then yes they would.

Sam Warburton does not have magical powers.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:The ABs wouldn't drop McCaw as Captain or the Aussies drop Pocock.

If they were playing poorly enough and there were better alternatives available, then yes they would.

Sam Warburton does not have magical powers.

LP

You know as well as everyone else that on form Warburton is not. Only one of the best open sides in the world but also one of the best captains, you grant him leeway.

My point above is that Howley is not the only coach in the world likely to do that, most coaches would give an out of form player of that importance opportunity to prove the critics wrong.