Wales vs Argentina KO 14:30 Sat 10th Nov - TEAM ANNOUNCED

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WALES V ARGENTINA

Venue: Millennium Stadium Cardiff Date: Saturday, 10 November Kick-off: 14:30 GMT

Coverage: Live on BBC One Wales & online; live on S4C; live commentary on BBC Radio Wales & online; live commentary on Radio Cymru

Wales Team

L Halfpenny (Blues), A Cuthbert (Blues), S Williams (Scarlets), J Roberts (Blues), G North (Scarlets); R Priestland (Scarlets), T Knoyle (Scarlets); G Jenkins (RC Toulon), M Rees (Scarlets), A Jarvis (Ospreys), A W Jones (Ospreys), I Evans (Ospreys), J Turnbull (Scarlets), S Warburton (Blues & Captain), T Faletau (Dragons)

Replacements: R Hibbard (Ospreys), R Bevington (Ospreys), P James (Bath RFC), R McCusker (Scarlets), J Tipuric (Ospreys), M Phillips (RC Bayonne), J Hook (USA Perpignan), L Williams (Scarlets)


Argentina Team

JM Hernandez (Racing Metro), G Camacho (Exeter), G Tiesi (San Isidro), F Contepomi (Stade Francais), J Imhoff (Racing Metro), N Sanchez (Bordeaux-Begles), M Landajo (San Isidro), M Ayerza (Leicester), E Guinazu (Southern Kings), J Figallo (Montpellier); M Carizza (Racing Metro), JF Cabello (Tucuman); L Senatore (Gimnasia Rosario), JM Leguizamon (Lyon), JM Fernandez Lobbe (Toulon, captain)

Replacements: A Creevy (Montpellier), B Posiglioni (La Plata), J Gomez (Los Matreros), T Vallejos (Scarlets), T Leonardi (San Isidro), N Vergallo (Southern Kings), H Agulla (Bath), J Tuculet (Grenoble).

WALES SIDE TO FACE ARGENTINA

15 Leigh HALFPENNY (CARDIFF BLUES - Cap No 1,060)
DoB: 22.12.88. 5'10" / 1.77m. 13st 6lbs / 85kgs
International record: 35 caps (W 17, L 18; 182 pts - 11T, 11C, 35PG)

14 Alex CUTHBERT (CARDIFF BLUES - Cap No 1,089)
DoB: 05.04.90. 6'6" / 1.98m. 16st 3lbs / 103kgs
International record: 9 caps (W 5, L 4; 20 pts - 4T)

13 Scott WILLIAMS (SCARLETS - Cap No 1,084)
DoB: 10.10.90. 6'0" / 1.83m. 15st 13lbs / 101kgs
International record: 14 caps (W 8, L 6; 25 pts - 5T)

12 Jamie ROBERTS (CARDIFF BLUES - Cap No 1,057)
DoB: 08.11.86. 6'4" / 1.93m. 17st 5lbs / 110kgs
International record: 44 caps (W 23, L 21; 25 pts - 5T)

11 George NORTH (SCARLETS - Cap No 1,078)
DoB: 13.04.92. 6'4" / 1.92m. 17st 3lbs / 109kgs
International record: 24 caps (W 11, L 12, D 1; 55 pts - 11T)

10 Rhys PRIESTLAND (SCARLETS - Cap No 1,080)
DoB: 09.01.87 1.82m / 6'0". 15st 0lbs / 95kgs
International record: 18 caps (W 11, L 7; 53 pts - 1T, 12C, 8PG)

9 Tavis KNOYLE (SCARLETS - Cap No 1,076)
DoB: 02.06.90. 6'1" / 1.85m. 14st 5lbs / 91kgs
International record: 7 caps (W 3, L 4)

1 Gethin JENKINS (TOULON - Cap No 1,006)
DoB: 17.11.80. 6'2" / 1.88m. 19st 1lb / 121kgs
International record: 90 caps (W 41, L 47, D 2; 20 pts - 4T)

2 Matthew REES (SCARLETS - Cap No 1,033)
DoB: 09.12.80. 6'0" / 1.83m. 17st 1lbs / 108kgs
International record: 54 caps (W 23, L 30, D 1; 10 pts - 2T)


3 Aaron JARVIS (OSRPEYS - Uncapped)
DoB: 20.05.86. 6'0" / 1.83m. / 18st 7lbs 117kgs
International record: Uncapped


4 Alun Wyn JONES (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,046)
DoB: 19.09.85. 6'5" / 1.96m. 19st 4lbs / 122kgs
International record: 66 caps (W 29, L 37; 35 pts - 7T)

5 Ian EVANS (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,045)
DoB: 04.10.84. 6'8" / 2.04m. 18st 3lbs / 116kgs
International record: 23 caps (W 12, L 10, D 1; 5 pts - 1T)

6 Josh TURNBULL (SCARLETS - Cap No 1,079)
DoB: 12.03.88. 1.93m / 6'4". 15st 8lbs / 99kgs
International record: 4 caps (W 3, L 1)

7 Sam WARBURTON (CARDIFF BLUES, CAPTAIN - Cap No 1,070)
DoB: 05.10.88. 1.88m / 6'2". 16st 4lbs / 103kgs
International record: 30 caps (W 15, L 15; 10 pts - 2T)

8 Toby FALETAU (NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS - Cap No 1,082)
DoB: 12.11.90. 1.87m / 6'2". 17st 5lbs / 110kgs
International record: 17 caps (W 10, L 7 - 2T)

REPLACEMENTS

16 Richard HIBBARD (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,048)
DoB: 13.12.83. 6'0" / 1.83m. 17st 5lbs / 110kgs
International record: 17 caps (W 8, L 9)

17 Ryan BEVINGTON (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,081)
DoB: 9.12.88. 6'0"/1.82m. 17st 10lbs / 112kgs
International record: 7 caps (W 3, L 4)

18 Paul JAMES (BATH RUGBY - Cap No 1,021)
DoB: 13.05.82. 6'1" / 1.86m. 18st 2lbs / 115kgs
International record: 37 caps (W 16, L 20, D 1)


19 Rob McCUSKER (SCARLETS - Cap No 1,075)
DoB: 10.12.85. 1.95m / 6'4". 15st 11lbs / 100kgs
International record: 4 caps (L 4)

20 Justin TIPURIC (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,087)
DoB: 06.08.89. 1.88m / 6'2" 15st 13lbs / 101kgs
International record: 6 caps (W 4, L 2)

21 Mike PHILLIPS (BAYONNE - Cap No 1,022)
DoB: 29.08.82. 6'3" / 1.91m. 15st 10lb / 101kgs
International record: 68 caps (W 33, L 33, D 2; 40 pts - 8T)

22 James HOOK (PERPIGNAN - Cap No 1,047)
DoB: 27.06.85. 6'0" / 1.83m. 15st 2lbs / 96kgs
International record: 65 caps (W 29, L 34, D 2; 346 pts - 13T, 43C, 61PG, 4DG)

23 Liam WILLIAMS (SCARLETS - Cap No 1,095)
DoB: 09.04.91. 6'2" / 1.88m. 13st 6lbs / 86kgs
International record: 1 cap (W 1)

doctornickolas wrote:Well of all the possible permutations I envisaged this is not even close.

Knoyle, Priestland, Roberts Scott as our midfield? Anyone else in worse form they could select? I don't think so.

Also our best loosehead and hooker this season have been Paul James and Hibbard and yet neither start!

The best 7 this year by a mile is Tipuric, again a non starter. We have then selected a player who is playing a lot at 7 at blindside despite having several players in the squad who have played there this season.

The best 10 in Wales this year? Biggar, no where to be seen.

I am very confused. Maybe they are keeping some players back for later games but these selections have just made me a lot less confident.

As someone's already pointed out, if we lose this match, we'll plummet in the rankings. It makes me laugh that Howley can talk about the importance of these matches after he's named that squad.

Blues 4 (bench 0)
Dragons 1 (bench 0)
Ospreys 3 (bench 3)
Scarlets 6 (bench 2)

Others 1 (bench 3)

When you break it down like that it seems that a fair bit of faith has been put into the Blues boys to pick their form as part of this squad.

i think it's a conspiracy and Howley is a secret agent working for the RFU!

I've got the feeling Argentina are going to nick this match. They looked pretty respectable for large periods in all their rugby championship matches. They managed to nick a draw vs South Africa which England on just managed in three games.

Argentina always give their opposition a headache. They were a thorn in everyones side in the world cup. Having knocked Scotland out, they came very close to defeating England and they gave NZ abit of a scare for a while too in the quarters.

Im glad they are not Englands first match, much more content having Fiji.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

doctornickolas wrote:Well of all the possible permutations I envisaged this is not even close.

Knoyle, Priestland, Roberts Scott as our midfield? Anyone else in worse form they could select? I don't think so.

Also our best loosehead and hooker this season have been Paul James and Hibbard and yet neither start!

The best 7 this year by a mile is Tipuric, again a non starter. We have then selected a player who is playing a lot at 7 at blindside despite having several players in the squad who have played there this season.

The best 10 in Wales this year? Biggar, no where to be seen.

I am very confused. Maybe they are keeping some players back for later games but these selections have just made me a lot less confident.

As someone's already pointed out, if we lose this match, we'll plummet in the rankings. It makes me laugh that Howley can talk about the importance of these matches after he's named that squad.

Looking at the squad, Howley could have done a lot worse he could have gone for (only using players in the squad and are fit)

Hook, Robinson, S Williams, Roberts, Li Williams, Priestland, Ll Williams;
Bevington, Owens, Andrews, Charteris, Davies, Shingler, Turnbull, McGog

Looking at the 'weak links' in our side they are not bad players, and are IMO the players that people claim can regain for in the international setup.

That's not much of a defence, is it, that he could have done worse?

I am not quite sure what to make of the selection, for me there is some surprises both good and bad, a bit of disappoinment and a bit of shock.

SURPRISES

Good - Jarvis being given the nod at T/Head this is one area we have really struggled to develop a genuine replacement for Jones. I honestly thought that they would have switched James across the scrum.



Bad - Whilst never being his biggest fan what more has Biggar has to do to be given a start, he was the form 10 at the end of last season then kicked in teeth before the Oz tour and not even makes the bench with Hook being giveny YET another chance.

SHOCKS

1 Read above for Biggar
2 That both Turnbull and McCusker have made the 23 man squad, what has happened to Shingler, for me who was the natural after Jones was ruled out.

DISAPPOINTMENT

That Hook has been given yet another chance

tatterd wrote:i think it's a conspiracy and Howley is a secret agent working for the RFU!

If that is so he must working for the IRFU, UAR, FFR SARFU, ARU and RFU....! We are competing against all of those to get into the top four by December.

This team should and can beat Argentina in Cardiff. We have seen how much the players change when within the Welsh camp, so surprise selections against the grain of poor regional performances are hardly a novelty or a shock.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:That's not much of a defence, is it, that he could have done worse?

No point defending him, just get behind Wales.

bedfordwelsh wrote:DISAPPOINTMENT

That Hook has been given yet another chance

Hook has been in very good form for Perpignan mate. Not surprised that he is in the mix, gives us another good goal kicker and a flyhalf on form.

Even though I am an Ospreys fan having watched the Top14 on tv Hook is in better form than Biggar

Could Biggar have missed out on selection due to attitude issues? Didn't he make a bit of noise about how they knew they were nto going to Aus before the supposed trail game against the Baabaas in the summer?

Turnbull and McCusker are both very good solid openside options, Shingler is a bit more of a lightweight option (even if he weighs more, you know what I mean). Josh is I believe the scarelts top tackler this season by a far distance, and Rob covers pretty much any shirt from 4-8. So even though it is disappointing for Aaron not to be selected I can understand why.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:Could Biggar have missed out on selection due to attitude issues? Didn't he make a bit of noise about how they knew they were nto going to Aus before the supposed trail game against the Baabaas in the summer?

Turnbull and McCusker are both very good solid openside options, Shingler is a bit more of a lightweight option (even if he weighs more, you know what I mean). Josh is I believe the scarelts top tackler this season by a far distance, and Rob covers pretty much any shirt from 4-8. So even though it is disappointing for Aaron not to be selected I can understand why.

I doubt that, as if that were the reason I doubt he would have been included in the Squad in the first place.

It was public knowledge that Biggar wasn't going before the Baabaas game - ridiculous decision to then pick for that

maestegmafia wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:That's not much of a defence, is it, that he could have done worse?

No point defending him, just get behind Wales.

What a daft thing to say. We're all going to get behind the team, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't criticise the selection if we disagree with it.

Knoyle AND F***ING Priestland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm changing my vote. Argies by 20.

Maes,

I just think Hook has been given enough chances and has never cemented a starting place.

Biggar has been on form so for deserves at least a bench slot and more importantly a crack at 10 with a (where possible) first choice selected pack in front of him. I am guessing he will play at 10 next week with a vastly changed some would say weaker pack in front of him.

SS,

Fair play and few seasons back I know the big debate was between McCusker and Lydiate, it just (to me at least) seem starnge that after featuring in the 6 Nations and summer tour that Shingler doesn't even make then bench.

Shinglers ommission is baffling, Turnbull is not international class IMO

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:That's not much of a defence, is it, that he could have done worse?

No point defending him, just get behind Wales.

What a daft thing to say. We're all going to get behind the team, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't criticise the selection if we disagree with it.

Ok lets see you be objective then...!!!

Counter the negatives for the positives.

The negatives are easy to spot, absent top players, inclusion of players that have lacked form at their regions, a head coach who lacks experience running the national side.

Clearly this team has not been picked on form this season, M Rees over Hibbard, Knoyle over anybody, Turnbull would be my third choice at the Scarlets, Gethin over James or Gill, Warburton over Tips, and the biggest joke is the selection of Preistland.

Can I change my score prediction from Wales winning by more than 10 to a marginal loss?

The pre match Odds

Wales 2/9

Argentina 9/2

Just noticed where are the locks on the bench?????? I assume that eitehr Josh or Rob will be asked to fill in if we get a knock to one of our locks.

If I were an Argentinian I think i would be giving AWJ and Ianto a bit of extra attention when they are vunerable, as that could be a real weakness if either of them go off.

I still think we that team is capable of and will win but it will be now I feel be a hell of alot closer than I thought it would be.

To be fair, there are injuries forcing some key selections, but the one non injury driven selection that surprises me the most is Knoyle starting and Phillips on the bench. I would have though, against the Pumas, having a strong physical player like Phillips would be an advantage, and Howley being a former 9 himself adds to my surprise on the choice.

I would also have played James in instead of Jarvis, as the scrum is going to be the Pumas strength and surely you would want our most experienced front row to start, whilst the Pumas still have energy in their legs.

Otherwise, my initial shock at the selection has actually gone.

Maes, are you suggesting we shouldn't be allowed to criticise the team selection?

Major,

Phillips like Hook both missed the Poland training camp so I am guessing that had some part to play.

As for James being picked at T/Head, whilst I fully expected that to happen I am glad it didn't. We need to develop alternatives to Adam and switching a L/Head across all the time won't help

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Maes, are you suggesting we shouldn't be allowed to criticise the team selection?

No I am suggesting that you look at positives as well as the negatives....!

I guess another thought that hasn't been raised is that we have four internationals and our squad will need to be rotated. Though a very good side, Argentina are not the toughest teams we are about to face.

Squad rotation for the first two games may well be better than the last two.

Turnbull is the only real surprise for me - I'm comfortable with Tavis at 9 and Priestland might regain some confidence, he knows he has to perform however. Phillips might also play right into the argies hands. I think it is now a can win as opposed to a should win however.

Only if we win. A defeat to a team below us in the rankings will see us fall further than a defeat to a team above us.

9/2 I might have a bit of that.

RubyGuby wrote:Turnbull is the only real surprise for me - I'm comfortable with Tavis at 9 and Priestland might regain some confidence, he knows he has to perform however. Phillips might also play right into the argies hands. I think it is now a can win as opposed to a should win however.

We'll see how 'comfortable' Priestland is when those Barnes Wallis passes start arriving. Closely followed by the Argentinian back row.

My feeling is that we're going to have two 'trials' matches in readiness for Oz and NZ: this match and the Samoa match. We're trying a few new combos and we'll try some new combos against Samoa (e.g. James and Hibbard to start in the front row for that game), and then the OZ and NZ team will be based around the best performances from these two games.

Risky strategy IMO, but then they're damned if they do and damned if they don't really.

bedfordwelsh wrote:Major,

Phillips like Hook both missed the Poland training camp so I am guessing that had some part to play.

As for James being picked at T/Head, whilst I fully expected that to happen I am glad it didn't. We need to develop alternatives to Adam and switching a L/Head across all the time won't help

Not sure there Bedford. If the release for Poland was a problem, why pick Gethin, why have Phillips & Hook on the bench... apart from the obvious we need them (Hook debatable... ).

As for T/Head, I agree 110% we need to develop the natural successor to Adam, but against the formidable Puma scrum, is this the time to throw in an uncapped youngster. I dont think so. It will either be a stroke of genius and he will have a blinder of a game. But I think it is more likley to go the other way, and he gets a new orrifice torn. That wont be a good development of a T/Head, as if he does have a bad game the Pumas will walk over him and the Welsh public (as forgiving as we are ) will demand he never plays again.

Ok James is not natural T/Head but he has covered for Adam is so many crucial games, I think he would have been the better option, with giving Jarvis a run out next week against Samoa.

As for squad rotation (Maes), no... It is only a 4 week "tournament", and we need to build our confidence before the 6 Nations, so we need to pick the best and play the best. Cover the injuries, of course, but it is consistency that is needed, not rotation.

Plus the Pumas are far more formidable than Samoa so if we were to tinker then that should of been the game.

maestegmafia wrote:

IronMike wrote:A few questions come from this:

Is Knoyle on form?
Did they think Turnbull was a better option at blindside than playing either Tipuric or Warburton there?
Should Warburton be starting?
No Biggar?

Bench looks a bit weak, no second row replacement, bringing on Mike Phillips and James Hook late in the game could cause problems for our structure.

I think Knoyle's inclusion is going to upset some posters on here who can't see why he is even playing at regional level they despise him so much. In my opinion I think he and Phillips have been the two best Welsh scrum halves of the last two months in the matches I have seen.

Turnbull is a surprise call up, biggest surprise to me, I would have thought he was less likely to get the 6 shirt than McCusker and Shingler. Surprised again that McCusker is ahead of Shingler, who i thought had been great so far this year.

I can see why the picked Warburton, in form he is one of the best in the game, so he's worth the risk.

Biggar has been good this season, but to be fair to Priestland he has played well, but has kicked badly.

Knoyle despised? Hardly. The way he plays like a headless chicken is despicable though. If he and Phillips are the two best scrum-halves in your eyes then it must be some sorta....blinkered view? Jon Evans and Gareth Davies are the form 9's. Phillips looks very uninterested in playing for a struggling Bayonne team, but I still would have selected him to start this game.

Griff wrote:My feeling is that we're going to have two 'trials' matches in readiness for Oz and NZ: this match and the Samoa match. We're trying a few new combos and we'll try some new combos against Samoa (e.g. James and Hibbard to start in the front row for that game), and then the OZ and NZ team will be based around the best performances from these two games.

Risky strategy IMO, but then they're damned if they do and damned if they don't really.

I hope not... If that prove to be the case, what was the point of Poland, it also says the coaches dont know who the best side is, and after the last few years of development, I sincerly hope that is NOT the case....

RubyGuby wrote:Shinglers ommission is baffling, Turnbull is not international class IMO

Completely agree. And Shingles covers 2nd row.

So, who was not available for the Spala trip; Paul James and who else?

PJ was my starter as was Hibbard. Can't see how Jenkins and Rees are form selections when they've played less rugby.

You've already hit the nail on the head, Major: four Tests, all must-win games, we should be selecting the best possible XV for all four.

MajorRoadWorks wrote:Not sure there Bedford. If the release for Poland was a problem, why pick Gethin, why have Phillips & Hook on the bench... apart from the obvious we need them (Hook debatable... )............

..........As for squad rotation (Maes), no... It is only a 4 week "tournament", and we need to build our confidence before the 6 Nations, so we need to pick the best and play the best. Cover the injuries, of course, but it is consistency that is needed, not rotation.

I think that we have Geth starting this week alongside Jarvis, so we have on experienced international front row available, next week we will may well have Bevington and James starting for the same reason. After all we are going to need to have Jarvis and Bev ready to face the All Blacks when we are going to be missing our foriegn leigon. THe same may well be the case for Tav being played instead of Mike, as they are similar in style, but Tav will be available to play against the All Blacks, so given time to bed into the team, and the consistancy that you mention.

Morg,

I am presuming James and all the French based players didn't go, though reports only mentioned the French based players as not going.

[quote="ScarletSpiderman"][quote="MajorRoadWorks"]Not sure there Bedford. If the release for Poland was a problem, why pick Gethin, why have Phillips & Hook on the bench... apart from the obvious we need them (Hook debatable... )............

Major,

The thing is that neither Jenkins or James went to Poland so unless we went in with an inexperienced loose and tight head then I guess one of them had to play.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:You've already hit the nail on the head, Major: four Tests, all must-win games, we should be selecting the best possible XV for all four.

But if we don't give Jarvis, Knoyle (and Bevington next week?) the game time they will be going to come up against the All Black with no real experience and three weeks of doing nothing but warming a bench (if that).

Paul James played against London Welsh, that's how I know he was unavailable for Spala. Still, he's played more games than Jenkins this season and is the one getting all the possitive reviews while Gethin sits on the bench.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

MajorRoadWorks wrote:Not sure there Bedford. If the release for Poland was a problem, why pick Gethin, why have Phillips & Hook on the bench... apart from the obvious we need them (Hook debatable... )............

..........As for squad rotation (Maes), no... It is only a 4 week "tournament", and we need to build our confidence before the 6 Nations, so we need to pick the best and play the best. Cover the injuries, of course, but it is consistency that is needed, not rotation.

I think that we have Geth starting this week alongside Jarvis, so we have on experienced international front row available, next week we will may well have Bevington and James starting for the same reason. After all we are going to need to have Jarvis and Bev ready to face the All Blacks when we are going to be missing our foriegn leigon. THe same may well be the case for Tav being played instead of Mike, as they are similar in style, but Tav will be available to play against the All Blacks, so given time to bed into the team, and the consistancy that you mention.

Have I missed something here.. Why wont we have our strongest players available to face the All Blacks, it is within the IRB agreed AI window. Even France are playing on that day (Samoa). The Aus game is outside the window, but not the Blacks...

I still say we need to have our strongest team playing, and Jarvis is going to be the weak link in the front row, due to experience or lack of it.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:You've already hit the nail on the head, Major: four Tests, all must-win games, we should be selecting the best possible XV for all four.

But if we don't give Jarvis, Knoyle (and Bevington next week?) the game time they will be going to come up against the All Black with no real experience and three weeks of doing nothing but warming a bench (if that).

Jarvis is the only TH and the other two aren't good enough to be in the squad so we're stuck in a rut when we come up against the All Blacks anyway. Again I wonder wtf is Howley seeing/thinking when it comes to national selection.

We will have a full squad available for the ABs, possibly going to have some missing for the Australia game though

maestegmafia wrote:We will have a full squad available for the ABs, possibly going to have some missing for the Australia game though

Yeah I didn't manage to catch you out with that then

PIENAAR KNOWS WALES CAN BEAT THE WALLABIES

6 November 2012 10:14am
By WRU

Wales face Australia on December 1 after narrowly missing out on a victory in JuneSpringbok scrum-half Ruan Pienaar believes Wales have a great chance of beating Australia in the Dove Men Series on December 1.

Wales end their autumn campaign with yet another clash with the Wallabies having played the world's number two team five times in the past 13 months.
And despite the fact that the Australians boast a 100 per cent record in those fixtures, Pienaar is convinced Wales have what it takes to turn the tables in a month's time, even if he does reckon beating the All Blacks will prove a bridge too far just a week earlier.

"Wales showed in June that they are more than capable of beating Australia - they should have won at least one of those games," Pienaar told the Western Telegraph.

"They have made big steps over the past few years but need to win a big game and they have a great chance against Australia because a packed Millennium Stadium is an amazing place to play.

"New Zealand will be tough because they are amazing side playing quality rugby. They are getting better and better it seems.

"It will be hard for anyone to beat them because they have a settled team that has been together a long time with players like Dan Carter and Richie McCaw.

"But Australia are different, they have had a few bad injuries and that meant that they weren't able to have any continuity in the Rugby Championship. They've got some important players back now and they will be looking to them to be their inspiration and fire them up again."

One man set to inspire Wales this month and next is Blues full back Leigh Halfpenny.

The 23-year-old missed out on playing against Pienaar on the 2009 Lions tour but his form in the three seasons that have followed has been particularly impressive.

Halfpenny's heroics with the boot have seen him take over the mantle as his country's number one points machine and fellow place kicker Pienaar knows he could be key to Wales' hopes of a huge November and December.

"In Test rugby you need to kick every point you can and Wales are very lucky to have Leigh Halfpenny," added Pienaar, who was understandably impressed with Halfpenny's remarkable 94 per cent success rate on Wales' summer tour.

"He kicks the ball a long way and has proved that he can slot them over from anywhere in pressure situations and that gives a boost to his teammates and also worries the opposition.

"His kicking is going to be massively important this autumn because there will be some tight games and having the ability to keep the scoreboard ticking is key."

ScarletSpiderman wrote:
But if we don't give Jarvis, Knoyle (and Bevington next week?) the game time they will be going to come up against the All Black with no real experience and three weeks of doing nothing but warming a bench (if that).

SS, do you know the fixture list, as it will be 2 weeks between start and All Blacks...

10-Nov: Wal v Aug
16-Nov: Wal v Samoa
24-Nov: Wal v All Blacks
01-Dec: Wal v Aus

Which in my reckoning, makes the Wales v Australia the only game outside the IRB agreed AI window, and hence the only game that the French (or any other club) can stop players playing in.