Are Cuthbert, Evans and Tipuric unlucky??

Ok topsy turvey way of looking at it here but I think when the pressure has really peaked we now see the real Gatland. Honestly, if it werent for the outcry of selecting 13 Welsh I think he would have liked to pick Cuthbert, Tipuric and Evans. So can those guys consider themselves a little unfortunate?? I genuinely believe the reason they have not been picked is purely for the storm it would have caused but Im sure Gatland deep down wants it.

I think Tipuric is unlucky. Especially after all that cowpat about 'proper' opensides.

Cuthbert a bit but I don't think he'll be missed. Evans, not really.

Evans is lucky to be on the tour IMHO......

Cuthbert maybe, because he's great in attack, but he makes mistakes in defense and 1 mistake is all it's going to take, while Bowe is about equal in attack. Cuthbert probably deserves to play more on form but Bowe is less of a risk.

Tipuric and SOB have both been outstanding but in terms of the tactics we need to play I'd say SOB is the better option for this game.

Evans is one of my favorite players but he hasn't really stood out on tour, but then he never stands out, he is just a big aggressive animal who is very handy to have in your team. I'd have Evans over Parling any day of the week if I was picking the team, but Grey is more unlucky if I'm being honest, while Parling would of made a better impact player than Ianto.
I would of enjoyed seeing POC and Ianto play together, because watching Ianto beat up POC every time the Ospreys play Munster is very funny.

So no I don't honestly think any of those 3 players are unlucky.

Desperately unlucky not to be selected.

Disappointed for Evans. Far more abrasive player than Parling and Parling's selection seems odd given last week's performance. But Evans obviously well down pecking order despite his familiarity with other front 5 Ospreys.
Tipuric will get on the pitch at some point I hope. SOB a fine player.
Cuthbert far better attacking force, for me, but Bowe more of a complete player, though lacks pace.

Norfolklass wrote:Disappointed for Evans. Far more abrasive player than Parling and Parling's selection seems odd given last week's performance. But Evans obviously well down pecking order despite his familiarity with other front 5 Ospreys.
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If you wanted a more abrasive player, then why wasn't Jim Hamilton picked, he was an absolute nuisance in the 6N, whereas Evans seemed slightly anonymous

Yes they are unlucky, Evans is a top second row and should be ahead of Parling just like Gray, I am not convinced England don't have half a dozen players better than Parling.

The unluckiest player for me is R Jones, good captain (3 games in the 6N), very good 6 and 8 and better than Parling in the second row did not get picked but, Lydiate injured for the best part of the year and did not play in the 6N did! He would have been useful on the bench last week covering 6,8 and second row and this week as a potential captain.

It is true Jones broke a bone in his shoulder but he was fit before the team left these shores unlike a number of players.

Yes, very unlucky. Gatland has shown his lack of backbone by not picking them when obviously Warrenball is the only game in town. Not picking them when all have deserving cases for his style of play shows he is far more concerned over his own public persona than any real interest in Lions success.

Tipuric very very unlucky. Never had a chance on tour with Warbs being selected as captain. Was on a hiding to nothing!

Cuthbert is. He played well enough to be a big part of the final solution. You honour players who have done no wrong and have added value.

I'm a bit confused. It's clear from reading the posts on this site that Wales are World class, their coach and selector is world class, they have some of the greatest ever players, their back three is the best in the world as are their centers as well as their front row and that their locks and haves are world class. Obviously you'd pretty much pick the whole wales team if you were being objective.

I'm just unsure why they haven't been more successful. I know they've won a couple of 6 nations and made the semi's of the last world cup since the last Lions tour, but their overall success rate is still below 50% and they've lost the last 16 games against the SH big teams in this time.

I'm wondering is it refereeing, is it bad luck, injuries? I can't work it out. If I wasn't being objective I might think that some of the Irish, Scots and English players might be better than their Welsh equivalents. In retrospect it's obvious that Cuthbert, Evans and Tuperic are unlucky. Obviously Gethin Jenkins would be in the side if he wasn't injured. I'm not entirely convinced that Sexton or Farrell are the answer at flyhalf either.

blackcanelion wrote:I'm a bit confused. It's clear from reading the posts on this site that Wales are World class, their coach and selector is world class, they have some of the greatest ever players, their back three is the best in the world as are their centers as well as their front row and that their locks and haves are world class. Obviously you'd pretty much pick the whole wales team if you were being objective.

I'm just unsure why they haven't been more successful. I know they've won a couple of 6 nations and made the semi's of the last world cup since the last Lions tour, but their overall success rate is still below 50% and they've lost the last 16 games against the SH big teams in this time.

I'm wondering is it refereeing, is it bad luck, injuries? I can't work it out. If I wasn't being objective I might think that some of the Irish, Scots and English players might be better than their Welsh equivalents. In retrospect it's obvious that Cuthbert, Evans and Tuperic are unlucky. Obviously Gethin Jenkins would be in the side if he wasn't injured. I'm not entirely convinced that Sexton or Farrell are the answer at flyhalf either.

Biggar should have been there instead of Farrell

How about Robshaw? Gets slated by Gatland and co for not being a proper 7(what a load of bollix that is!) And then has to watch as the chosen 7 is average in all bar one games and Gats picks two 6's to cover for him! Oh and then there's a leadership crisis to boot!

yappysnap wrote:How about Robshaw? Gets slated by Gatland and co for not being a proper 7(what a load of bollix that is!) And then has to watch as the chosen 7 is average in all bar one games and Gats picks two 6's to cover for him! Oh and then there's a leadership crisis to boot!

Come on SOB is a proper 7.

winchester wrote:Ok topsy turvey way of looking at it here but I think when the pressure has really peaked we now see the real Gatland. Honestly, if it werent for the outcry of selecting 13 Welsh I think he would have liked to pick Cuthbert, Tipuric and Evans. So can those guys consider themselves a little unfortunate?? I genuinely believe the reason they have not been picked is purely for the storm it would have caused but Im sure Gatland deep down wants it.

No not even slightly. Cuthbert simply isn't as good as Bowe and was always just keeping his seat warm, no matter how many other Welsh players were selected. Evans hasn't had a great tour and is rightly behind Gray as well.

All of Tipuric's good performances for Wales and the Lions have come behind completely dominant front fives. He's fast and has good hands, but people were just getting over excited about a couple of games against awful opposition on this tour. He's miles behind a firing Warburton for me, and doesn't have the physical edge of an O'Brien.

HammerofThunor wrote:

yappysnap wrote:How about Robshaw? Gets slated by Gatland and co for not being a proper 7(what a load of bollix that is!) And then has to watch as the chosen 7 is average in all bar one games and Gats picks two 6's to cover for him! Oh and then there's a leadership crisis to boot!

Come on SOB is a proper 7.

Would you not say he's a converted 6 or 6.5?

blackcanelion wrote:I'm a bit confused. It's clear from reading the posts on this site that Wales are World class, their coach and selector is world class, they have some of the greatest ever players, their back three is the best in the world as are their centers as well as their front row and that their locks and haves are world class. Obviously you'd pretty much pick the whole wales team if you were being objective.

I'm just unsure why they haven't been more successful. I know they've won a couple of 6 nations and made the semi's of the last world cup since the last Lions tour, but their overall success rate is still below 50% and they've lost the last 16 games against the SH big teams in this time.

I'm wondering is it refereeing, is it bad luck, injuries? I can't work it out. If I wasn't being objective I might think that some of the Irish, Scots and English players might be better than their Welsh equivalents. In retrospect it's obvious that Cuthbert, Evans and Tuperic are unlucky. Obviously Gethin Jenkins would be in the side if he wasn't injured. I'm not entirely convinced that Sexton or Farrell are the answer at flyhalf either.

I have posted before in this regard.NH Rugby is pretty poor at the moment.Very few players would get into their country's all time best side.Wales happen to be the least poor at the moment.
Gatland has been tasked to make a silk purse out of the four countries' best players in a few weeks.
A Mission Impossible that Tom Cruise would have turned away from!
To be in contention going into the third Test has exceeded my expectations.I salute Gatland.

i think the phrase world class gets thrown around to many times . i certainly never said it about Welsh players and until we start beating sh teams i never will . does world class mean if an alien rugby team turns up would we pick a world side to play against them . dont think many nh players be involved

Taffineastbourne wrote:

blackcanelion wrote:I'm a bit confused. It's clear from reading the posts on this site that Wales are World class, their coach and selector is world class, they have some of the greatest ever players, their back three is the best in the world as are their centers as well as their front row and that their locks and haves are world class. Obviously you'd pretty much pick the whole wales team if you were being objective.

I'm just unsure why they haven't been more successful. I know they've won a couple of 6 nations and made the semi's of the last world cup since the last Lions tour, but their overall success rate is still below 50% and they've lost the last 16 games against the SH big teams in this time.

I'm wondering is it refereeing, is it bad luck, injuries? I can't work it out. If I wasn't being objective I might think that some of the Irish, Scots and English players might be better than their Welsh equivalents. In retrospect it's obvious that Cuthbert, Evans and Tuperic are unlucky. Obviously Gethin Jenkins would be in the side if he wasn't injured. I'm not entirely convinced that Sexton or Farrell are the answer at flyhalf either.

I have posted before in this regard.NH Rugby is pretty poor at the moment.Very few players would get into their country's all time best side.Wales happen to be the least poor at the moment.
Gatland has been tasked to make a silk purse out of the four countries' best players in a few weeks.
A Mission Impossible that Tom Cruise would have turned away from!
To be in contention going into the third Test has exceeded my expectations.I salute Gatland.

I don't think that home nations rugby is very poor at the moment, all sides have put in good performances against SH sides last autumn, most notably England. But more than that I think there certainly a huge amount of depth in bot England and now Scotland are starting to develop this as well. I think also when you look at both SA and AUS they are not the most quality sides either, which makes the Lions job a lot easier. Overall i think going into the series the very fact that the Lions are made up of 4 nations as opposed to one instantly gives them the advantage. As far as game plan and selection and making the team familiar with each other, Gatland had a year to prepare for this, and I for one think he could have done a much better job.