Welsh AI Aspirations

First topic message reminder :

Im quite interested to know what the welsh supporters on 606v2 expect from thier national team this November.

How many wins would you be happy with? and who do you realisticly think your side will beat.

I personally think that last years Welsh performance against the SH sides will be long forgotten and that Wales will win every game except their first against SA.

No matter who the opponents are you have to play your own game and not 'try' to worry to much about the opposition.

With that in mind you have to start with the bext XV available to you and for that reason alone Lydiate starts, yes Warburton can do a job there if need be due to injury etc but Lydiate is our best 6 by a country mile.

bedfordwelsh wrote:No matter who the opponents are you have to play your own game and not 'try' to worry to much about the opposition.

With that in mind you have to start with the bext XV available to you and for that reason alone Lydiate starts, yes Warburton can do a job there if need be due to injury etc but Lydiate is our best 6 by a country mile.

I actually disagreee with this notion but not necessarily with Lydiate's inclusion. Your play is determined by many things, what happens if your primary attacking weapon for instance is the up and under yet Israel Folau is at 15 for the opposing side? Still kick to him all the time???

Unless your side is better then the opposition no matter how you play you need to alter your side/your tactics to all aspects of the game be it the weather, the referee, the opposition etc.

fa,

You have to also make sure your own house is in order at the same time so to speak.

I agree BW that your team has to be capable of adjusting sure. Else its even worse.

But teams need to be able to adapt. The worst thing you can do is play right into the oppositions hands.

Its no good saying "openside, can you deal with Pocock, McCaw etc... yes, good man... right thats them sorted". If they have superior players teams need to be honest and say so.

Best case of this... Jonah Lomu and South Africa... played them 12 times, he never crossed the line once. Why is that?

Was it because SA was just better at tackling him? Of course not, he smashed SA as much as he did everyone else.. the difference is that they devised a way to play him, never give him the outside, forced him inside and gang tackle... and it worked.

Dontheman wrote:

Liam wrote:I'm sure the players and coaches are targeting all 4 wins but for a welsh fan, I can't see us beating SA. Their performances in the RWC were just superb and up a level from what Wales produced vs England and that was something. I hope we stay competitive and maybe pull of a surprise win but can't see it. No excuses for not beating Aus this year or Argentina/Tonga

Sorry Liam SA were poor in RWC and it cost their coach his job. But Morne Steyn was imperious with the boot when JW and various Welsh and other kickers struggled.
I think Wales will be really up for it. The last time  the Boks played here George North scored twice on debut but we lost by 4. As said before key players have hardened up add Hibbard to that list and with the Lions behind us we are moving forward. Compare to last year dismal Aus tour no Adam Hibs in/out Warbs and Phillips just coming back  RP having a nightmare we are in a much much better place. My glass is definitely half full

Sorry I meant the rugby championship not the world cup, apologies.

I honestly believe the experiences of many of the Welsh boys on the Lions tour will do them in good stead for the up and coming AI's. To win a test series against SH opposition, never mind winning a test match will have hopefully been the turning point for many of them.

They know what it takes and what it feels like the beat a SH side, they have got over that mental block and even though SA are our toughest opposition, man for man we more than match up to them. Cuthbert will be a big miss for me but Liam Williams has been superb this year and with SA putting the up and unders, to have a 15 on the wing can't harm anyone. I think we can win this but I expect it to be decided by 5 points max if Wales play to their potential.

Biltong wrote:If south Africa was consistent this year I would agree with you, but they still have games that go completely wrong. At the moment you are not always sure which Bok team will appear on any given day. And we are notoriously poor in November.

There's being consistent in performance and then there's being consistent by results Bilt and even your exceedingly modest self must admit that SA are looking good in the latter category if not in the former. And, on paper, better in both categories than Wales at nearly any time.

That isn't to be taken as a pre-game admission to defeat but in terms of history and consistency the Boks have the edge over Wales. Thankfully neither necessarily determines the game.

Knowsit17 wrote:

Biltong wrote:If south Africa was consistent this year I would agree with you, but they still have games that go completely wrong. At the moment you are not always sure which Bok team will appear on any given day. And we are notoriously poor in November.

There's being consistent in performance and then there's being consistent by results Bilt and even your exceedingly modest self must admit that SA are looking good in the latter category if not in the former. And, on paper, better in both categories than Wales at nearly any time.

That isn't to be taken as a pre-game admission to defeat but in terms of history and consistency the Boks have the edge over Wales. Thankfully neither necessarily determines the game.

Let me put it this way knowsit.

Over the past number of years we lost games in the AI's that we should have, we are again in a position where we "shouldn't lose" any matches, how much we have improved is still debatable, so at this point I won't be surprised if we lose to either Wales, Scotland or France.

We went through unbeaten last year, but you could say most of those games could have gone either way, let's see if we can do the same again.

Inconsistency in performance causes matches to be a 50/50 situation, we may have been on the right side of the scoreboard in most, but if you keep on playing poorly, eventually you are going to lose a 50/50 match.

Liam wrote:Liam Williams has been superb this year and with SA putting the up and unders, to have a 15 on the wing can't harm anyone.

And as well as running it back, he can bring others into play, which I'm not sure Walker would do - he tends to go on his own a bit more.