Wales vs South Africa match buildup.

First topic message reminder :

OK boys, this weekend Wales and South Africa will both attempt to begin their Autumn Internationals with a win.

Both teams for different reasons.

Wales will want to build on their Six Nations form of the last two years, they will want to confirm to themselves that the British and Irish Lions tour was won because of their players, and they will want to progress from being Northern Hemisphere kings, to a team that has the ability to beat South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

In my view, and possibly in the view of their supporters the time is now, it has been a while since Wales has been so dominant in Europe, the only thing missing before they can call themselves world beaters is to take the next step.

How much of it is mental, how much of it is due to the fact that they struggle to put 80 minute performances together I cannot be certain of, but what I do know is they have the ability, sadly it seems Cuthbert and Roberts will not be part of what I deem as the most talented and dangerous backline in Europe. For two reasons I might add, it is the most settled back line in Europe, and also very experienced.

Since the World Cup in 2011, Wales have won 9 of their 10 Six Nations matches, undoubtedly a very good record, however their problem was the seven match losing streak in between the two Six Nations.

South Africa on the other hand, has a new coach, been there for near two full seasons and he has made a difference.

Still not yet consistent, the concern is always how will Meyer ensure that the springboks perform on a consistent basis. In the past 18 months under Heyneke Meyer the boks had their fair share of poor games.

Last year out of the twelve test matches played the springboks managed to win 7 tests, drew 2 and lost three.

Although the three tests they lost were against New Zealand (twice) and Australia, there were a number of other performances that were not up to par. England in the third test at home, Argentina in Mendoza and New Zealand at home, those were poor performances by South Africa.

Although they went through the Autumn internationals unbeaten the were less than convincing.

I suppose the positive out of the performances were even when they played poorly, they managed to be on the right side of the scoreboard most of the time.

Although South Africa has shown improvement this year, the consistency is still under question.

The one aspect of their game that has improved immeasurably is their positive approach to attacking play, looking at the number of tries scored this year in comparison to last year it makes for astounding reading, in 2012 during 12 matches South Africa managed only 23 tries, conceding 16. This year in 9 tests they have managed 39 tries, conceding 18 tries.

Only New Zealand have managed to score regular tries against SA, totalling 15 tries in the last two years, the rest of their opponents only managed 19 tries in 17 matches.

Wales during 2012 managed to score 20 tries in conceding 17 in their 13 matches. During 2013 in their seven tests to date, they managed 11 tries, conceding 7.

If South Africa continues with their positive approach  to attacking plays I believe Wales will be hard pressed, their defence will have to be up to par, there is no doubt Wales will have a positive approach to the game, so from that perspective it should be an entertaining match.

There are some questions over the selections Meyer will make, will he bring Jaque Fourie, JP Pietersen and Bakkies Botha in for the first tour match, which would add significantly to the experience of the team, or will he give debutant Pieter Steph du Toit his first cap?

Of course Willie le Roux and JJ Engelbrecht may yet be inexperienced, but in my view it would be unfair to summarily dismiss them in favour of the old hands.

Wales have a few selection issues as well, who will replace Cuthbert and Roberts, and the ultimate question, will Phillips’ disciplinary record affect his chances for selection?

I still wonder who is the best fly half in Wales.

Come what may, this match should be a tough encounter, will SA prove they have made the step up and show consistency, or will Wales make the next leap towards world domination?

Springbok team for Wales.

The Springbok team to face Wales in Cardiff is:

15. Pat Lambie 29 caps 55 points
14. JP Pietersen 48 caps 70 points
13. Jaque Fourie 69 caps 160 points
12. Jean de Villiers (captain) 93 caps 120 points
11. Bryan Habana 92 caps 265 points
10. Morné Steyn 51 caps 618 points
9. Fourie du Preez 65 caps 70 points
8. Duane Vermeulen 13 caps 5 points
7. Willem Alberts 27 caps 30 points
6. Francois Louw 25 caps 25 points
5. Flip van der Merwe 31 caps 5 points
4. Eben Etzebeth 20 caps 0 points
3. Frans Malberhe 0 caps 0 points
2. Bismarck du Plessis (v-captain) 54 caps 40 points
1. Tendai Mtawarira 50 caps 10 points
Replacements:
16. Adriaan Strauss 30 caps 25 points
17. Gurthrö Steenkamp 46 caps 30 points
18. Coenie Oosthuizen 11 caps 5 points
19. Pieter-Steph du Toit 0 caps 0 points
20. Siya Kolisi 8 caps 0 points
21. Ruan Pienaar 71 caps 130 points
22. JJ Engelbrecht 10 caps 20 points
23. Willie le Roux 9 caps 15 points

Wales team for South Africa
Wales

15 Leigh Halfpenny,
14 George North,
13 Jonathan Davies,
12 Scott Williams,
11 Eli Walker,
10 Rhys Priestland,
9 Mike Phillips,
8 Toby Faletau,
7 Sam Warburton (captain),
6 Dan Lydiate,
5 Alun Wyn Jones,
4 Bradley Davies,
3 Adam Jones,
2 Richard Hibbard,
1 Gethin Jenkins

Substitutes: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Liam Williams

1 or 2 weak decision by Rolland, but ultimately wales lost key players early and never threatened the SA line

I don't think it was Rolland's fault I just don't think he reffed very well at all. Seemed a bit all over the place.

This is a real problem for Wales, their lack of cutting edge against SH teams. They really have to be worrying a little bit about the next WC , which is a big opportunity in England , having the home side and a SH in their group.

I wish they could bring their SH game to Scotland once in a while :/ they always thrash us (if not scoreline then figuratively, they never look like losing except 2010 and we all remember *that* game)

Scrumpy wrote:1 win in 107 years ouch!

Yeah you'd think they'd give us one now. The players are all looking good for over 107 years old though.

The Saint wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:Wales have 10 British and Irish Lions in their team, and they are struggling to put any decent performance together against SA.

So what does that count for when the Lions can't win a series against SA? Pretty dull comment from you as usual.

How do you mean? Wales could only score penaty points from the boot of Halfpenny, SA scored 3 trys Wales scored No Trys.

ultra wrote:SA are pretty one dimensional aren't they? Crunch, pass, kick, chase......Wales kicking themselves tomorrow I think for this

SA had the lead. Protected it. No need to get fancy. Percentage rugby when you're more than a score ahead. Smart play. They got the win. They don't care how they get it. They want this tour to be practice for the RWC. Looked like a good, solid grafting win doing enough to win.

If anyone looked one dimensional, I'm sorry to say that was Wales. They showed glimpses with a few breaks but they didn't show the nous to score when it mattered. That's what's hurting them. They are within touch with these games against the SH teams. They can foot it obviously. What they can't seem to do is score when it matters at the business end. They started that second half stronger but they looked to tail off markedly in that last quarter. It must be frustrating for them as it's like a Groundhog Day of familiar mistakes.

majesticimperialman wrote:

The Saint wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:Wales have 10 British and Irish Lions in their team, and they are struggling to put any decent performance together against SA.

So what does that count for when the Lions can't win a series against SA? Pretty dull comment from you as usual.

How do you mean? Wales could only score penaty points from the boot of Halfpenny, SA scored 3 trys Wales scored No Trys.

Tries Madge. Did you bellyache when that was all Jonny Wilkinson did for England?

" It must be frustrating for them as it's like a Groundhog Day of familiar mistakes."

yep

Erm, madge, it's pretty clear what I meant....... Though it isn't clear as to what you're saying? So pretty obvious you're on one of you're dumb, poorly executed WUM's. It won't force me to generalise against the English rugby fans though, I'll just ignore your posts.

hard luck wales...another match where chances were there but not taken. That ground doesnt help though and SA played the second half poorly but did enough...keeping the ball in the corners.

Priestlands confirmed he's still lost it at this level...was just too slow to make decisions and move quick enough.

Hard luck Wales - SA looked a classy team.

wales606 wrote:Once we were 8 points down we were never going to win - without JD2 and Cuthbert, and with North not involved enough were weren't going to create enough.

Arggg, wish we could play again with a full 23.

But we did create enough.... how many line breaks did we butcher!

It is so blydi frustrating......

Decent game from Wales, SA were on the defensive too much. Not sure why we kept kicking ball away.

Having said that we were clinical when necessary.

Rollaind made two big mistakes. Last try was indeed offside but the last penalty Halfpenny kicked in the first half was a penalty to SA not Wales.

Halfpenny was firstly part of the tackle on Habana when he ran back for the ball, then he is lying on his stomach pleading for a penalty.

Other wise not a bad performance by Rolland.

Not very impressed by the Boks, they can do much better.

Commisserations to Wales, Halfpenny kept you in the game, but the scramble defence and some poor decision making on attack meant you never managed to cross our line.

I thought Priest was okay. It just wasn't good enough from Wales, we say it every year. No doubt we'll pick up against the 6 Nations teams, but that form is not good enough for World Cups.

TBH, after the loss against SA 2nd's in 2010 I didn't think I'd ever see a win against SA. The following game in the autumn and the RWC pool game gave me hope, but now I'm back to reality I'm sorry to say. I think we have enough to win the next 3.

ultra wrote:Shame......coulda won, please don't blame the ref........we'll be as bad as them then

Bad as Wales you mean.

Pity about the crowd booing all the time, if I was in the opposition team I would give them them the middle finger quite frankly.

Arent you allowed to tackle Welsh players anymore.

But at the end of the day Wales still lost, and no amount of of could have and should have will change that..

Pretty decent game played in poor weather on a poor pitch with questionable refereeing decisions.

Don't think Wales played too bad, but the attack was a bit flat and they made more costly errors against a very decent South African outfit. This wasn't one Wales were expected to win, and it wasn't a damaging defeat, so they can take the positives and they should win their remaining 3 games.

Duty281 wrote:Pretty decent game played in poor weather...

The weather wasn't really a factor as the roof had been closed for most of the week and was shut all day today for the game. The pitch is shoite whatever the weather.

Biltong wrote:Decent game from Wales, SA were on the defensive too much. Not sure why we kept kicking ball away.

Having said that we were clinical when necessary.

Rollaind made two big mistakes. Last try was indeed offside but the last penalty Halfpenny kicked in the first half was a penalty to SA not Wales.

Halfpenny was firstly part of the tackle on Habana when he ran back for the ball, then he is lying on his stomach pleading for a penalty.

Other wise not a bad performance by Rolland.

Not very impressed by the Boks, they can do much better.

Commisserations to Wales, Halfpenny kept you in the game, but the scramble defence and some poor decision making on attack meant you never managed to cross our line.

Yup that Halfpenny penalty was clearly the other way round. Impressed by the Boks today . They played crap but where smart enough to recognize it and instead focus on putting the ball in Welsh territory . Kudos to Willie Le Roux and the General Du Preez

very happy with that. without adam and jd2, we've just been competitive against one of the top 2 sides in the world, with a team that suddenly included priestland, ashley beck and a seemingly positionless james hook

the south africans ferocity in converting opportunities is awesome

Risca Rev wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:

The Saint wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:Wales have 10 British and Irish Lions in their team, and they are struggling to put any decent performance together against SA.

So what does that count for when the Lions can't win a series against SA? Pretty dull comment from you as usual.

How do you mean? Wales could only score penaty points from the boot of Halfpenny, SA scored 3 trys Wales scored No Trys.

Tries Madge. Did you bellyache when that was all Jonny Wilkinson did for England?

Cheers Risca Rev i am sure you used to be a school teacher. So Tries it is, the thing Wales cannot seem to score against SH teams.

To be honest i was hoping that Wales would win today. But iguess we can all dream can't we.

Yeah, this pitch, something needs to be done.

Morne Steyn slipped on his first two kicks, I am wondering if this pitch should not be condemned?

Why can't our coaches see that Preistland is just way out of his depth, he killed all of Wales go forward and when they needed to run he kicked the ball away. Please please drop him for good. I believe it would have been a different game with D Biggar at 10, Wales may not have won but it would be a closer contest.

We may beat Tonga with Preistland but Wales will lose the other games.

Disappointed but no suprise.

Lambie disappointed me, his drop kicks were from too deep, he ran at the defence when isolated.

Willie was much better in defence and under the high ball than against the AB's

tbh I think Wales uneven run against SH foe is partly due to that terrible pitch. It doesnt suit their ability to attack and its where they have to play all SH sides. Since 2010 theyve won 9 from 22 at home yet 12 from 25 away from home- including their matches in the SH, yet have a better record away.

Sure they clicked against England but at least in the 6N they get to play on better pitches.

Sounds silly but fix the pitch and their game just might serve them better. Its not the whole solution but I think its a factor. Wales are the most attacking side with the least attacking conducive home ground...charity begins at home I say.

Biltong wrote:Yeah, this pitch, something needs to be done.

Morne Steyn slipped on his first two kicks, I am wondering if this pitch should not be condemned?

probably, as should pitches at high altitude. bone dry, dangerous to tackle on, thin air is poorly suited to aerobic sport.........

Feel Sorry for Lambie , he trains all week at 15 and hardly gets gametime during the RC and suddenly first game on tour he finds himself playing 10 for 60 minutes . Thankfully Le Roux was there as another kicking option

The pitch is awful and doesn't help their game, a bit like Bath

Casartelli wrote:

Biltong wrote:Yeah, this pitch, something needs to be done.

Morne Steyn slipped on his first two kicks, I am wondering if this pitch should not be condemned?

probably, as should pitches at high altitude.  bone dry, dangerous to tackle on, thin air is poorly suited to aerobic sport.........

That is a poor retort mate.

Every scrum that was reset had to move away from the original spot.

No concerns have ever be raised about the lush green grass of Ellispark or Loftus.

If you want to see hard pitches on the highveld then go play club rugby.

Taylorman wrote:tbh I think Wales uneven run against SH foe is partly due to that terrible pitch. It doesnt suit their ability to attack and its where they have to play all SH sides. Since 2010 theyve won 9 from 22 at home yet 12 from 25 away from home- including their matches in the SH, yet have a better record away.

Sure they clicked against England but at least in the 6N they get to play on better pitches.

Sounds silly but fix the pitch and their game just might serve them better. Its not the whole solution but I think its a factor. Wales are the most attacking side with the least attacking conducive home ground...charity begins at home I say.

But the opponents who beat us played on the same pitch! And in the case of SH Opponents you could argue they are even less used to it?

Casartelli wrote:very happy with that.  without adam and jd2, we've just been competitive against one of the top 2 sides in the world, with a team that suddenly included priestland, ashley beck and a seemingly positionless james hook

the south africans ferocity in converting opportunities is awesome

Sounds a bit self-defeatist. How can you be happy about a loss where you were capable of scoring a victory against the number two ranked side? Regardless of who was playing or who got injured, Wales had the opportunity to do better than lose by a small margin. They are much better than being satisfied with a win which I doubt very much the players at least will be feeling.

Cari wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Pretty decent game played in poor weather...

The weather wasn't really a factor as the roof had been closed for most of the week and was shut all day today for the game.  The pitch is shoite whatever the weather.

I thought, judging by the p!ss poor state of the pitch, that the roof had been left open during the game. My mistake.

Biltong wrote:

Casartelli wrote:

Biltong wrote:Yeah, this pitch, something needs to be done.

Morne Steyn slipped on his first two kicks, I am wondering if this pitch should not be condemned?

probably, as should pitches at high altitude.  bone dry, dangerous to tackle on, thin air is poorly suited to aerobic sport.........

That is a poor retort mate.

Every scrum that was reset had to move away from the original spot.

No concerns have ever be raised about the lush green grass of Ellispark or Loftus.

If you want to see hard pitches on the highveld then go play club rugby.

your response was also poor. the grass is krappe but it's bowling green flat and it's same for both teams. the props that wanted to play had no problem in staying up

you're entitled to play on rock hard soil in thin air. we're entitled to play on soggy clay, on pallets.......... under a roof

change your studs if you're not happy. it was a great test match

Disapointed for Wales. SA there for the taking.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:

Casartelli wrote:very happy with that.  without adam and jd2, we've just been competitive against one of the top 2 sides in the world, with a team that suddenly included priestland, ashley beck and a seemingly positionless james hook

the south africans ferocity in converting opportunities is awesome

Sounds a bit self-defeatist. How can you be happy about a loss where you were capable of scoring a victory against the number two ranked side? Regardless of who was playing or who got injured, Wales had the opportunity to do better than lose by a small margin. They are much better than being satisfied with a win which I doubt very much the players at least will be feeling.

10 years ago, I would have agreed with Casartelli... Today? No. Kia you are Spot on

Pretty good game, though a bit scrappy at times.

Wales had a decent chance to win that one as SA weren't really firing but again it shows you've got to be able to score tries against NZ, SA or Aus to have a chance of beating them.

Considering the early injuries Wales did well to keep in touch there.

Another one that got away.

Cyril wrote:

Another one that got away.

And apart from a couple in Oz 2012 this was the biggest... sheesh the size of it!

RDSguru wrote:

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:

Casartelli wrote:very happy with that.  without adam and jd2, we've just been competitive against one of the top 2 sides in the world, with a team that suddenly included priestland, ashley beck and a seemingly positionless james hook

the south africans ferocity in converting opportunities is awesome

Sounds a bit self-defeatist. How can you be happy about a loss where you were capable of scoring a victory against the number two ranked side? Regardless of who was playing or who got injured, Wales had the opportunity to do better than lose by a small margin. They are much better than being satisfied with a win which I doubt very much the players at least will be feeling.

10 years ago, I would have agreed with Casartelli... Today? No. Kia you are Spot on

if biggar had started, jd2 and adam had stayed on for 60 mins+ then I'd agree with you

we're the first to admit we have no strength in depth - this was a good performance considering who was on the pitch for the majority of the game!

RDSguru wrote:

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:

Casartelli wrote:very happy with that.  without adam and jd2, we've just been competitive against one of the top 2 sides in the world, with a team that suddenly included priestland, ashley beck and a seemingly positionless james hook

the south africans ferocity in converting opportunities is awesome

Sounds a bit self-defeatist. How can you be happy about a loss where you were capable of scoring a victory against the number two ranked side? Regardless of who was playing or who got injured, Wales had the opportunity to do better than lose by a small margin. They are much better than being satisfied with a win which I doubt very much the players at least will be feeling.

10 years ago, I would have agreed with Casartelli... Today? No. Kia you are Spot on

yeah I think carst is in a minority tbh. Wales are better than that

The pitch excuse is laughable, seeing as the opposition play on the same pitch... SA just came to play a physical, calm and clinical game. They executed it well and it payed off. They probably won't need to up the tempo at all to remain unbeaten on this tour. I hope there are some squad changes for Arg and we play with the same sting in our tail, that way it should be a convincing enough win.

RDSguru wrote:

Taylorman wrote:tbh I think Wales uneven run against SH foe is partly due to that terrible pitch. It doesnt suit their ability to attack and its where they have to play all SH sides. Since 2010 theyve won 9 from 22 at home yet 12 from 25 away from home- including their matches in the SH, yet have a better record away.

Sure they clicked against England but at least in the 6N they get to play on better pitches.

Sounds silly but fix the pitch and their game just might serve them better. Its not the whole solution but I think its a factor. Wales are the most attacking side with the least attacking conducive home ground...charity begins at home I say.

But the opponents who beat us played on the same pitch! And in the case of SH Opponents you could argue they are even less used to it?

I think thats irrelevant. Wales style of play requires a firm ground so they start off the back foot immediately- every match. If you can't play on your own home ground the style you need to play as a side how can that be a good thing. We only have to play there once every two years or so- sure all sides might struggle there but Wales play every second match on it...

Hell, I hope we do improve, I can't stand it when we are so poor.

Scotland and France aren't exactly push overs

Come on Cas, the only difference Biggar would have made is throwing an interception pass to De Villiers....

Some people...  

Casartelli wrote:

RDSguru wrote:

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:

Casartelli wrote:very happy with that.  without adam and jd2, we've just been competitive against one of the top 2 sides in the world, with a team that suddenly included priestland, ashley beck and a seemingly positionless james hook

the south africans ferocity in converting opportunities is awesome

Sounds a bit self-defeatist. How can you be happy about a loss where you were capable of scoring a victory against the number two ranked side? Regardless of who was playing or who got injured, Wales had the opportunity to do better than lose by a small margin. They are much better than being satisfied with a win which I doubt very much the players at least will be feeling.

10 years ago, I would have agreed with Casartelli... Today? No. Kia you are Spot on

if biggar had started, jd2 and adam had stayed on for 60 mins+ then I'd agree with you

we're the first to admit we have no strength in depth - this was a good performance considering who was on the pitch for the majority of the game!

I am one of us!

We'd done enough to get back into the game with our "limited" depth, but we were capable of doing more, much more in terms of the scoreline.

I am blydi furious

Not sure taylorman- the best game I can remember Wales playing in my lifetime was this years 6nations clash at the millennium..

And the last tour to aus showed the same basic errors when they could have closed the games out

mystiroakey wrote:Not sure taylorman- the best game I can remember Wales playing in my lifetime was this years 6nations clash at the millennium..

And the last tour to aus showed the same basic errors when they could have closed the games out

insightful

Taylorman wrote:

RDSguru wrote:

Taylorman wrote:tbh I think Wales uneven run against SH foe is partly due to that terrible pitch. It doesnt suit their ability to attack and its where they have to play all SH sides. Since 2010 theyve won 9 from 22 at home yet 12 from 25 away from home- including their matches in the SH, yet have a better record away.

Sure they clicked against England but at least in the 6N they get to play on better pitches.

Sounds silly but fix the pitch and their game just might serve them better. Its not the whole solution but I think its a factor. Wales are the most attacking side with the least attacking conducive home ground...charity begins at home I say.

But the opponents who beat us played on the same pitch! And in the case of SH Opponents you could argue they are even less used to it?

I think thats irrelevant. Wales style of play requires a firm ground so they start off the back foot immediately- every match. If you can't play on your own home ground the style you need to play as a side how can that be a good thing. We only have to play there once every two years or so- sure all sides might struggle there but Wales play every second match on it...

I do understand what you're getting at, and to a certain degree I agree regarding style. My argument regarding our opponents cannot be irrelevant because they were there to beat us on the very same pitch. It does not explain the stats wholly.

This was extremely frustrating. Even with the injuries Wales ought to have win that. SA switched off in the second half and we still couldn't score. Very disappointing. Still at moments like these I remember that 20 years ago we wouldn't have even had this fixture as we were so poor. Anyone who remembers the 90s knows that it can be much worse.

mckay1402 wrote: Still at moments like these I remember that 20 years ago we wouldn't have even had this fixture as we were so poor.   Anyone who remembers the 90s knows that it can be much worse.

But that is what makes these recent results even more unbareable..... the day the SA crowd chanting for 100 points... gees, whilst it's great to see those days gone, dead and buried... here in the now.. we should be nailing these games

I find this "SA there for the taking" and blaming the ref to be a bit puzzling... SA scored 3 unanswered tries, with all of Wales' points coming from penalties awarded by... the ref. The structure of the game broke down and things became a bit scrappy, which worked in Wales favour imo. If SA had kept possession and kept to their game the difference would have been bigger. But keep on with all the one that got away talk...

RDSguru wrote:

Taylorman wrote:

RDSguru wrote:

Taylorman wrote:tbh I think Wales uneven run against SH foe is partly due to that terrible pitch. It doesnt suit their ability to attack and its where they have to play all SH sides. Since 2010 theyve won 9 from 22 at home yet 12 from 25 away from home- including their matches in the SH, yet have a better record away.

Sure they clicked against England but at least in the 6N they get to play on better pitches.

Sounds silly but fix the pitch and their game just might serve them better. Its not the whole solution but I think its a factor. Wales are the most attacking side with the least attacking conducive home ground...charity begins at home I say.

But the opponents who beat us played on the same pitch! And in the case of SH Opponents you could argue they are even less used to it?

I think thats irrelevant. Wales style of play requires a firm ground so they start off the back foot immediately- every match. If you can't play on your own home ground the style you need to play as a side how can that be a good thing. We only have to play there once every two years or so- sure all sides might struggle there but Wales play every second match on it...

I do understand what you're getting at, and to a certain degree I agree regarding style. My argument regarding our opponents cannot be irrelevant because they were there to beat us on the very same pitch. It does not explain the stats wholly.

no never said it explained the stats wholly in fact I made an effort to partially 'blame' the ground. What I do know is if the ABs had to play on a pitch like that every single test at home theyd be livid and it wouldnt actually be acceptable. I dont buy this its bad for both theory. We have standards because we all want to see and play our best rugby.

And explain this then..

Since 2010 why is Wales the only side to have a better away win record than at home- 52% loss away vs 54.5% loss at home? NZ, Aus, SA, Ire, Italy, Eng and France are those I checked- all have a lower home loss %.

I say thats compelling given Wales are 2 time winning 6N holders in that period.

.