Peter Winterbottom looks back at last week

It's with a heavy heart that I start reading comments on matches from most former players. No matter how sublime they were out on the pitch, not many have anything interesting to say about today's matches.

It was a nice surprise, then, to see an interview with PeterWinterbottom on Planet Rugby:

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16016_9023570,00.html

I thought he was concise about the strength of New Zealand, and the weaknesses in Wales and England.

In an article about the "November Tests" his only mention of Ireland is " Ireland made light work of Samoa" Oh well.

Remember him as a player and a very good one too. His last match was a 17-3 loss to Ireland.

I agree with most of that, particularly that Wales were never going to run through the Springboks and that Gatland should have realised that before the match not after it (Scott Johnson won't be as stupid) and that the presence of Farrell at ten is one of the primary reasons that England's backs aren't clicking.

GunsGerms wrote:In an article about the "November Tests" his only mention of Ireland is " Ireland made light work of Samoa" Oh well.

Remember him as a player and a very good one too.  His last match was a 17-3 loss to Ireland.

That wasn't even him saying that. It was an interview piece, that was the interviewer.

Ah well, we'll slip in under the radar as the world class sides fight it out for the headlines

Peter Winterbottom wrote:When Davies was on the pitch, he attacked the space, not the man.

This is true. I get coached that at Risca, so it's hardly a thing that Howley etc should be missing, that you aim for branches rather than the main body. Also, I would hope our video analysis session highlighted the body angles of some of our players. With the way our forwards run, we invite turnovers/spilled ball etc. Need to run lower and maybe try not taking a ball standing still once in a while too? Still, what do I know.