Will the new pitch at the Millenium Stadium help Wales?

Wales v Australia will be the first match on the totally new and firmer semi-artificial pitch. Gone the old paletted job. Will this help Wales end the autumn whitewashes? It should speed things up, but maybe that will help the possibly fitter at present down under teams?

lauriehow wrote:Wales v Australia will be the first match on the totally new and firmer semi-artificial pitch. Gone the old paletted job. Will this help Wales end the autumn whitewashes? It should speed things up, but maybe that will help the possibly fitter at present down under teams?

Firstly its not the pitch that has made us lose in the past as its been in same condition for both teams. As for speeding things up, well if Gats picks Phillips at 9 then it won't matter any.

Got to be Webb - great pity Gareth Davies is crocked.

Pity they could not have had a warm up game - Aussie vs Baba's would have been ideal but it seems Twickers has the monopoly on the Baba games all of a sudden.

lauriehow wrote:Got to be Webb - great pity Gareth Davies is crocked.

We know that but won't be a surprise if Gatland goes with his faves

God i hope not . Webb all the way .Philips on bench i have no problem with . As for the New pitch lets hope its has natural ball bouncing tendencies

Glad they have clarified the forward pass laws since we last met Australia. That made much more difference than the pitch.

jimmyinthewell68 wrote:God i hope not . Webb all the way .Philips on bench i have no problem with . As for the New pitch  lets hope its has natural ball bouncing tendencies

I think most of us hope he goes with some of the form players but again most fear he will go for the tried and tested.

Same pitch as in Dublin and twickenham. I'd say a faster pitch would suit the SH teams more because thats what they're used to.

Its good that Wales and Scotland have their pitches sorted out. Should mean an extra few tries.

maestegmafia wrote:Glad they have clarified the forward pass laws since we last met Australia. That made much more difference than the pitch.

Is it correct that its now gone to any forward movement of the ball rather than take into account momentum?

No, it hasn't,

"Source (French)
Translated Source:
The FFR asked the IRB on the 8th January a clarification the rule regarding forward passes. The current point (2.6) stipulates that "the video ref shouldn't judge the trajectory of the ball but the action of the player that passed the ball, meaning that if the hands of the player passing the ball had a movement going backwards"
IRB's answer is "Match officials needs to watch in first the trajectory of the ball when it is leaving the player's hand. If that trajectory isn't clear or obvious, the direction of the hands can help with the decision"
This is a storm in a glass of water. What the IRB declares with this answer is that the direction of the hands shouldn't be the first thing to watch, only a guide to help making a choice in case of a complicated decision.
It is well precised that the trajectory "when the ball is leaving the players hand" is now the thing to be studied and not the overall trajectory of the pass. Two completely different things as explained by the now well-known video on the IRB website. We just gives less importance to the player's hands but the rules goes back to the old spirit.
This is a good thing because top-level players are working their movements in training. But this won't but the end of controversy as it will still be complicated to judge the trajectory of the ball "when it's leaving player's hands".

Players will still be able to legally score tries from legal passes in which the balls absolute trajectory is forward. And Wales will still need to improve their defence and discipline to have any hope of winning.