Six Nations 2016 Wales vs Scotland

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Wales v Scotland

4:50pm - Saturday the 13th of February 2016

Principality Stadium, Cardiff

Teams

Wales
15 Liam Williams
14 George North
13 Jonathan Davies
12 Jamie Roberts
11 Tom James
10 Dan Biggar
9 Gareth Davies
1 Rob Evans
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Samson Lee
4 Luke Charteris
5 Alun Wyn Jones
6 Sam Warburton (c)
7 Justin Tipuric
8 Taulupe Faletau

Reps: Ken Owens, Gethin Jenkins, Tomas Francis, Bradley Davies, Dan Lydiate, Lloyd Williams, Rhys Priestland, Gareth Anscombe

Scotland

15. Stuart Hogg
14. Sean Maitland
13. Mark Bennett
12. Dunc Taylor
11. Tommy Seymour
10. Finn Russell
09. Greig Laidlaw (c)

01. Alasdair Dickinson
02. Ross Ford
03. Willem Nel
04. Richie Gray
05. Jonny Gray
06. John Barclay
07. John Hardie
08. David Denton

Reps: McInally, Reid, Fagerson, Swinson, Cowan, Hidalgo-Clyne, Weir, Lamont



Referee is unfortunately George Clancy (IRFU) which ruins the game generally.

Touch judges: John Lacey (IRFU) & Federico Anselmi (UAR)

TMO: Graham Hughes (RFU)

mikey_dragon wrote:

Heaf wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:It happens in every game, at every box kick. Yet you only mention this one, hmmmm. I feel it's a non-issue and didn't really affect the game, and that fans are looking for excuses.

I was reading the same comments last year at multiple sites btw, same old regurgitated rubbish from the English.

Scored a try from it but it didn't affect the game which finished with a four point difference ... interesting

If the try was disallowed (which would have been the wrong decision) then how do you know the game would have went the way it did? I thought Scotland were lucky to get their 2nd try hence the four point finish. These things happen in every match yet you don't dissect it. That's the interesting part.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/gareth-davies-wonder-try-wales-10889858#ICID=sharebar_twitter



P.s. this is in no way me saying 'we wuz robbed', you just seem to be the only one who thinks the try should have stood!

RDW, I'm not the only one. That's a silly thing to say. I watched Davies move backwards before he went forwards, so there was an attempt there. Also having read Laidlaw's pathetic comments on that article I'd consider stripping him of the captain's armband - a pathetic excuse for letting in the try. I've also just been watching the highlights. Denton tackled Davies in the air, before North's length of the field break where when he was tackled Scottish players entered the ruck from an 'offside' position, the same thing happened after James' break. Clancy gave an easy 3 points against Samson Lee for not rolling away when he had 5 Scottish players lying on top of him. These things happen each week, I've no idea that when people think it might have worked in Wales' favour this on going knit picking comes out. Just last week Wales had an advantage because of an Irish knock-on, the advantage wasn't given to us and Ireland were awarded a penalty to draw - nobody batted an eye-lid.

Heaf wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

Heaf wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:It happens in every game, at every box kick. Yet you only mention this one, hmmmm. I feel it's a non-issue and didn't really affect the game, and that fans are looking for excuses.

I was reading the same comments last year at multiple sites btw, same old regurgitated rubbish from the English.

Scored a try from it but it didn't affect the game which finished with a four point difference ... interesting

If the try was disallowed (which would have been the wrong decision) then how do you know the game would have went the way it did? I thought Scotland were lucky to get their 2nd try hence the four point finish. These things happen in every match yet you don't dissect it. That's the interesting part.

I didn't claim the game would have gone the same way, in fact I'm sure it would have gone differently and we don't know what would have happened.  You're the one saying it didn't affect the game - which is clearly nonsense.

But you alluded to the four point difference, how do you know there would have been four points in it if it had went another way? Contradicting yourself much. These things happen every week so one would assume they don't really affect the game.

mikey_dragon wrote:RDW, I'm not the only one. That's a silly thing to say. I watched Davies move backwards before he went forwards, so there was an attempt there. Also having read Laidlaw's pathetic comments on that article I'd consider stripping him of the captain's armband - a pathetic excuse for letting in the try. I've also just been watching the highlights. Denton tackled Davies in the air, before North's length of the field break where when he was tackled Scottish players entered the ruck from an 'offside' position, the same thing happened after James' break. Clancy gave an easy 3 points against Samson Lee for not rolling away when he had 5 Scottish players lying on top of him. These things happen each week, I've no idea that when people think it might have worked in Wales' favour this on going knit picking comes out. Just last week Wales had an advantage because of an Irish knock-on, the advantage wasn't given to us and Ireland were awarded a penalty to draw - nobody batted an eye-lid.

I'm not interested in the 'everyone is against Wales' chat but when it comes to the technicalities of the try I very much disagree with you on the bit in bold - at the point the kick was made Davies only movement is forward! There is absolutely no attempt to retreat.

You're using this example to drive your agenda and it is just my opinion (and many, many others including qualified refs) that by the letter of the law it was not a try. But again I must stress I'm not saying we were robbed! As you say a lot of things are missed but this was scrutinized by the ref and TMO in slow mo.

As for your comments on Laidlaw he was asked by a journalist if he thought it was a try and he said

"Like Vern, I certainly thought it was offside as well. The scrum-half from the kick and then from Roberts, who tapped it back.

"You certainly saw that in our body language on the field, we were moving up and I thought we were going to get a penalty. Unfortunately not but we're never going to get that back are we?"

I think it is a gross over reaction to take offense to that - he's just saying it as it is! I've read several reports and apparently in the press conference they didn't labour the point and were keen to move the conversation away from it.

RDW_Scotland wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:RDW, I'm not the only one. That's a silly thing to say. I watched Davies move backwards before he went forwards, so there was an attempt there. Also having read Laidlaw's pathetic comments on that article I'd consider stripping him of the captain's armband - a pathetic excuse for letting in the try. I've also just been watching the highlights. Denton tackled Davies in the air, before North's length of the field break where when he was tackled Scottish players entered the ruck from an 'offside' position, the same thing happened after James' break. Clancy gave an easy 3 points against Samson Lee for not rolling away when he had 5 Scottish players lying on top of him. These things happen each week, I've no idea that when people think it might have worked in Wales' favour this on going knit picking comes out. Just last week Wales had an advantage because of an Irish knock-on, the advantage wasn't given to us and Ireland were awarded a penalty to draw - nobody batted an eye-lid.

I'm not interested in the 'everyone is against Wales' chat but when it comes to the technicalities of the try I very much disagree with you on the bit in bold - at the point the kick was made Davies only movement is forward! There is absolutely no attempt to retreat.

You're using this example to drive your agenda and it is just my opinion (and many, many others including qualified refs) that by the letter of the law it was not a try. But again I must stress I'm not saying we were robbed! As you say a lot of things are missed but this was scrutinized by the ref and TMO in slow mo.

As for your comments on Laidlaw he was asked by a journalist if he thought it was a try and he said

"Like Vern, I certainly thought it was offside as well. The scrum-half from the kick and then from Roberts, who tapped it back.

"You certainly saw that in our body language on the field, we were moving up and I thought we were going to get a penalty. Unfortunately not but we're never going to get that back are we?"

I think it is a gross over reaction to take offense to that - he's just saying it as it is! I've read several reports and apparently in the press conference they didn't labour the point and were keen to move the conversation away from it.

Your entitled to disagree. I just don't see why people knit-pick at this but avoid mentioning the things that should have went Wales' way. Like I've said though these things and the apparent offside are a regular occurrence in rugby.

Maybe it is an overreaction but every Scotland player at the time had no idea - I didn't notice anything at all in their body language. I think it's a poor excuse for bad defence and not being quick enough to catch Davies - so really he isn't saying it as he is, unless you were referring to Cotter who I think is being honest in calling it how he sees it. Total BS from Laidlaw though, why would you want a captain who does that.

Seagultaf wrote:

Shifty wrote:

Seagultaf wrote:Mikey he was unable to train on Wednesday and limping in the warm up how can that be fully fit? Your extreme views on Priestland are well know but apparently he is so rubbish that he is getting close to £300k at Bath, also I know Bath supporters who are critising Ford this season, the fact is Bath are not playing well so nobody looks good in a badly performing side. I am far from being a member of his fan club but I post my views objectively basing my comments on how they have performed rather than whether I like them or not.

£300k a season?
His agent deserves a medal for getting him that deal, Bath got screwed.  

Too right, I think on that salary he is one of the highest paid Welsh players! But ain't agents one of the problems, they advise their players to take the highest paying deal not because it's in the players best interest but because the agent himself gets the biggest commission. Priestland should have stayed at the Scarlets he would have benefited considerabley from Stephen Jones tutelage and the Scarlets have looked a side badly in need of a decent 10 this season.

Priestland isn't the answer then. Also, haven't you disagreed with me when I've said Scarlets don't have a decent fly-half this season?

It was actually a good move for Priestland. He won't get better or younger, so he must be laughing now that he's on that much money. I sincerely doubt Bath are laughing with him.

We're dissecting this because it led to a try and has had a lot of media attention! So it is worthy of discussion.

For every dodgy decision against Wales I'm sure we could list the same number against Scotland - a different referee wouldn't have let Wales get away with what they were doing to our maul IMO, and I think we could have justifiably had a scrum penalty during the Welsh siege on our line. But that's just my recollection of the game.

But as I said and you've said a lot of these things happen in a game - this one is being discussed because it is ths opinion of the majority that it shouldn't have been a try. All of the pundits were in agreement in that regard for instance.

mikey_dragon wrote:

Heaf wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

Heaf wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:It happens in every game, at every box kick. Yet you only mention this one, hmmmm. I feel it's a non-issue and didn't really affect the game, and that fans are looking for excuses.

I was reading the same comments last year at multiple sites btw, same old regurgitated rubbish from the English.

Scored a try from it but it didn't affect the game which finished with a four point difference ... interesting

If the try was disallowed (which would have been the wrong decision) then how do you know the game would have went the way it did? I thought Scotland were lucky to get their 2nd try hence the four point finish. These things happen in every match yet you don't dissect it. That's the interesting part.

I didn't claim the game would have gone the same way, in fact I'm sure it would have gone differently and we don't know what would have happened.  You're the one saying it didn't affect the game - which is clearly nonsense.

But you alluded to the four point difference, how do you know there would have been four points in it if it had went another way? Contradicting yourself much. These things happen every week so one would assume they don't really affect the game.

My reference to the 4 point difference was that it was a close game so to say a try has no affect is just nonsense - to be honest even a big margin wouldn't necessarily mean it had no affect as as you agree nobody knows what would have happened after that point had the try been disallowed.

Heaf, so how about the things I alluded to, including the 3 points given for piling on top of Samson Lee - did they all have no affect too?

I'm not sure which points you're referring to but if the officials got it wrong then yes they would have affected the game too - you're the one saying the try had no effect, not me.

All incorrect decisions have an effect - I've not said anywhere Scotland would have won etc if it were not for the incorrect call.  All I've said is it was incorrect and to say it had no effect doesn't make sense.  What effect that was we can never know.

Unfortunately you've extrapolated that into an anti-Wales attack when it was nothing of the sort.

You don't mention it when it happens to other teams. You didn't pick up on England getting away with scrum infringements in the World Cup game.

Griff wrote:Anyone else thoroughly bored by the 6N so far? Tension, yes. But entertainment? Not so far for me.

Way too much bish, bash, bosh isn't it and backs are as big as forwards these days. Off the top of my head, maybe there should be weight limits for backs. Something to ponder.

mikey_dragon wrote:You don't mention it when it happens to other teams. You didn't pick up on England getting away with scrum infringements in the World Cup game.

Well you're wrong again - I raised questions about the decisions in the France v Italy match going against Italy and I've made observations about officiating errors in plenty of other matches not involving Wales.  It's just your fixation with your perceived persecution doesn't allow you to see that.

Griff wrote:Anyone else thoroughly bored by the 6N so far? Tension, yes. But entertainment? Not so far for me.

Feel a bit that way myself. Often, the old rivalries compensate for errors on the pitch but it all feels a bit flat at the moment. That goes for all teams, not just the two in this thread.

Rugby Fan wrote:

Griff wrote:Anyone else thoroughly bored by the 6N so far? Tension, yes. But entertainment? Not so far for me.

Feel a bit that way myself. Often, the old rivalries compensate for errors on the pitch but it all feels a bit flat at the moment. That goes for all teams, not just the two in this thread.

Post RWC's always feel a bit like this, just look at the amount of injuries and debuts being given, everyone is in a bit of a transition period and tbh I get the feeling the players would be far better with this period to rest.

Fanster wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:

Griff wrote:Anyone else thoroughly bored by the 6N so far? Tension, yes. But entertainment? Not so far for me.

Feel a bit that way myself. Often, the old rivalries compensate for errors on the pitch but it all feels a bit flat at the moment. That goes for all teams, not just the two in this thread.

Post RWC's always feel a bit like this, just look at the amount of injuries and debuts being given, everyone is in a bit of a transition period and tbh I get the feeling the players would be far better with this period to rest.

Try watching the 6n leading try scoring nation. Plenty of entertaining tries from the likes of Nowell, Joseph, Farrell et al
You have to wait for the 2nd half mainly.

gregortree wrote:

Fanster wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:

Griff wrote:Anyone else thoroughly bored by the 6N so far? Tension, yes. But entertainment? Not so far for me.

Feel a bit that way myself. Often, the old rivalries compensate for errors on the pitch but it all feels a bit flat at the moment. That goes for all teams, not just the two in this thread.

Post RWC's always feel a bit like this, just look at the amount of injuries and debuts being given, everyone is in a bit of a transition period and tbh I get the feeling the players would be far better with this period to rest.

Try watching the 6n leading try scoring nation. Plenty of entertaining tries from the likes of Nowell, Joseph, Farrell et al
You have to wait for the 2nd half mainly.

hahaha I can hear the tremble from boots down south...

You mean Paris ?

This is just a classic "Clancy" post-match thread. Both sets of fans pouring over the footage trying to figure out 80 minutes of bemusing decisions. He is incompetent.

That all said, my summary of the match is as follows:

Closely fought game, decided by a margin of 4 points. Neither side performed to a high level, and both sides made some pretty daft unforced errors. Wales have better players, and in the key moments those players come to the fore. If I had to pick a MOTM I'd have gone with AWJ. His work at the mauls and around the rucks was technically excellent (in tandem with Charteris), and a number of times Scotland had field position and yet couldn't convert it into anything meaningful. On the Scotland side I thought Seymour was excellent. Unusually excellent under the high ball and a livewire throughout. Once again I find myself down about another defeat, but not without optimism that these players are capable of more. Not sure how long that'll last. It is absolutely essential that we beat Italy in the next round.

Who won MOTM btw?

There always seems to be a bit of needle in these fixtures, Finn Russel last year, Stuart Hogg the year before, Shane William's foot in touch try, Rhys' Webb's try, there is always a load of arguing after the game.

For me Wales were rubbish again on Saturday, no pre-planned backs moves, all bish, bash, bosh again, kicking the ball away far too often, to many basic errors, saying that, Biggar was 100% with the boot, and our big name players came to the fore when we needed them. Also, in saying that, there was not one moment on Saturday where I thought Wales would lose, Scotland just never broke away when they could have, and I think the scoreline flattered them a bit, just like last year.

Fanster wrote:Who won MOTM btw?

Jamie Roberts. He tackled someone with his face a few minutes before Jiffy had to make the call and so they had the slow motion footage handy for the award to be given. He had a decent game, but AWJ sacked about four Scottish mauls in dangerous positions.

LordDowlais wrote:There always seems to be a bit of needle in these fixtures, Finn Russel last year, Stuart Hogg the year before, Shane William's foot in touch try, Rhys' Webb's try, there is always a load of arguing after the game.

For me Wales were rubbish again on Saturday, no pre-planned backs moves, all bish, bash, bosh again, kicking the ball away far too often, to many basic errors, saying that, Biggar was 100% with the boot, and our big name players came to the fore when we needed them. Also, in saying that, there was not one moment on Saturday where I thought Wales would lose, Scotland just never broke away when they could have, and I think the scoreline flattered them a bit, just like last year.

Does that mean you won both actually and morally?

funnyExiledScot wrote:Does that mean you won both actually and morally?

There is no such thing as a moral victory. 

The only thing that is real are the result.

Scotland can keep clocking up these moral victories, they can keep em coming, Wales on the other hand have just gone another 6N without losing to Scotland since 2007.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Fanster wrote:Who won MOTM btw?

Jamie Roberts. He tackled someone with his face a few minutes before Jiffy had to make the call and so they had the slow motion footage handy for the award to be given. He had a decent game, but AWJ sacked about four Scottish mauls in dangerous positions.

This demonstrates perfectly how different perceptions can be. Another poster (fa0019) on the Davies Try thread is critical of the ref for not penalizing AWJ for maul infringements. Fa reckons they were illegal but you think he should get MOTM for them! It's a funny old game, from a fan perspective!

Griff wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Fanster wrote:Who won MOTM btw?

Jamie Roberts. He tackled someone with his face a few minutes before Jiffy had to make the call and so they had the slow motion footage handy for the award to be given. He had a decent game, but AWJ sacked about four Scottish mauls in dangerous positions.

This demonstrates perfectly how different perceptions can be.  Another poster (fa0019) on the Davies Try thread is critical of the ref for not penalizing AWJ for maul infringements.  Fa reckons they were illegal but you think he should get MOTM for them!  It's a funny old game, from a fan perspective!

Is that 2 from 2 for the doc now? I personally thought Charteris was immense, but would also have given Falatau MOTM last week!

Could be worse, they couldve given it to Gareth Davies on 65 mins hahahaha

Griff wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Fanster wrote:Who won MOTM btw?

Jamie Roberts. He tackled someone with his face a few minutes before Jiffy had to make the call and so they had the slow motion footage handy for the award to be given. He had a decent game, but AWJ sacked about four Scottish mauls in dangerous positions.

This demonstrates perfectly how different perceptions can be.  Another poster (fa0019) on the Davies Try thread is critical of the ref for not penalizing AWJ for maul infringements.  Fa reckons they were illegal but you think he should get MOTM for them!  It's a funny old game, from a fan perspective!

I thought they were mostly illegal as well (particularly the one where his feet weren't touching the ground and he climbed over), but extremely effective and weren't penalised. McCaw made a career of winning MOTM awards by influencing games through some borderline tactics. I think you'd have to be a naive fan to believe that AWJ doesn't deserve credit for exerting huge influence on the game and getting away with it.

LordDowlais wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Does that mean you won both actually and morally?

There is no such thing as a moral victory. 

The only thing that is real are the result.

Scotland can keep clocking up these moral victories, they can keep em coming, Wales on the other hand have just gone another 6N without losing to Scotland since 2007.

But not the scoreline evidently. You crack me up.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Griff wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Fanster wrote:Who won MOTM btw?

Jamie Roberts. He tackled someone with his face a few minutes before Jiffy had to make the call and so they had the slow motion footage handy for the award to be given. He had a decent game, but AWJ sacked about four Scottish mauls in dangerous positions.

This demonstrates perfectly how different perceptions can be.  Another poster (fa0019) on the Davies Try thread is critical of the ref for not penalizing AWJ for maul infringements.  Fa reckons they were illegal but you think he should get MOTM for them!  It's a funny old game, from a fan perspective!

I thought they were mostly illegal as well (particularly the one where his feet weren't touching the ground and he climbed over), but extremely effective and weren't penalised. McCaw made a career of winning MOTM awards by influencing games through some borderline tactics. I think you'd have to be a naive fan to believe that AWJ doesn't deserve credit for exerting huge influence on the game and getting away with it.

Not arguing with you FES, genuinely. My memory of the game is far too hazy as it was my first drink since New Years Eve! Can't really remember the mauls specifically, and AWJ's role in them. Just pointing out how interesting it is the way two people can view the same thing - one full of praise, the other indignation.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Does that mean you won both actually and morally?

There is no such thing as a moral victory. 

The only thing that is real are the result.

Scotland can keep clocking up these moral victories, they can keep em coming, Wales on the other hand have just gone another 6N without losing to Scotland since 2007.

But not the scoreline evidently. You crack me up.

What are you on about ?

Scoreline at the end of the game equals result.

You just keep those moral victories coming.

Fanster wrote:Who won MOTM btw?

It was Roberts, the guy who got the moral MOTM against Ireland last week.

funnyExiledScot wrote:This is just a classic "Clancy" post-match thread. Both sets of fans pouring over the footage trying to figure out 80 minutes of bemusing decisions. He is incompetent.

That all said, my summary of the match is as follows:

Closely fought game, decided by a margin of 4 points. Neither side performed to a high level, and both sides made some pretty daft unforced errors. Wales have better players, and in the key moments those players come to the fore. If I had to pick a MOTM I'd have gone with AWJ. His work at the mauls and around the rucks was technically excellent (in tandem with Charteris), and a number of times Scotland had field position and yet couldn't convert it into anything meaningful. On the Scotland side I thought Seymour was excellent. Unusually excellent under the high ball and a livewire throughout. Once again I find myself down about another defeat, but not without optimism that these players are capable of more. Not sure how long that'll last. It is absolutely essential that we beat Italy in the next round.

#lawyered

LordDowlais wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Does that mean you won both actually and morally?

There is no such thing as a moral victory. 

The only thing that is real are the result.

Scotland can keep clocking up these moral victories, they can keep em coming, Wales on the other hand have just gone another 6N without losing to Scotland since 2007.

But not the scoreline evidently. You crack me up.

What are you on about ?

Scoreline at the end of the game equals result.

You just keep those moral victories coming.

You said the scoreline flattered Scotland. In other words you feel that Wales' performance merited a greater margin of victory, and Wales by extension did better than the scoreline suggested. You then go on to say that only the result matters, and the only thing that's real is the result, which equals the scoreline.

I'm just going to assume that you've been drinking.

Out of interest, do you support Donald Trump?

funnyExiledScot wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Does that mean you won both actually and morally?

There is no such thing as a moral victory. 

The only thing that is real are the result.

Scotland can keep clocking up these moral victories, they can keep em coming, Wales on the other hand have just gone another 6N without losing to Scotland since 2007.

But not the scoreline evidently. You crack me up.

What are you on about ?

Scoreline at the end of the game equals result.

You just keep those moral victories coming.

You said the scoreline flattered Scotland. In other words you feel that Wales' performance merited a greater margin of victory, and Wales by extension did better than the scoreline suggested. You then go on to say that only the result matters, and the only thing that's real is the result, which equals the scoreline.

I'm just going to assume that you've been drinking.

Out of interest, do you support Donald Trump?

FES. Highlight of my day.

Late to the party again.....

Wales positives:
North - looking busy, looking for space!!!!!!
Roberts - again
Faletau - again
2nd row was fantastic (took down maul after maul legally or not....)
Rob Evans - 2nd game in a row he was excellant imo, another 1 or 2 solid outings and he cements his place at loosehead.

Negatives:
Warbs/Tips - I've been one of those calling for this for a long while and in 2 games it sfailed, Lydiate has been sorely missed and Warbs has suffered becuase of it.
Gareth Davies - slow and ponderous from the ruck again, box kicking not great either (his finish was sublime mind)
Liam Williams - mistake after mistake, hes not match fit for me, you can see it quite clearly.

My opinion on Scotland:
Laidlaw made more line breaks against us than I thought he had in him in his whole career.
Seymour was the best back on the pitch.
WP Nel was a liability by the end of the game
Had Hogg stayed on it could have been a different game with our aimless kicking ,he looked 'up for it'.
Scotland were the stronger team for 60minutes today, they just seemed to fade away towards the end, I was actually quite surprised by Taylors try, great line but poor decision making from Priestland/Faletau and the less said about Anscombe as the last line of defence the better....

Whether its fitness or the intensity of the game, something just went out of the scottish lungs towards the end and Wales seemed to up theres.

Was left feeling extremely deflated as a welsh fan, Scotland could, and probably should have taken that game by the scruff of the neck.

Look I wouldn't (and couldn't) take anything away from the Welsh.  They know how to do rugby - period.  And that means always arrive ready to fight, always arrive ready to play an 80 minutes full, always arrive with the intent that you are the best team on the field and are about to prove it.

Welsh attitude and natural skill levels have always been much of the ingredients in their successes - but the real distance between Welsh sides and many of their opponents in the last however many years that Gatland has been involved is I feel in their supreme readiness to last the pace of a fast and physical game.  And that's become a bit of a legendary aspect now as Gatland is recalled demanding the highest levels of conditioning before each challenge.
Scotland just couldn't keep their train going as the Welsh one got fresher and looser and more opportunistic the more the game went on.  
To have a chance in modern rugby at its highest, you need plenty of oxygen going to the legs and brain well into and beyond a second half.  If you don't have it, your brain dies first, you make mistakes that your feet aren't quick enough to rectify.  Scotland ran out of puff.

[quote="Comfort"]Late to the party again.....

Wales positives:
North - looking busy, looking for space!!!!!!  
Roberts - again
Faletau - again
2nd row was fantastic (took down maul after maul legally or not....)
Rob Evans - 2nd game in a row he was excellant imo, another 1 or 2 solid outings and he cements his place at loosehead.

Negatives:
Warbs/Tips - I've been one of those calling for this for a long while and in 2 games it sfailed, Lydiate has been sorely missed and Warbs has suffered becuase of it.
Gareth Davies - slow and ponderous from the ruck again, box kicking not great either (his finish was sublime mind)
Liam Williams - mistake after mistake, hes not match fit for me, you can see it quite clearly.

Agree on all the positives

Negatives - Again agree on the Tips/Warbs and have never been convinced it would work as well as Warbs/Lydiate and for me they have to start against France.
Thought Davies was bit better this week but not by much, then again I think box kicking is one of Webbs weak areas to.
Williams has been rushed back in, unfortunately Anscombe done himself no favours defensively on the weekend. Gatland says he sees Amos as a fullback, is it worth giving him a shot maybe?

mikey_dragon wrote:

Seagultaf wrote:

Shifty wrote:

Seagultaf wrote:Mikey he was unable to train on Wednesday and limping in the warm up how can that be fully fit? Your extreme views on Priestland are well know but apparently he is so rubbish that he is getting close to £300k at Bath, also I know Bath supporters who are critising Ford this season, the fact is Bath are not playing well so nobody looks good in a badly performing side. I am far from being a member of his fan club but I post my views objectively basing my comments on how they have performed rather than whether I like them or not.

£300k a season?
His agent deserves a medal for getting him that deal, Bath got screwed.  

Too right, I think on that salary he is one of the highest paid Welsh players! But ain't agents one of the problems, they advise their players to take the highest paying deal not because it's in the players best interest but because the agent himself gets the biggest commission. Priestland should have stayed at the Scarlets he would have benefited considerabley from Stephen Jones tutelage and the Scarlets have looked a side badly in need of a decent 10 this season.

Priestland isn't the answer then. Also, haven't you disagreed with me when I've said Scarlets don't have a decent fly-half this season?

It was actually a good move for Priestland. He won't get better or younger, so he must be laughing now that he's on that much money. I sincerely doubt Bath are laughing with him.

Sorry Mikey you have completely lost me with your first paragraph, I haven't a clue what you are trying to say!

Priestland = bad.
Biggar = World Class.

I think that covers it.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Priestland = bad.
Biggar = World Class.

I think that covers it.

Spot on. This should be readable for those lacking in basic comprehension skills. Thanks for doing it FES.

I can't agree with your comment about comprehension skills Mikey, surely "bad" has to have a capital "B"

Was it Priestland who jumped out of the line to let the Scots through for their last try?

funnyExiledScot wrote:Priestland = bad.
Biggar = World Class.

I think that covers it.

Now that I understand as the Mikey we all know! Still don't understand his first paragraph though.

Seagultaf wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Priestland = bad.
Biggar = World Class.

I think that covers it.

Now that I understand as the Mikey we all know! Still don't understand his first paragraph though.

Then you must be stupid. Let's look at what you said;
"Priestland should have stayed at the Scarlets he would have benefited considerabley from Stephen Jones tutelage and the Scarlets have looked a side badly in need of a decent 10 this season."
Scarlets need a decent 10, that much we know. You seem to suggest that if RP stayed you would have had a decent 10. He isn't decent, therefore he isn't and would not have been the answer to your issue.

I pointed out last season that Shingler doesn't look as if he can play to the standard required. I had 10 posts from Scarlets fans disagreeing, and you were probably one of them. Looks like the tables have turned now, I'm just surprised it's taken a few of you this long to realise. Scarlets have average half-backs outside of Gareth Davies yet they're always talked up like they're better. All supporters west of Cardiff are insane when it comes to talking up all of their players.

The Scarlet's backline next year will include G. Davies, Patchell, SW, JD, DTH, Liam and shove that Hedley Parkes somewhere a he's a beast - That is a cracking first choice back line that should get Scarlets playing their traditional way. With a secure platform there are reasons to be optimistic. It's the secure platform bit I'm still not sure about but that's one hell of a backline.