The Opposition Thread

[maestegmafia]

First topic message reminder :

Hopefully a bit of fun

Which player in the opposing team do you:-

- Fear the most as an incredible talent?

- Can’t understand why the opposition select him?

- Aspect of their game you wish your team could do?

- The area you think your team will have an advantage?


This should be a highly competitive Six Nations Championship. Even Italy can take a big scalp, just look a bit more closely at how well Treviso are doing this season. French clubs are playing great rugby, they have all he right players, as do the Scots who had a brilliant tournament last year. The Welsh English and Irish are all in the top five of the World Rugby International Rankings.

[lostinwales]

Speak for yourself. I think he is a very good player.

Oh he's a vital part of the Welsh pack, and you can't underestimate the importance of what he brings to it. But would you honestly have him in the Irish 2nd row? Because I don't think he'd get anywhere near the wider English squad let alone the matchday 23.

[maestegmafia]

- Fear the most as an incredible talent?

Parisse is still a player smart enough and talented enough to get that sly pass, to read the game, to inspire

- Can’t understand why the opposition select him?

There is t anyone I could fairly list

- Aspect of their game you wish your team could do?

Wales have the heavy weight of expectation and Italy don’t

- The area you think your team will have an advantage?

Man for man we have better players

[No 7&1/2]

Fear Fickou.just an incredibly talented player. Even if we're on top with the pack on Sunday every time he gets the ball he has the potential go cause havoc and panic.

Basteraud for why do they pick him. I've seen him have good games of course but I've mainly seen him plod an be bypassed. Obviously going to have a stormer now.

Aspect of play. When france do start to.offload its a magical thing. Why they don't more often I don't know.

Fitness. Easy and obvious if you avoid getting ground into the dirt early doors.

[Pie]

Parisse past his prime but he is a talisman and if he is allowed any space can cause difficulties. Italy were very very impressive against Scots in last 10 minutes bu ti think they will find Wales harder to handle. We'll win, it will be tighter than a gnats chuff for a while but I expect we will prevail by 10 plus in the end

[Collapse2005]

Speak for yourself. I think he is a very good player.

Oh he's a vital part of the Welsh pack, and you can't underestimate the importance of what he brings to it. But would you honestly have him in the Irish 2nd row? Because I don't think he'd get anywhere near the wider English squad let alone the matchday 23.

I don't know maybe. The thing is no-one outside of Ireland would choose Rory Best for their squads but I wouldn't swap him for anyone as he is Ireland's most successful ever captain and in some ways the heart beat of the Ireland side.

I think AWJ is something similar for Wales.

[lostinwales]

Speak for yourself. I think he is a very good player.

Oh he's a vital part of the Welsh pack, and you can't underestimate the importance of what he brings to it. But would you honestly have him in the Irish 2nd row? Because I don't think he'd get anywhere near the wider English squad let alone the matchday 23.

I don't know maybe. The thing is no-one outside of Ireland would choose Rory Best for their squads but I wouldn't swap him for anyone as he is Ireland's most successful ever captain and in some ways the heart beat of the Ireland side.

I think AWJ is something similar for Wales.

Yes that is what I am getting at.

It is the whole history of a player with a team which can impact how he fits in, which does not apply to how he'd fit in with another.

[LondonTiger]

Fear the most as an incredible talent?
Wales - Liam Williams


Can’t understand why the opposition select him?
Wales - Rob Evans


Aspect of their game you wish your team could do?
Wales - defensive organisation


The area you think your team will have an advantage?
Wales - genuine pace out wide

 Just reposting this (I did all the teams in one go). See no reason to change anything, though progress does seem to be being made in our defence.

[No 7&1/2]

Fear. Has to be liam Williams. So talented even if he can't stop a pig in a passage way.
Can't understand why they pick him. When everyone is fit I don't see how moriarty is even mentioned. World.class.tackler: not much else. Given injuries though and it's easyntonsee why he's there at present.
Turnover specialists. Wales when they're in the mood can cause havoc. It's been a huge improvement by England this 6ns to secure ball quickly and effectively. That will be sorely tested in 2 weeks.
Advantage to England? We'll make metres ball in hand but it's a double edged sword to ensure we don't get isolated for the above point.

[robbo277]

Fear the most as an incredible talent?
North. I don't think he's been the most consistent recently, but he's a genuine match-winner in that Welsh backline. He can get on the end of stuff or he can create things with his strength, speed and rugby instinct.

Can’t understand why the opposition select him?
Halfpenny. I get it, he's a good goalkicker, but Biggar isn't bad in that respect either. Halfpenny started as an exciting winger, but he seems to have developed into a fullback with rock solid basics but little attacking threat. If I were picking Halfpenny, I'd potentially put him back at 14 with Liam Williams at 15, who can offer a much greater counter-attacking threat.

Aspect of their game you wish your team could do?
Play rugby. Obviously we can play rugby. But when Wales flip the switch and really play it's a sight to behold. Instances are perhaps a bit few and far between, but at Twickenham in 2016 Wales went from 25-7 down to 25-21 down in the blink of an eye and were attacking again just before the end. With recent memories of a 25-28 loss to Wales at Twickenham still fresh in the mind, I think it's the closest I've come to feeling genuine fear sitting on the sofa.

The area you think your team will have an advantage?
Structured attack. Wales can play, but England's more predictable attack is hard to stop. You can know that we want to kick into your backfield, but can you take a man out of front line defence to bolster the backfield? We have big carriers to hold the defence narrow and then fast outside backs to take advantage of the space that would leave. You'd be brave to stick two back. But then if you leave your fullback isolated, Youngs and Farrell have the ball on a piece of string at the moment, so you're well-stocked front line defence will spend more of the game facing their own posts. This control should hopefully tip the game our way.

[maestegmafia]

- Fear the most as an incredible talent?

Slade. And he has really come to the fore this season internationally. A superb runner, clever passer and kicker with excellent pace. Gives England’s attack a dimension they didn’t have before.

- Can’t understand why the opposition select him?

No one at the moment. Eddie has got his selection spot on and the team are playing great rugby.

- Aspect of their game you wish your team could do?

Read the opposition back three and play what you see accurately and with confidence. Also a pretty faultless set piece.

- The area you think your team will have an advantage?

Depending on the team Wales select but we have some superb loose forwards who are great at the breakdown.

[maestegmafia]

Fear the most as an incredible talent?
Wales - Liam Williams


Can’t understand why the opposition select him?
Wales - Rob Evans


Aspect of their game you wish your team could do?
Wales - defensive organisation


The area you think your team will have an advantage?
Wales - genuine pace out wide

 Just reposting this (I did all the teams in one go). See no reason to change anything, though progress does seem to be being made in our defence.

Interesting you point to Rob Evans, he also didn’t make Warburtons choice in the Times this weekend.

Very highly rated prop who has regularly made six nations team of the week on many sites.

[BamBam]

Fear the most as an incredible talent?
Tipuric and Liam W - both top class players with the skill and athleticism to create havoc for our defence

Can’t understand why the opposition select him?
Think I'm vocal enough on this topic for everyone to know who I think is massively overrated for Wales.


Aspect of their game you wish your team could do?
Ability to suddenly cut loose even when they've been gash for the entire game beforehand. They've done it to us a few times and come dangerously close

The area you think your team will have an advantage?
Physicality up front, May and Daly's pace

[Ricardo74]

I haven't played this game yet, so let's have at it!

Fear the most as an incredible talent?
Liam Williams - genuinely World class with ball in hand. Electric, and has the vision to carve up a broken field. His break to spark the move leading to the SOB try for the Lions was glorious.

Can’t understand why the opposition select him?
Samson Lee. Look, I know we need prop forwards. I know there was a time before the likes of Mako and Sinkler where having no discernable skill other than leaning on the other big lads was the required skillset, but the game has moved on. Brian Moore described him in commentary as "a cannonball with eyes", and he's got about the same handling ability. Not that I'd say it to his face, mind you.

Aspect of their game you wish your team could do?
Galvanise an entire country to come come behind the team. Wales and NZ are the most fanatical supporters across the entire country, and with the football base in England we'll never reach that.

The area you think your team will have an advantage?
Speed out of the blocks, and pace across the park. Especially May, but there are others. That and Farrell's desire to win, by any means, gives us the edge, I think.

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