Delve

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Gareth Delve wins Melborune Rebels' fans accolade

Wales World Cup hopeful Gareth Delve has won Melbourne Rebels' fans player of the season crown.

The 29-year-old number eight moved to the Super 15 side from Gloucester for their inaugural season and has won widespread admiration for his efforts.

Delve's form brought him a call-up to Wales coach Warren Gatland's 45-strong preliminary World Cup squad.

His back-row rivals are Toby Faletau, Andy Powell, Jonathan Thomas, Ryan Jones, Josh Turnbull and Rob McCusker
BBC LINK
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Well done that man now let's see him turn it on for Wales.

Andy Powell, the guy should be nowhere near the squad!

In the Western Mail today Delve has jointed the Poland trip for the 4 remaining days, does this mean Gatland is giving him a chance or he is concerned about the lack of experience in the back row with R Jones likely to back up the second row?

I have said earlier, I rather have Welsh based players in the squad and I would rather have another second row in the squad ( I Evans if fit) instead of Delve.

glam,

This is a topic will def have to dis-agree on IMO Delve HAS to go to NZ ans would start in my first XV

glam what, that is a load of rubbish, if you are good enough to represent your country then you should not be allowed merley for not playing in wales-i mean next year we would lose alot of our 1st team players

If the away players are/were not released for training how can you get an integrated team together when some players are part time and treated different to the core of the team , I suspect this will have a similar affect on team spirit with Henson walking into the squad. If the players have release clauses and the can turn up to training like everybody else then I don't have a problem.

It also stated in the article he was suffering from a knee injury from his last game, nothing new there.

yes but delve is not like henson and is the rebels fans player of the season for a reason

The question is would he get into any of the top teams rather than be the best player in a poor team?

well the commentators down under seem to think he is pretty good and they are incredibly biased towards their own nations, (all i am saying glam is no offence but i wouldnt want you to manage wales on the policy) we dont have the player base to support our nations ambitions we need to allow our top players to move to a better league (top 14) while we develop up and coming talent in the ML

When injury free Delve was consistently been Gloucesters best forward and during his time at Bath

Bedford:

That is the problem, he is injured again going to this camp, he has not been involved with training and not part of the "team" bonding. Every time I have seen him I thought he was slow but most of my comments are based on limited highlights as he does not play in Wales hence my comments I prefer selecting players you can compare on an equal footing to those playing at home. I thought the article in the western mail today covering the back row i.e., Delve is likely to push out up and coming Turnbull or Mc Cusker out of the squad, is that good for the future?

I suppose if he breaks down in the first game we can call in a replacement but the temptation is to try to live with what we have got.

delve is a better 8 than either jones thomas or powell however he can only play 8 he is not able to play 6 or another position. I wouldnt take powell and i would take delve. for the the back row it would be warbutton williams delve jones thomas lydiate

glam,

He played at Bath and then Gloucester, hardly end of the earth and I personally know that the Welsh management did keep regular tabs on him when at Kingsholm.

If he's injured well thats a different matter but I don't have a problem with him going ahead of Turnbull or McCusker as their time will come as for it being in the WM well its got to be true then .

Tec,

He has played 6 before for Gloucester but I think him being an out n out No8 is what we need, a specialist there and nota 'jack of all trades'. Powell shouldn't be anywhere near squad IMO

tbh our flankers are sorted, warbuton and lydiate work very well together and they work well with jones or toby f (as we saw in the ba bas) and delve seems the kind of guy who could easily slot in and surely all this praise from down under he is getting must mean he is doing something good

tecphobe wrote:delve is a better 8 than either jones thomas or powell however he can only play 8 he is not able to play 6 or another position. I wouldnt take powell and i would take delve. for the the back row it would be warbutton williams delve jones thomas lydiate

Warren, is that you? I can't think of anyone else who wants Thomas near the World Cup squad, unless you're English of course.


Personally I'd take Warbuton, Faletau, Lydiate, Delve, Williams and McCusker.

turkster,

Can I assume by that, you expect R Jones to go as a 2nd rower cos lets be honest he will go. I think that would be the best option

Definitely 2nd row, along with Alun Wyn-Jones, Bradley Davies and Luke Charteris

Yh I think thats the best solution all round as it opens up another back row slot, not sure if Williams will go though.

Heart says yes take him head starting to ask is it one Comp to far?

If not Williams then Tuperic, I don't think I'd take Turnbull.

[quote="bedfordwelsh"]glam,

He played at Bath and then Gloucester, hardly end of the earth and I personally know that the Welsh management did keep regular tabs on him when at Kingsholm.

If he's injured well thats a different matter but I don't have a problem with him going ahead of Turnbull or McCusker as their time will come as for it being in the WM well its got to be true then .

Bedford:

Agree the Glaws and Bath were not far but he could not get into the team as first choice so what makes you think he is better now based on reports playing in the worst super 15 team! It is crazy that some on here are saying he is our best 8 with minimal exposure, we may see in the games coming up before ejecting promising younger players, I have my doubts based on his past history. I hope my doubts are unfounded, i.e., he will stay fit and stand out!

glam,

I fear this is something we will never agree on or see eye to eye about.

The way a succession of coaches have ignored him is baffling to me given the fact that they are all ask to play to their best to get selected.

Delve has been the form Welsh No8 for the past 3 seasons and most probably one of the form No8s in the GP, so IMO that should have been enough to get him selected long before now.

Could it be that Gareth Delve is too much his own man for Warren Gatland? In other words, has Gatland been preferring yes men over someone who'll voice his opinions?

Just a thought.

lp,

It could well be but for some reason he has been ignored on the whole by successive coaches and it is something that baffles me as to why.

Bedford:

Simple answer is fitness, he has been so unlucky with injuries and then Gatland's law came in (I support, about the only aspect of Gatland's managemt/coaching I support to date)! The problem for Delve is, the current management selects teams on statistics both on and off the field.

Delve was the best player in the worst team in the leauge, it's not such a great accolade. He has had numerous chances for Wales and not taken them. He also demonstrated his lack of commitment to Wales by chosing to play his rugby 12,000miles away (24hr flight!). I think to be fair he deserves to be given a shot in the warm up games, but he will have to play exceptionally well to get into the 30 for the RWC ahead of Macusker, Turnbull, Faletau or Jones. Who have all played well for their home clubs and country in the last 12 months. Good shout as a non travelling reserve though.

Don't forget Delve will be back in Melbourne next season and unavailable for Wales for the 6 nations.

Seagultaf:

It is nice to hear from someone with similar thoughts as myself, some guys on here want to put him in the team based on the best player in the worst team as opposed to the supporters player of the year for the Osprey, R Jones, hardly a weak team with Collins, Hollar etc in the team! As you stated Delve has had chances but failed for one reason or another, let's see how he plays.