Know your enemy / 4: Wales
1) Saturday XV
Unfortunately for you guys, this Welsh team is currently strong from 1 to 15. We're fielding the Lions front row and probably the two best props in the world in Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins. In the second row, we have Alun-Wyn Jones and Ian Evans; both great lineout operators, very physical and great tacklers, and behind them we have a loose trio of Lydiate, Tipuric and Faletau.
7 is perhaps the one position where you could say we are weak following the withdrawal of our outstanding captain Sam Warburton. Tipuric is a lot smaller than Warburton and if you were going to criticise him you might say that he doesn't yet have quite the bulk required to play at international level. However, he is fantastic at the breakdown and if you don't look after your ball I can see him getting quite a few turnovers on Saturday.
Behind the scrum we have the two controllers in Phillips and Priestland. Phillips will look to keep Parisse etc honest by going himself at times which will take pressure off Priestland. Priestland himself will be looking to atone for his poor performance against England and will look to get Roberts and Davies into the game. Davies in particular has been phenomenal this tournament and you guys will really need to keep an eye on him.
The back three is also pretty deadly with bulk and speed in North and Cuthbert and pace, angles and kicking from Halfpenny. I feel you could perhaps exploit us by kicking to our back three, as against England, Halfpenny made the wrong option when retrieving kicks a couple of times while Cuthbert and North are not particularly proficient when it comes to kicking from hand. The danger with doing that though is that if your chase isn't good, all three of those guys can really hurt teams on the counter attack.
I think we should have the edge at the contact area and will probably be targeting your 10 channel off first phase. Your set piece is very good and I can see it being pretty even at scrum and lineout.
2) Keep an eye on these players
I fancy Rhys Priestland to have a big game after his lack of performance against England. I can also see Tipuric having a big game. You also can never take your eyes off North and Jon Davies and I see them both bagging a couple of tries.
3) What's going on in Welsh Rugby
Welsh regional rugby is at a bit of a crossroads at the moment with some of our best players heading over the channel for the money on offer in France. There's talk of central contracting which I feel has to happen if we are to have any sustainable success at regional and international level.
None of our teams are performing amazingly well in the RaboDirect and we have one team in the Heineken Cup quarter finals. Internationally it's an exciting time to be a Welsh fan, but our domestic game leaves a bit to be desired.
Post
IRB.com News
England
Australia
Nuova Zelanda
Francia
Sud Africa
Galles
Argentina
Irlanda
Italia
Scozia
2 commenti:
E che gli si puo' dire... Ha ragione. Head to head, vincono in 12/13 posizioni su 15. Ed in altre il confronto e' imbarazzante. Ma siamo senza pressione, andiamo e facciamo il meglio che possiamo.
Di più: essendo il rugby uno sport di team, dove gli automatismi contano anche più dell'head to head ...
Saremo alle solite: 50-60 minuti in cui la SUPERIORITA' AZZURRA (si superiorità) in terza linea e nelle fasi statiche (mischia ordinata a parte, forse) potrebbe reggere più o meno la baracca; dopo un'ora, finita la benzina in tali reparti, sarà come la prima guerra in Iraq: le divisioni corazzate si liquefano sotto ai bombardamenti.
Per sperare di venirne fuori, bisognerebbe giocare per rallentare il ritmo, ad andamento lento col pack e ripartire come furie sui cambi di fronte sperando, come si diceva nel pugilato, in un qualche colpo della domenica. Il tutto accompagnato da una prova disciplinarmente perfetta e precisa al piede.
E' il gioco poco "politically correct" che fanno le francesi "piccole" fuori casa o contro le grandi; è il gioco con cui gli inglesi han condotto per tutta la gara e quasi pareggiato col Galles.
Posta un commento