Next up, England

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Liam Williams is fit, North is most likely going to be fit and Biggar is looking very likely to be fit so not all doom and gloom, oh and Navidi is also fit.

Interesting to see that Sam Costelow has been training with the squad, he looks to have the skills. I'd like to see Kieran Williams in there soon as well, he's looked excellent for the Ospreys over the last couple of games.

They are not seriously considering North are they? That's just irresponsible.

Apparently he has passed all protocols and will see an independent specialist during the week for the final say so, I agree with you, I thought that being KO'd was a minimum of 3 weeks or at least that's what I remember from when I played.

When are Wales going to stop flogging their players like this? North clearly needs to step back from the sport entirely or 15s at least. Why not move him to the 7 where he can continue his career and still make a meaningful contribution to the sport and his country. At this rate George North will be a vegetable before he's 40.

[Graigwen]

WALES TEAM TO PLAY ENGLAND (Saturday March 7 16.45 ITV & S4C)

15. Leigh Halfpenny (88 Caps)
14. George North (94 Caps)
13. Nick Tompkins (3 Caps)
12. Hadleigh Parkes (28 Caps)
11. Liam Williams (62 Caps)
10. Dan Biggar (82 Caps)
9. Tomos Williams (19 Caps)
1. Rob Evans (38 Caps)
2. Ken Owens (65 Caps)
3. Dillon Lewis (25 Caps)
4. Jake Ball (45 Caps)
5. Alun Wyn Jones (C) (137 Caps)
6. Ross Moriarty (44 Caps)
7. Justin Tipuric (75 Caps)
8. Josh Navidi (23 Caps)

Replacements:

16. Ryan Elias (12 Caps)
17. Rhys Carre (7 Caps)
18. Leon Brown (9 Caps)
19. Aaron Shingler (26 Caps)
20. Taulupe Faletau (75 Caps)
21. Rhys Webb (32 Caps)
22. Jarrod Evans (6 Caps)
23. Johnny McNicholl (3 Caps)

[Sandydragon]

Hopefully Liam and Navidi are up to speed. If they a really are ready then it’s good to see them back. I think Navidi in particular has been missed.

North. I’m seriously worried for him. This game will physical and will test fitness.

Otherwise the starting team is a strong one given injuries. Shingler in the bench is interesting, particularly as England have a lot of forwards on the bench to bring power in the latter quarter. Are we intending to up the pace as a counter? Is Rowlands injured as I would have seen this and a good game for him to be involved with.

I’m still not convinced by McNicholl.

[MrK]

Hopefully Liam and Navidi are up to speed. If they a really are ready then it’s good to see them back. I think Navidi in particular has been missed.

North. I’m seriously worried for him. This game will physical and will test fitness.

Otherwise the starting team is a strong one given injuries. Shingler in the bench is interesting, particularly as England have a lot of forwards on the bench to bring power in the latter quarter. Are we intending to up the pace as a counter? Is Rowlands injured as I would have seen this and a good game for him to be involved with.

I’m still not convinced by McNicholl.

Navidi will bring a much needed physicality to the breakdown and Im pleased hes back in. England have gone for that "power game" with their forwards again and it worked a treat aganst Ireland. We haveto be better atthe rucks and Navidi and Evans will help there, but I hope we dont get sucked into an arm wrestle too much and try and stick to the game plan we;ve been trying to play....

That bench pack on paper brings a lot of options from a carrying and offloading perspective, Id like to see Jarrod have a decent run.

I dont think we will win, but I want to see a contunation of the expansive game but with a much improved performance at the breakdown.

[Digby]

I've really quite enjoyed the game Wales have tried to play, but the passing at 9, 10 and 12 still looks a problem.

[morepork]

Hopefully Liam and Navidi are up to speed. If they a really are ready then it’s good to see them back. I think Navidi in particular has been missed.

North. I’m seriously worried for him. This game will physical and will test fitness.

Otherwise the starting team is a strong one given injuries. Shingler in the bench is interesting, particularly as England have a lot of forwards on the bench to bring power in the latter quarter. Are we intending to up the pace as a counter? Is Rowlands injured as I would have seen this and a good game for him to be involved with.

I’m still not convinced by McNicholl.

All you need to know about McNicholl, is that he is an old mate of Len's. Yes, bogan Len wot used to post on here.

[Son of Mathonwy]

It's a good team IF they are up to speed. Let's hope the slightly injured and the returnees are back where they need to be. Hope also Tompkins has a great game against England for the first time.

The odds are against us but (with some good fortune) we've got enough to win there.

[Numbers]

It's a good team IF they are up to speed. Let's hope the slightly injured and the returnees are back where they need to be. Hope also Tompkins has a great game against England for the first time.

The odds are against us but (with some good fortune) we've got enough to win there.

Yeah, I like the look of this team, it offers some cutting edge and great to see Navidi back, Shingler to come off the bench on 55-60 mins to bring his offloading game, also Carre brings a lot as an impact sub.

[jngf]

In theory we have a strong advantage in the lineout with Itoje, Kruis and Lawes as our three main targets compared to Alan Wyn Jones and Tips (does Jake Ball jump much?)

[Numbers]

In theory we have a strong advantage in the lineout with Itoje, Kruis and Lawes as our three main targets compared to Alan Wyn Jones and Tips (does Jake Ball jump much?)

Other than the front row all of our forwards take lineout ball apart from Navidi iirc.

[Hooky]

Got a bloody ticket today. Not sure how I feel about it. Good day out I suppose and at least I don't have to deal with the hope!

[morepork]

Got a bloody ticket today. Not sure how I feel about it. Good day out I suppose and at least I don't have to deal with the hope!

Fuck that noise. Wales are definitely in the hunt for a win. Great test for the new coach.

[Hooky]

Got a bloody ticket today. Not sure how I feel about it. Good day out I suppose and at least I don't have to deal with the hope!

Fuck that noise. Wales are definitely in the hunt for a win. Great test for the new coach.

See, now you've gone and ruined it for me by planting that seed!

[normanski]

England sometimes stutter if things don’t go well for them in the first quarter. They also seem to occasionally develop a pattern where they can have one outstanding game then the next is more problematical.

I’m hoping they follow up their outstanding game against Ireland with a problematical one on Saturday!!

It’s a huge ask to expect a win at Twickenham but we’re due a match where everything comes together. Hope springs eternal.

[Son of Mathonwy]

England sometimes stutter if things don’t go well for them in the first quarter. They also seem to occasionally develop a pattern where they can have one outstanding game then the next is more problematical.

I’m hoping they follow up their outstanding game against Ireland with a problematical one on Saturday!!

It’s a huge ask to expect a win at Twickenham but we’re due a match where everything comes together. Hope springs eternal.

The hope is that is that the last two weeks have given the squad enough time to get the Pivac tactics fully engrained, so there'll be a lot less mistakes. That will make a huge difference.

[Digby]

England sometimes stutter if things don’t go well for them in the first quarter. They also seem to occasionally develop a pattern where they can have one outstanding game then the next is more problematical.

I’m hoping they follow up their outstanding game against Ireland with a problematical one on Saturday!!

It’s a huge ask to expect a win at Twickenham but we’re due a match where everything comes together. Hope springs eternal.

The hope is that is that the last two weeks have given the squad enough time to get the Pivac tactics fully engrained, so there'll be a lot less mistakes. That will make a huge difference.

I like both Parkes and Bigger, but neither looks to the manor born when it comes to putting some pace on the ball. Not sure what they can do to change that in two weeks. Don't know much about your 9, is he better at moving the ball than Davies?

[normanski]

[quote="Digby

I like both Parkes and Bigger, but neither looks to the manor born when it comes to putting some pace on the ball. Not sure what they can do to change that in two weeks. Don't know much about your 9, is he better at moving the ball than Davies?[/quote]
Young Tomos does move the ball away quicker than both Gareth Davies and Rhys Webb (who’s on the bench at Twickenham).

He’s our long term bet for 2023. Biggar has played a flatter game since being with Saints and looks more slicker than days of old.

While the odds are greatly against a Wales win a hell of a lot depends on how the two back rows perform on the day. On paper ours look more balanced than yours with your best open side doing a job at eight.

[Numbers]

[quote="Digby

I like both Parkes and Bigger, but neither looks to the manor born when it comes to putting some pace on the ball. Not sure what they can do to change that in two weeks. Don't know much about your 9, is he better at moving the ball than Davies?

Young Tomos does move the ball away quicker than both Gareth Davies and Rhys Webb (who’s on the bench at Twickenham).

He’s our long term bet for 2023. Biggar has played a flatter game since being with Saints and looks more slicker than days of old.

While the odds are greatly against a Wales win a hell of a lot depends on how the two back rows perform on the day. On paper ours look more balanced than yours with your best open side doing a job at eight.[/quote]

I think with two specialist opensides in our backrow we should compete well to slow ball, this tho will of course be counteracted by Englands second row legion who will be looking to get quick ruck ball, it'll be interesting to see who comes out on top of that battle.

[Graigwen]

I think we may have a bit of trouble in the scrums.

I hope I am wrong.

We are putting a lot of barely fit or slightly out of form players on the pitch.

.

[Sourdust]

I think we may have a bit of trouble in the scrums.

.

I fear this will make everything else redundant.

I can see us scoring a couple of tries from our 3 or 4 attacks, but how we propose to stop them for the rest of the match is decidedly unclear.

[normanski]

I think we may have a bit of trouble in the scrums.

.

I fear this will make everything else redundant.

I can see us scoring a couple of tries from our 3 or 4 attacks, but how we propose to stop them for the rest of the match is decidedly unclear.

We need the TMO to be watching the overhead camera at every scrum to stop the ‘cheating’ England props from driving in against Smith and Lewis who will be whiter than the whites throughout the game!

Seriously, Pivac needs to replace Lewis at around 55 minutes because that’s when he seems to fade and tire and give away scrum penalties which could be very costly if we are anywhere near contention.

Brown is still work in progress but has the attributes to develop as a strong anchor for the scrum.

[Sourdust]

Brown is still work in progress but has the attributes to develop as a strong anchor for the scrum.

And if you're going to get shamed in the scrum - provided that you learn and grow from it - England, at Twickenham, with no title on the line, is not the worst place to do it.

Same applies elsewhere. Which is why I'm grumpy that we're risking North (and others), leaving wunderkinds uncapped, just for an outside shot at a consolation win.

[normanski]

Brown is still work in progress but has the attributes to develop as a strong anchor for the scrum.

And if you're going to get shamed in the scrum - provided that you learn and grow from it - England, at Twickenham, with no title on the line, is not the worst place to do it.

Same applies elsewhere. Which is why I'm grumpy that we're risking North (and others), leaving wunderkinds uncapped, just for an outside shot at a consolation win.

The adage, ‘if you’re good enough, then you’re old enough’ should apply.

One bad landing or knock could see North permanently out of the game. He needs a lengthy rehab, I feel.

Having said that he could have a blinder this afternoon and prove us all wrong.

[Graigwen]

I am very gloomy.

[Sandydragon]

I am very gloomy.

I feel like I’m watching this more out of duty than real hope.