Team v Italy

[Spiffy]

Faletau was clearly our best backrower on Saturday, I would prefer the 7 to be the one ready to jackal rather than the one putting in the tackle, also have you considered he may have made so many tackles as England thought him a soft target for easy yards? He never makes a dominant tackle, Reffell should be our starting 7 imo, he's more physical and he's much better at the breakdown.

We need Ball back to make some hard yards asap, especially after losing Rowlands.

Not sure about that. According to the stats Tips is joint 3rd of all players in the 6N so far for dominant tackles, at 5. And that's despite only playing 134 minutes (out of a possible 240). Also has 1 turnover in that time. By contrast Reffell in 123 minutes has 0 turnovers and 1 dominant tackle.

https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/statistics/

The 7 shouldn't be doing all the tackling, the 7 should be ready to contest the tackle area after the tackle is made.

I think it's not so much about the numbers on the back, more about assigned roles. If Tips is doing an effective job in the tackling department, with the highest counts, then someone else should be in there for the jackling. He can't do it all. If Reffell is all that good at the breakdown, maybe the solution is to play both, with Faletau continuing at 8. In addition to tackling, Tips is probably still worth a place as a link man, lineout option, and leader with plenty of rugby intelligence.

[Numbers]

Not sure about that. According to the stats Tips is joint 3rd of all players in the 6N so far for dominant tackles, at 5. And that's despite only playing 134 minutes (out of a possible 240). Also has 1 turnover in that time. By contrast Reffell in 123 minutes has 0 turnovers and 1 dominant tackle.

https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/statistics/

The 7 shouldn't be doing all the tackling, the 7 should be ready to contest the tackle area after the tackle is made.

Maybe, although I guess that's down to the defence strategy. Perhaps Leicester's is different, allowing Reffell to do his thing. Which may explain why Reffell isn't doing his thing for Wales (or at least 2023 Wales). But if that's the case we're not likely to get as many turnovers as Leicester no matter who is at 7.

When he came on Saturday, he won a perfectly good turnover only for the ref to say he hadn't shown a clear release, he wasn't part of the tackle:



Reffell is better than Tipuric at the breakdown, this is evident when watching them play.

[Son of Mathonwy]

The 7 shouldn't be doing all the tackling, the 7 should be ready to contest the tackle area after the tackle is made.

Maybe, although I guess that's down to the defence strategy. Perhaps Leicester's is different, allowing Reffell to do his thing. Which may explain why Reffell isn't doing his thing for Wales (or at least 2023 Wales). But if that's the case we're not likely to get as many turnovers as Leicester no matter who is at 7.

When he came on Saturday, he won a perfectly good turnover only for the ref to say he hadn't shown a clear release, he wasn't part of the tackle:



Reffell is better than Tipuric at the breakdown, this is evident when watching them play.

He's certainly got an excellent reputation for it. If that was all we wanted out of our seven he'd be the man. Look we've got 3 great sevens, to be honest I don't think it would make an enormous amount of difference which one we picked. For me, especially after seeing the stats, it's Tipuric, but it would not be a disaster whichever was started, benched or dropped. It's always going to seem crazy to leave one of them out (as it is for Basham, to be honest) but that's what depth means.

[Sandydragon]

Not sure about that. According to the stats Tips is joint 3rd of all players in the 6N so far for dominant tackles, at 5. And that's despite only playing 134 minutes (out of a possible 240). Also has 1 turnover in that time. By contrast Reffell in 123 minutes has 0 turnovers and 1 dominant tackle.

https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/statistics/

The 7 shouldn't be doing all the tackling, the 7 should be ready to contest the tackle area after the tackle is made.

I think it's not so much about the numbers on the back, more about assigned roles. If Tips is doing an effective job in the tackling department, with the highest counts, then someone else should be in there for the jackling. He can't do it all. If Reffell is all that good at the breakdown, maybe the solution is to play both, with Faletau continuing at 8. In addition to tackling, Tips is probably still worth a place as a link man, lineout option, and leader with plenty of rugby intelligence.

Please no. Neither is a blind side and it just doesn't work. Part of the issue is that the back row is being asked to front up for the lack of grunt in the second row, but we have tried the 2 open side selection before and its not been a resounding success (apart from when Warburton played at 6).

[pompey-zebra]

The Fail's reporting tonight that LRZ is dropped and Dyer back.on the wing. Liam W back at 15, Webb starts, with Biggar as half backs. No AWJ or Tshiunza in the XV.

Just showing in a "possible XV" but it'll be interesting to see how close it'll be to the actual team.

[Puja]

The Fail's reporting tonight that LRZ is dropped and Dyer back.on the wing. Liam W back at 15, Webb starts, with Biggar as half backs. No AWJ or Tshiunza in the XV.

Just showing in a "possible XV" but it'll be interesting to see how close it'll be to the actual team.

Rees-Zammit dropped?! That sounds utterly bananas to me - surely Gatland wouldn't be that weird, would he?

Puja

[pompey-zebra]

The Fail's reporting tonight that LRZ is dropped and Dyer back.on the wing. Liam W back at 15, Webb starts, with Biggar as half backs. No AWJ or Tshiunza in the XV.

Just showing in a "possible XV" but it'll be interesting to see how close it'll be to the actual team.

Rees-Zammit dropped?! That sounds utterly bananas to me - surely Gatland wouldn't be that weird, would he?

Puja

They only spoke about the starting XV, so LRZ could be on the bench. Or it could be the Fail spouting bollocks.

[Puja]

The Fail's reporting tonight that LRZ is dropped and Dyer back.on the wing. Liam W back at 15, Webb starts, with Biggar as half backs. No AWJ or Tshiunza in the XV.

Just showing in a "possible XV" but it'll be interesting to see how close it'll be to the actual team.

Rees-Zammit dropped?! That sounds utterly bananas to me - surely Gatland wouldn't be that weird, would he?

Puja

They only spoke about the starting XV, so LRZ could be on the bench. Or it could be the Fail spouting bollocks.

Even if he's on the bench that's weird as hell. I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs of the Welsh game, but he's the player I genuinely fear (and said in my game recap that I can't wait for the Lions so I can support him). Can't imagine but Italy will breathe a sigh of relief if he's not starting.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Rees-Zammit dropped?! That sounds utterly bananas to me - surely Gatland wouldn't be that weird, would he?

Puja

They only spoke about the starting XV, so LRZ could be on the bench. Or it could be the Fail spouting bollocks.

Even if he's on the bench that's weird as hell. I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs of the Welsh game, but he's the player I genuinely fear (and said in my game recap that I can't wait for the Lions so I can support him). Can't imagine but Italy will breathe a sigh of relief if he's not starting.

Yep, dropping LRZ for Dyer would be bananas. So it wouldn't surprise me at all.

[Sandydragon]

I’m really hoping that’s just bollocks. I’d have Dyer on the bench alongside Tompkins, since it also appears that we won’t have a specialist fly half on the bench.

[pompey-zebra]

They only spoke about the starting XV, so LRZ could be on the bench. Or it could be the Fail spouting bollocks.

Even if he's on the bench that's weird as hell. I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs of the Welsh game, but he's the player I genuinely fear (and said in my game recap that I can't wait for the Lions so I can support him). Can't imagine but Italy will breathe a sigh of relief if he's not starting.

Yep, dropping LRZ for Dyer would be bananas. So it wouldn't surprise me at all.

But who better to bring off the bench when we're 20 points down to Italy than LRZ? It's genius, really.....

[Tuco Ramirez]

On what planet is Dyer better than LRZ. North who is back on the bench after being crap, LOSING FAITH HERE WITH GATLAND

[Numbers]

On what planet is Dyer better than LRZ. North who is back on the bench after being crap, LOSING FAITH HERE WITH GATLAND

He is much better in the air than LRZ, it's as simple as that.

[Tuco Ramirez]

On what planet is Dyer better than LRZ. North who is back on the bench after being crap, LOSING FAITH HERE WITH GATLAND

He is much better in the air than LRZ, it's as simple as that.

wow..... just wow

[Numbers]

On what planet is Dyer better than LRZ. North who is back on the bench after being crap, LOSING FAITH HERE WITH GATLAND

He is much better in the air than LRZ, it's as simple as that.

wow..... just wow

Incisive as always

[pompey-zebra]

The official team:

Wales: Liam Williams; Josh Adams, Mason Grady, Joe Hawkins, Rio Dyer; Owen Williams, Rhys Webb; Wyn Jones, Ken Owens (capt), Tomas Francis, Dafydd Jenkins, Adam Beard, Jac Morgan, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Scott Baldwin, Gareth Thomas, Dillon Lewis, Rhys Davies, Tommy Reffell, Tomos Williams, George North, Louis Rees-Zammit.

[Puja]

Who goes to 10 if Williams gets injured?

Puja

[pompey-zebra]

Who goes to 10 if Williams gets injured?

Puja

Joe Hawkins apparently.

[normanski]

Some bold moves but also Gatland has gone with the tried and trusted like the front row, Tipuric and Faletau in the back row and Webb behind.

This is a must win game for Wales to restore some credibility but it ain’t going to be easy. The Rome crowd need to be silenced early on but whether we’ve got the players to do that remains open to question.

The way Italy are playing it’s likely to open right up in the last quarter so I’m hoping our defence and fitness lasts the whole 80 minutes.

Discipline, discipline and no yellow cards from Sanjay!

[newgalesurf]

Will be interesting to see that centre partnership get a run of games. Could be a dangerous back line if they get space and ball.

But is a statement of intent of not being afraid to give youngsters a shot.

[Banquo]

Is it curtains for Alun Wyn- hope he gets to go on his own terms? Surprised he's dropped Christ?

[Sandydragon]

Is it curtains for Alun Wyn- hope he gets to go on his own terms? Surprised he's dropped Christ?

I assume thats a reflection on the type of game he's expecting, but I'd personally have started with Christ and brought on a replacement such as Morgan in the second half.

[morepork]

Better not kick the ball to them too much. They'll be right up for this.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Dyer instead of LRZ. Mental.

Now we're back with Morgan at 6? What? It's not crazy but why go back when Tshiunza seems to be bedding in there?

Gamble on Hawkins to cover 10? Talk about ramping up the inexperience. Hope Owen doesn't get a knock.

No space for Patchell or Keiran Williams. Shame

Nice to hear Gatland blaming the players for last week's result. What a leader.

[Sandydragon]

Better not kick the ball to them too much. They'll be right up for this.

You're having a laugh, that's our main tactic. I fully expect them to run at us and perhaps having 2 open sides will allow for the threat of turnover ball in an advantageous position. Hopefully Webb's kicking from hand is a bit more accurate than Williams'.