Team for South Africa

[Sandydragon]

Bradley Roberts has been called into the wider squad too, as cover for the weekend.

The way hookers are dropping, I’ll dig my boots out of the loft.

[MrK]

I wont say this too loudly but Im quietly happy with what Gatland is doing here with regards to selections for these warm ups.

Im no fan of a lot of what he does, Carre etc but I'll give him credit for thiis.

This World Cup was always going to be a write off (partly his fault by the way from his original tenure)

But if we can blood some of these youngsters and unearth some future regulars, play well and spring a few surprises, i'll lbe okay with that.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Maybe, or Gatland is still looking at options. We don’t seem to have any fly half cover anywhere so hopefully Costelow doesn’t take a knock or have a shocker.

Cai Evans, presumably.

[Sandydragon]

I wont say this too loudly but Im quietly happy with what Gatland is doing here with regards to selections for these warm ups.

Im no fan of a lot of what he does, Carre etc but I'll give him credit for thiis.

This World Cup was always going to be a write off (partly his fault by the way from his original tenure)

But if we can blood some of these youngsters and unearth some future regulars, play well and spring a few surprises, i'll lbe okay with that.

Me too. My expectations are low for this RWC, which is a shame given the draw we have. These building blocks should have happened years ago and we have wasted the last two years at least.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Wales: 15. Cai Evans, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 13. Mason Grady, 12. Johnny Williams, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Sam Costelow, 9. Kieran Hardy, 1. Corey Domachowski, 2. Elliot Dee, 3. Keiron Assiratti, 4. Ben Carter, 5. Will Rowlands, 6. Dan Lydiate, 7. Jac Morgan (capt), 8. Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements: 16. Sam Parry, 17. Nicky Smith, 18. Henry Thomas, 19. Teddy Williams, 20. Taine Basham, 21. Tomos Williams, 22. Max Llewellyn, 23. Tom Rogers.

After the 2 changes I am feeling more acutely that we'll be getting our arses handed to us on Saturday. It's really not a team that could be described as strong. In fact it might be so weak that even our better players will struggle to look good. The only part of the team that looks really solid is the back row.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I wont say this too loudly but Im quietly happy with what Gatland is doing here with regards to selections for these warm ups.

Im no fan of a lot of what he does, Carre etc but I'll give him credit for thiis.

This World Cup was always going to be a write off (partly his fault by the way from his original tenure)

But if we can blood some of these youngsters and unearth some future regulars, play well and spring a few surprises, i'll lbe okay with that.

Me too. My expectations are low for this RWC, which is a shame given the draw we have. These building blocks should have happened years ago and we have wasted the last two years at least.

What would you have done differently in the last two years? Tried more players? Most of the new guys we're seeing now hadn't appeared then. Promising young players eg Morgan, Reffell, Lake, Jenkins, Tshiunza, Hawkins were all given national exposure at a pretty early stage. A number of our best or most promising players have been regularly injured, made themselves unavailable or not put in the work eg Anscombe, Johnny Williams, Cory Hill, Ball, Carre.

[normanski]

I wont say this too loudly but Im quietly happy with what Gatland is doing here with regards to selections for these warm ups.

Im no fan of a lot of what he does, Carre etc but I'll give him credit for thiis.

This World Cup was always going to be a write off (partly his fault by the way from his original tenure)

But if we can blood some of these youngsters and unearth some future regulars, play well and spring a few surprises, i'll lbe okay with that.

Me too. My expectations are low for this RWC, which is a shame given the draw we have. These building blocks should have happened years ago and we have wasted the last two years at least.

While expectations may be low there’s a good possibility that with the mix of youth, fitness and experience, we could put away both Fiji and Australia.

Indeed, I think it might be Australia who are having the most jitters going into the Cup. EJ seems to doing his best to really upset his squad.

Tomorrow could be a defining moment for Gatland. Badly beaten we will all be depressed but a competitive performance with well constructed tries would lift morale even if we suffer a narrow defeat. I think Gatland has got Wales into the mindset where they believe they can cause a splash in the RWC.

[Sandydragon]

Wales: 15. Cai Evans, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 13. Mason Grady, 12. Johnny Williams, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Sam Costelow, 9. Kieran Hardy, 1. Corey Domachowski, 2. Elliot Dee, 3. Keiron Assiratti, 4. Ben Carter, 5. Will Rowlands, 6. Dan Lydiate, 7. Jac Morgan (capt), 8. Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements: 16. Sam Parry, 17. Nicky Smith, 18. Henry Thomas, 19. Teddy Williams, 20. Taine Basham, 21. Tomos Williams, 22. Max Llewellyn, 23. Tom Rogers.

After the 2 changes I am feeling more acutely that we'll be getting our arses handed to us on Saturday. It's really not a team that could be described as strong. In fact it might be so weak that even our better players will struggle to look good. The only part of the team that looks really solid is the back row.

Cuthbert out now. Rodger’s to start with LRZ on the bench.

We could be looking at this the wrong way. Gatland might be shielding key players rather than exposing them to injury in a warm up match. Maybe.

[pompey-zebra]

Cuthbert out now. Rodger’s to start with LRZ on the bench.

We could be looking at this the wrong way. Gatland might be shielding key players rather than exposing them to injury in a warm up match. Maybe.

You might be right but adding LRZ to the bench gives a key player potentially to worry about.

In the end players can get injured in training, but we all know what usually happens to Wales squads in the run up to a world cup.

Anyway, happy Friday!

[pompey-zebra]

I wont say this too loudly but Im quietly happy with what Gatland is doing here with regards to selections for these warm ups.

Im no fan of a lot of what he does, Carre etc but I'll give him credit for thiis.

This World Cup was always going to be a write off (partly his fault by the way from his original tenure)

But if we can blood some of these youngsters and unearth some future regulars, play well and spring a few surprises, i'll lbe okay with that.

Me too. My expectations are low for this RWC, which is a shame given the draw we have. These building blocks should have happened years ago and we have wasted the last two years at least.

What would you have done differently in the last two years? Tried more players? Most of the new guys we're seeing now hadn't appeared then. Promising young players eg Morgan, Reffell, Lake, Jenkins, Tshiunza, Hawkins were all given national exposure at a pretty early stage. A number of our best or most promising players have been regularly injured, made themselves unavailable or not put in the work eg Anscombe, Johnny Williams, Cory Hill, Ball, Carre.

Out of interest I looked up the Wales 20216N squad. Those selected to debut in that tournament, or had debuted the year before were:
Sheedy
LRZ
McLeod ( injury prevented him playing)
Hardy
Rowlands
Botham
Halaholo
Will griff John
Johnny Williams

So of those selected, LRZ, Hardy and Rowlands are regulars, and JW is regularly being selected but often gets injured. Halaholo and John are no longer available, and Botham and Sheedy have dropped out of contention for various reasons. Not sure on McLeod ( is he injured or retired due to injury?). That gives 3 regulars out of the 9 newbies of 2020-21.

Of others in the squad, Jarrod Evans, leon brown, Wyn jones, rhys carre, owen watkin and lloyd Williams often miss out on selection for a number of reasons.

Interesting to note that you could make a fair chunk of a squad from those who won the 20216n who aren't in this current squad.

[Numbers]

Does Shane-Lewis Hughes still exist?

[Graigwen]

I think withdrawing Biggar and Sanjay are shielding. It makes sense.

No idea about Cuthbert.

.

[ALunpg]

Who would cover 10..would that be Cai Evans ? He did start as a 10 if I remember , it is the only one I see, are there others that I am missing ?

[Son of Mathonwy]

Who would cover 10..would that be Cai Evans ? He did start as a 10 if I remember , it is the only one I see, are there others that I am missing ?

I reckon so. Not aware of anyone else with 10 experience.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Wales: 15. Cai Evans, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 13. Mason Grady, 12. Johnny Williams, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Sam Costelow, 9. Kieran Hardy, 1. Corey Domachowski, 2. Elliot Dee, 3. Keiron Assiratti, 4. Ben Carter, 5. Will Rowlands, 6. Dan Lydiate, 7. Jac Morgan (capt), 8. Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements: 16. Sam Parry, 17. Nicky Smith, 18. Henry Thomas, 19. Teddy Williams, 20. Taine Basham, 21. Tomos Williams, 22. Max Llewellyn, 23. Tom Rogers.

After the 2 changes I am feeling more acutely that we'll be getting our arses handed to us on Saturday. It's really not a team that could be described as strong. In fact it might be so weak that even our better players will struggle to look good. The only part of the team that looks really solid is the back row.

Cuthbert out now. Rodger’s to start with LRZ on the bench.

We could be looking at this the wrong way. Gatland might be shielding key players rather than exposing them to injury in a warm up match. Maybe.

Having LRZ around gives us a bit more strength although Gatland might well be wise to keep him out of harm's way for most of the match.

I understand the selection here - we do need to see some more of these players. It's just that I guess I thought Gatland would end this little series with a team closer to our best, rather than arguably the weakest so far. But, yeah, there is a benefit to arriving at the world cup with at least some uninjured players!

Fingers crossed we can get through a match without losing another player. If we lose Rowlands or Morgan (or, am I really saying this, Dee) we will not be in a good place. Hope we can play coherently and for the full 80, even if we end up in the wrong side of the scoreline.

[Sandydragon]

Probably need to look at the fixtures next time and not have three games against top tier opposition. I don’t mind losing these games if we learn something, but a hammering we could do without.

[ALunpg]

SA is always somewhat daunting. That said playing any team involved in the WC is going to be an injury challenge. They are all going to be up for it ready for a challenge and injuries happen .
However this is a big challenge , but the downside is manageable but not great, the potential upside is huge as far as this squad is concerned. The coaches need to know these players can step up when needed, and importantly the players need to know.
However ..I am am a bit nervous on game day ..but what's new

[Sandydragon]

On the plus side, if our newer players do well today then they can cut it at international level, no question about it.

[MrK]

Feeling optimistic and enthused...something is wrong

[normanski]

Feeling optimistic and enthused...something is wrong

I’ve been in a state of calm all week! Definitely something is wrong unless my subconscious knows something I don’t.

Perhaps it’s understanding what Gatland is aiming for helps helps produce my mellow state.

[pompey-zebra]

On the plus side, if our newer players do well today then they can cut it at international level, no question about it.

Yes, I think picking 3 greatly changed squads three weeks running does limit what cohesion you can get as a team, so individual performances are probably just as important.

Gatlands RWC preparations have been stung by injuries to key players in the past, so even though he'd hate losing, I'm sure he'd take that if it means getting through unscathed and learning more about certain players.

[Sourdust]

Well this is now clearly the biggest mis-match of the whole warm-up series, which in one way is a shame, but again there's naff all to lose so why not?

Realistically that team should not be getting anywhere near an 80% Boks outfit, so I hope they can play with that lack of pressure.

Evans being in the squad at all felt a bit desperate IMO, but given that he is, he needs game time. Let's hope for a revelation!

[normanski]

I hope it’s not a men versus boys game and we can give a good account of ourselves.

[Sandydragon]

We need to sort out the scrum, or this will be a long afternoon.

[paddy no 11]

Johnny Williams playing well or that's just the benefit of dyeing your hair?