The Western Fail picks their team to face Fiji

[UKHamlet]

Wales’ strongest World Cup XV:

Liam Williams; Louis Rees-Zammit, George North, Johnny Williams, Rio Dyer; Dan Biggar, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake, Tomas Francis, Dafydd Jenkins, Will Rowlands, Aaron Wainwright, Jac Morgan, Taulupe Faletau.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Wales’ strongest World Cup XV:

Liam Williams; Louis Rees-Zammit, George North, Johnny Williams, Rio Dyer; Dan Biggar, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake, Tomas Francis, Dafydd Jenkins, Will Rowlands, Aaron Wainwright, Jac Morgan, Taulupe Faletau.

I'd have Thomas instead of Smith, Tompkins instead of Williams, Adams instead of Dyer. But it's pretty strong.

[Graigwen]

Wales’ strongest World Cup XV:

Liam Williams; Louis Rees-Zammit, George North, Johnny Williams, Rio Dyer; Dan Biggar, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake, Tomas Francis, Dafydd Jenkins, Will Rowlands, Aaron Wainwright, Jac Morgan, Taulupe Faletau.

I'd have Thomas instead of Smith, Tompkins instead of Williams, Adams instead of Dyer. But it's pretty strong.

I agree, Adams instead of Dyer.

Thomas and Smith is a fine call, one starts the other on the bench.

I don't know about Tompkins. On paper his stats are not exceptional, but he does seem to have some ability to glue midfield together.

So you, I and the Fail agree on the second row, but Gatland will play Beard. What other purpose does Beard have in the squad apart from disrupting the very efficient Fijian maul?

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[Sandydragon]

Adams has done little to demand selection, but he is defensively more sound than Dyer.

I’m not sure about Faletau. He is world class and if he’s only had 40 minutes game time then I would suggest he be our starting 8. But I wonder if it’s better to play Wainwright and save Faletau for thenPortugal game where he can ease back into things

[normanski]

Adams has done little to demand selection, but he is defensively more sound than Dyer.

I’m not sure about Faletau. He is world class and if he’s only had 40 minutes game time then I would suggest he be our starting 8. But I wonder if it’s better to play Wainwright and save Faletau for thenPortugal game where he can ease back into things

It’s a big risk playing Faletau against the Fijians and I would prefer Wainwright at 8.

Also prefer Dee to Lake as starting hooker.

I hope we practice not-throwing interception passes before the game.

[Sandydragon]

Adams has done little to demand selection, but he is defensively more sound than Dyer.

I’m not sure about Faletau. He is world class and if he’s only had 40 minutes game time then I would suggest he be our starting 8. But I wonder if it’s better to play Wainwright and save Faletau for thenPortugal game where he can ease back into things

It’s a big risk playing Faletau against the Fijians and I would prefer Wainwright at 8.

Also prefer Dee to Lake as starting hooker.

I hope we practice not-throwing interception passes before the game.

We need our lineout to function which makes Lake a risk. I hope we don’t try and play catch up rugby like that again, which made it easier for the bokke.

[Wallpaperman]

Adams has done little to demand selection, but he is defensively more sound than Dyer.

I’m not sure about Faletau. He is world class and if he’s only had 40 minutes game time then I would suggest he be our starting 8. But I wonder if it’s better to play Wainwright and save Faletau for thenPortugal game where he can ease back into things

It’s a big risk playing Faletau against the Fijians and I would prefer Wainwright at 8.

Also prefer Dee to Lake as starting hooker.

I hope we practice not-throwing interception passes before the game.

We need our lineout to function which makes Lake a risk. I hope we don’t try and play catch up rugby like that again, which made it easier for the bokke.

This is a tough call. The physical defence and ball carrying of Lake versus the lineout accuracy and mobility of Dee. I think I’d start Dee as secure lineout ball vs Fiji will be crucial. With Rowlands and Wainwright they might even pinch some opposition ball, too. Then let Lake loose on 55 minutes (while praying that he doesn’t get injured).

Thirded with Graigwen and SoM above, Rowlands and Jenkins is my preferred second row combination.

As with above the backline is about right. I’m a big fan of Adams, who does a bit of defensive coverage for which he doesn’t get enough credit. It feels like a bit of a gamble to go with Dyer instead, particularly defensively, but he looks much more dangerous than Adams at the moment with ball in hand, and he is turning into an excellent player on the high ball. Then again, Adams had a bit of a game vs Fiji in 2019…

[Son of Mathonwy]

TBH I was thinking of this as the strongest XV we can put together, not so much the selection for the next match. It might well be sensible to bench Lake and Faletau, possibly Jenkins too, due to injury/lack of game time.