RugbyRebels

Alec Davies and Josh Adams making big statements tonight. Best tactical kicking I’ve seen from a Welsh scrum half in a long while, whilst Adams has been very busy doing the donkey work as well as scoring a superb try.

On the whole, this Welsh team has had a very good opening 30 minutes.

They are totally in control. The RGs are so frustrating to watch. Lots of running around but constant handling errors and penalties. Absolutely impossible to get any momentum. Wales haven't put a foot wrong.

One poor moment and we let in a soft try.

But the RGs are terrible. Every time they get the ball they make a mistake. When you consider this is actually a club team it’s bizarre.

Adams has made some yards. How does he look?

Buggaluggs wrote:Adams has made some yards. How does he look?

Tidy. Very.

Not put a foot wrong. Done basics very well, carried well and scored a lovely solo try.

I’d forgotten that Scotland are playing the RGs next weekend. That will be interesting to watch as I’m still not entirely sure how much of this good play is is playing well or the RGs playing like a pub team.

Well that was a ludicrous end to the game. Pot discipline by Moriarty and I can’t argue with the red. Annoying to see RG players who started the ruck and the one who grabbed Moriarty around the neck getting away Scot free.

Aside fro the last couple of minutes, a god performance by Wales.

Sandydragon wrote:Well that was a ludicrous end to the game. Pot discipline by Moriarty and I can’t argue with the red. Annoying to see RG players who started the ruck and the one who grabbed Moriarty around the neck getting away Scot free.

Aside fro the last couple of minutes, a god performance by Wales.

Agreed. Moriarty's behaviour was unacceptable whatever the provocation, and the red was perfectly correct. But by that same code, the retaliation from the ARG player - who ran in from a mile away - was at least a yellow.

Also; how on Earth is what Mako Vunipola did in the SA game not even a yellow? Maybe it wasn't dangerous, but deliberate, unnecessary contact with the head after the whistle???

Anyway, enough of that. Aside from one brainfart at the end of the second half and one badly-timed spot blitz at the end of the first, that was as efficient and error-free a performance as I can remember from Wales. It wasn't chmpagne rugby but we scored two lovely tries and once again were never in any danger. When was watching Wales ever as relaxed an experience as it has been these last few weeks? Yes, yes, the opposition has been non-stellar but who cares? P3W3 on the other side of the planet. Let's bloody enjoy that for a bit!

Hell yes. We were supposed to lose those games. We now have a massive selection headache, but a good one for once.

Sourdust wrote:

Sandydragon wrote:Well that was a ludicrous end to the game. Pot discipline by Moriarty and I can’t argue with the red. Annoying to see RG players who started the ruck and the one who grabbed Moriarty around the neck getting away Scot free.

Aside fro the last couple of minutes, a god performance by Wales.

Agreed. Moriarty's behaviour was unacceptable whatever the provocation, and the red was perfectly correct. But by that same code, the retaliation from the ARG player - who ran in from a mile away - was at least a yellow.

Also; how on Earth is what Mako Vunipola did in the SA game not even a yellow? Maybe it wasn't dangerous, but deliberate, unnecessary contact with the head after the whistle???

Yes. But he probably just wanted to prevent his mate from being throttled on the spot and likely didn't think much about it. I imagine teammates from any side would react in the same way in that situation even though it's against the laws.

Spiffy wrote:

Sourdust wrote:

Sandydragon wrote:Well that was a ludicrous end to the game. Pot discipline by Moriarty and I can’t argue with the red. Annoying to see RG players who started the ruck and the one who grabbed Moriarty around the neck getting away Scot free.

Aside fro the last couple of minutes, a god performance by Wales.

Agreed. Moriarty's behaviour was unacceptable whatever the provocation, and the red was perfectly correct. But by that same code, the retaliation from the ARG player - who ran in from a mile away - was at least a yellow.

Also; how on Earth is what Mako Vunipola did in the SA game not even a yellow? Maybe it wasn't dangerous, but deliberate, unnecessary contact with the head after the whistle???

Yes. But he probably just wanted to prevent his mate from being throttled on the spot and likely didn't think much about it. I imagine teammates from any side would react in the same way in that situation even though it's against the laws.

Moriarty was reacting too. It's no excuse. The 2nd ARG player (don't recall who) ran in from nowhere and grabbed Moriarty around the neck-head. Not as bad as Moriarty's head-lock but a clear yellow card at best.

Moriarty is getting high marks in several player ratings I've seen. What he did deserves -11 IMO.

I am enjoying the rankings at the moment:

Position Change Teams Points
1 -1 New Zealand 93.99
2 -2 Ireland 89.2
3 -5 Wales 85.94
4 -3 Australia 85.41
5 -7 South Africa 84.65
6 -4 England 84.35
7 -6 Scotland 81.83
8 -8 France 79.1
9 -9 Fiji 78.51
10 -10 Argentina 76.73

Son of Mathonwy wrote:I am enjoying the rankings at the moment:

Position Change Teams Points
1 -1 New Zealand 93.99
2 -2 Ireland 89.2
3 -5 Wales 85.94
4 -3 Australia 85.41
5 -7 South Africa 84.65
6 -4 England 84.35
7 -6 Scotland 81.83
8 -8 France 79.1
9 -9 Fiji 78.51
10 -10 Argentina 76.73

While it looks as if the Wales youngsters have had a brilliant summer tour, next Saturday will show if we came up against a very poor RG side or a good side who we put to bed very easily.

After their showing against the USA, Scotland will be raring to go and the match result will put our performance into some sort of perspective.

I suspect that this is not a bad RG team but they came up against our lads who were raring to prove to Gats they had what it takes, starting with an almost impregnable defence coupled with flashes of sheer brilliance in attack when the opportunities arose.

We seem to be putting in place solid foundations on which to build for the RWC.

Management of the Welsh based players over the next 15 months is crucial to minimise player fatigue and long term injuries.

Agreed, the Scotland/Argentina game will be very interesting/revealing.

normanski wrote:

Son of Mathonwy wrote:I am enjoying the rankings at the moment:

Position Change Teams Points
1 -1 New Zealand 93.99
2 -2 Ireland 89.2
3 -5 Wales 85.94
4 -3 Australia 85.41
5 -7 South Africa 84.65
6 -4 England 84.35
7 -6 Scotland 81.83
8 -8 France 79.1
9 -9 Fiji 78.51
10 -10 Argentina 76.73

While it looks as if the Wales youngsters have had a brilliant summer tour, next Saturday will show if we came up against a very poor RG side or a good side who we put to bed very easily.

After their showing against the USA, Scotland will be raring to go and the match result will put our performance into some sort of perspective.

I suspect that this is not a bad RG team but they came up against our lads who were raring to prove to Gats they had what it takes, starting with an almost impregnable defence coupled with flashes of sheer brilliance in attack when the opportunities arose.

We seem to be putting in place solid foundations on which to build for the RWC.

Management of the Welsh based players over the next 15 months is crucial to minimise player fatigue and long term injuries.

The RGs had 2 poor games, but I think a large part of that was down to our aggressive defence. They really struggled with that and the physicality. I might watch the Scotland game, I think it will be insightful.

Sandydragon wrote:

normanski wrote:

Son of Mathonwy wrote:I am enjoying the rankings at the moment:

Position Change Teams Points
1 -1 New Zealand 93.99
2 -2 Ireland 89.2
3 -5 Wales 85.94
4 -3 Australia 85.41
5 -7 South Africa 84.65
6 -4 England 84.35
7 -6 Scotland 81.83
8 -8 France 79.1
9 -9 Fiji 78.51
10 -10 Argentina 76.73

While it looks as if the Wales youngsters have had a brilliant summer tour, next Saturday will show if we came up against a very poor RG side or a good side who we put to bed very easily.

After their showing against the USA, Scotland will be raring to go and the match result will put our performance into some sort of perspective.

I suspect that this is not a bad RG team but they came up against our lads who were raring to prove to Gats they had what it takes, starting with an almost impregnable defence coupled with flashes of sheer brilliance in attack when the opportunities arose.

We seem to be putting in place solid foundations on which to build for the RWC.

Management of the Welsh based players over the next 15 months is crucial to minimise player fatigue and long term injuries.

The RGs had 2 poor games, but I think a large part of that was down to our aggressive defence. They really struggled with that and the physicality. I might watch the Scotland game, I think it will be insightful.

You could say we had a choke-hold on the RGs from start to finish!

normanski wrote:

Sandydragon wrote:

normanski wrote:
While it looks as if the Wales youngsters have had a brilliant summer tour, next Saturday will show if we came up against a very poor RG side or a good side who we put to bed very easily.

After their showing against the USA, Scotland will be raring to go and the match result will put our performance into some sort of perspective.

I suspect that this is not a bad RG team but they came up against our lads who were raring to prove to Gats they had what it takes, starting with an almost impregnable defence coupled with flashes of sheer brilliance in attack when the opportunities arose.

We seem to be putting in place solid foundations on which to build for the RWC.

Management of the Welsh based players over the next 15 months is crucial to minimise player fatigue and long term injuries.

The RGs had 2 poor games, but I think a large part of that was down to our aggressive defence. They really struggled with that and the physicality. I might watch the Scotland game, I think it will be insightful.

You could say we had a choke-hold on the RGs from start to finish!

I think that's what Moriarty was trying to express at the end. It was just charades, with added violence.

36-3 to Scotland. Perhaps one of the most one sided internationals for a long time.

Scotland taking their chances very well, but RGs awful.

Sandydragon wrote:36-3 to Scotland. Perhaps one of the most one sided internationals for a long time.

Scotland taking their chances very well, but RGs awful.

44-15 at the end.

That takes a lot of the shine off our last two matches. I'd like to think that that was Argentina playing with a broken spirit after being whitewashed by us, but a neutral might just put us on par with mighty Scotland based on that.

A reality check - something to take into account as we assess how good our new players really are based on the summer tour (other than Patchell's goal-kicking, of course).

Well it should stop us getting too carried away. The RGs did look a bit more interested in the second half, but Scotland were out of sight by then.

I still think our junior players stood up well and we have some real options now in other positions. But let’s not assume that newer players are suddenly the best bet based on a tour with some question marks over the opposition.

Sandydragon wrote:Well it should stop us getting too carried away. The RGs did look a bit more interested in the second half, but Scotland were out of sight by then.

I still think our junior players stood up well and we have some real options now in other positions. But let’s not assume that newer players are suddenly the best bet based on a tour with some question marks over the opposition.

The Arg did make some changes to the team we played as well, Wing and 12 in the backs and 1, 5, 7 & 8 in the forwards.

So 6 in all.

However it does put our performance into perspective still.

That Scotland side was a lot stronger or nearer their 1st choice than ours.
But it matters little what other sides do, every game is different.
As long as we're happy with the progress we're making that's all we have control of.
Depth wise we've made huge strides over the last 9 months or so playing catch up with other nations who'd begun experimenting 12 months before.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

Numbers wrote:

Sandydragon wrote:Well it should stop us getting too carried away. The RGs did look a bit more interested in the second half, but Scotland were out of sight by then.

I still think our junior players stood up well and we have some real options now in other positions. But let’s not assume that newer players are suddenly the best bet based on a tour with some question marks over the opposition.

The Arg did make some changes to the team we played as well, Wing and 12 in the backs and 1, 5, 7 & 8 in the forwards.

So 6 in all.

However it does put our performance into perspective still.

I don’t recall the RGs making so many individual defensive errors against us, the number of poor tackles was extraordinary.

But, as Pooler states, we have developed some depth and have some decent alternatives for the RWC of someone gets injured. Why will be important will be to see how some of the junior players, particularly the likes of Aled Davies, Josh Adams and Leon Brown do in the AIs.

PoolerSaint wrote:That Scotland side was a lot stronger or nearer their 1st choice than ours.
But it matters little what other sides do, every game is different.
As long as we're happy with the progress we're making that's all we have control of.
Depth wise we've made huge strides over the last 9 months or so playing catch up with other nations who'd begun experimenting 12 months before.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

Are you sure? By my count Scotland only had three first choice players although one of those had only one start before this tour. Anyway, was an impressive summer from Wales. It is very strange what had happened to Argentina though