Team for Tonga

[Graigwen]

WALES TEAM TO PLAY TONGA (Saturday November 17, KO 2.30):

15. Jonah Holmes (*Uncapped)
14. Liam Williams (49 Caps)
13. Tyler Morgan (4 Caps)
12. Owen Watkin (6 Caps)
11. Steff Evans (11 Caps)
10. Dan Biggar (63 Caps)
9. Tomos Williams (4 Caps)
1. Wyn Jones (9 Caps)
2. Elliot Dee (11 Caps)
3. Leon Brown (4 Caps)
4. Jake Ball (28 Caps)
5. Adam Beard (6 Caps)
6. Aaron Wainwright (1 Cap)
7. Ellis Jenkins (9 Caps) (Capt)
8. Seb Davies (6 Caps)

Replacements:

16. Ryan Elias (5 Caps)
17. Rob Evans (29 Caps)
18. Tomas Francis (34 Caps)
19. Cory Hill (20 Caps)
20. Ross Moriarty (25 Caps)
21. Aled Davies (11 Caps)
22. Rhys Patchell (10 Caps)

[Graigwen]

Hmm, a bit more experimental than I expected.

.

[Numbers]

I like the look of that team, I think Luke Morgan is a little unlucky not to get another go on the wing as we know what Steff Evans brings and he didn't really have any opportunity against Scotland, other than that I'm quite happy with the squad.

[Sandydragon]

I’m hoping that the rationale for Seb Davies at 8 is just to rest Moriarty. I really wish Davies would get an opportunity at lock.

An experimental side, but there are some players in form given an opportunity so not too concerned.

I’m going to this one so hopefully we haven’t been too overconfident.

[Sandydragon]

I like the look of that team, I think Luke Morgan is a little unlucky not to get another go on the wing as we know what Steff Evans brings and he didn't really have any opportunity against Scotland, other than that I'm quite happy with the squad.

Agreed. Considering respectivr club form, Morgsm deserves another start.

[normanski]

I’m hoping that the rationale for Seb Davies at 8 is just to rest Moriarty. I really wish Davies would get an opportunity at lock.

An experimental side, but there are some players in form given an opportunity so not too concerned.

I’m going to this one so hopefully we haven’t been too overconfident.

Initial thoughts were this is an experimental side but on second looks there are some very seasoned internationals there with some heavyweight experience on the bench.

For years we’ve suffered from a underweight second XV and in recent years against Japan and Georgia we were nearly undone and only saved by a late drop goal or a scrum penalty.

Saturday will be a real measure of how successful Gatland is in building a core of forty players able to step up to the plate at RWC.

I think this side has the ability to finish off Tonga in style after a very hard fought first fifty minutes. I hope so.

[Sandydragon]

I’m hoping that the rationale for Seb Davies at 8 is just to rest Moriarty. I really wish Davies would get an opportunity at lock.

An experimental side, but there are some players in form given an opportunity so not too concerned.

I’m going to this one so hopefully we haven’t been too overconfident.

Initial thoughts were this is an experimental side but on second looks there are some very seasoned internationals there with some heavyweight experience on the bench.

For years we’ve suffered from a underweight second XV and in recent years against Japan and Georgia we were nearly undone and only saved by a late drop goal or a scrum penalty.

Saturday will be a real measure of how successful Gatland is in building a core of forty players able to step up to the plate at RWC.

I think this side has the ability to finish off Tonga in style after a very hard fought first fifty minutes. I hope so.

For a largely second team, that actually is pretty strong. A major change can be disruptive, but there are players there with a point to prove.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Certainly more experimental than I expected, and than I would have picked. I expect we'll be fine... but we have a track record in struggling when sending a second-choice team to play a lower tier nation.

[normanski]

Certainly more experimental than I expected, and than I would have picked. I expect we'll be fine... but we have a track record in struggling when sending a second-choice team to play a lower tier nation.

I know we have struggled in the past to get past second tier sides but I get the distinct impression that the mindset in the Welsh camp has changed over the past year or so.

It seems Gatland’s strategy (much criticised for a long time after the last RWC) is now coming to fruition since 2017 with the blooding of new, skilled and fresh youngsters, untainted by some of the past horrible defeats, and are now coming to the fore just as Wales did before 2011 RWC.

We seem to have gained the ability to close out tight games and I hope this is the case on Saturday.

[Numbers]

Certainly more experimental than I expected, and than I would have picked. I expect we'll be fine... but we have a track record in struggling when sending a second-choice team to play a lower tier nation.

I know we have struggled in the past to get past second tier sides but I get the distinct impression that the mindset in the Welsh camp has changed over the past year or so.

It seems Gatland’s strategy (much criticised for a long time after the last RWC) is now coming to fruition since 2017 with the blooding of new, skilled and fresh youngsters, untainted by some of the past horrible defeats, and are now coming to the fore just as Wales did before 2011 RWC.

We seem to have gained the ability to close out tight games and I hope this is the case on Saturday.

If it's a tight game I'll be disappointed, the bookies have us at at least +15, we should be looking to put 40 points on them in reality.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Certainly more experimental than I expected, and than I would have picked. I expect we'll be fine... but we have a track record in struggling when sending a second-choice team to play a lower tier nation.

I know we have struggled in the past to get past second tier sides but I get the distinct impression that the mindset in the Welsh camp has changed over the past year or so.

It seems Gatland’s strategy (much criticised for a long time after the last RWC) is now coming to fruition since 2017 with the blooding of new, skilled and fresh youngsters, untainted by some of the past horrible defeats, and are now coming to the fore just as Wales did before 2011 RWC.

We seem to have gained the ability to close out tight games and I hope this is the case on Saturday.

If it's a tight game I'll be disappointed, the bookies have us at at least +15, we should be looking to put 40 points on them in reality.

Yeah, I think we'll be ok, as I always do before these encounters... but look at some recent scorelines:

18 November 2017
Wales 13-6 Georgia

23 June 2017
Samoa 17-19 Wales

19 November 2016
Wales 33-30 Japan

15 November 2014
Wales 17-13 Fiji

current world rankings:
10 Fiji
11 Japan
12 Tonga
13 Italy
14 Georgia
15 USA
16 Romania
17 Samoa

[Sourdust]

We always go into this fixture making cautious noises about History, while inside quietly acknowledging "we should smash these guys". History nearly always wins. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about such a completely untested team being thrown up against a side who - quality of opposition notwithstanding - scored nearly 50 points last time out.

The bright side, I suppose, is that many will be expecting Wales to struggle now - which gives us a potential "win" out of what is usually seen as a "no-win scenario"; post a decent score and we'll surprise a few people!

[Graigwen]

Seb Davies is a good player....but not an 8.

[Sourdust]

The bright side, I suppose, is that many will be expecting Wales to struggle now - which gives us a potential "win" out of what is usually seen as a "no-win scenario"; post a decent score and we'll surprise a few people!

That'll do, then!

Bizarre game. Posted a winning lead in the blink of an eye to allay any fears of the usual screw-up; performed the usual screw-up anyway to stare down the barrel of ultimate humiliation; then not only recovered the situation, but delivered an epic hammering in the process. Hard to know what to make of all that.

I'd rather be positive, I think. Ten tries to three with our second string, and no-one is going to remember how dodgy it looked at one point when they look at that scoreboard. It was "only Tonga" but you don't score 74 points against "only" anyone. Some strong showings, some mistakes made and lessons (hopefully) learned at no cost, and if we aren't quite at the "two world-class squads" level yet, we certainly have an understudy crew that can mix it with all but the very best. That has never been true in my memory - which is reasonably long!

[Sandydragon]

With just short of 100 points, it was good value at £25 a ticket. Great atmosphere, at least for much of the match.

We started well and scored 3 good tries. We then seemed to go off the boil following the incident with the high tackle (how the hell was that not a card?) and Tinga played to their strengths. The half time talk made a difference it seemed (not withstanding Tomos Williams daft pass) as we turned up the intensity and Tonga couldn’t live with it.

Not a perfect performance, but a good one none the less and a few players put their hand up for next weekend, Jake Ball in particular. Cory Hill played well when he came on. Aled Davies looked very composed as did Jonah Holmes for his first cap. Liam Williams played very well and Owen Watkin made a case at IC.

Seb Davies had some nice moments but he is not a No 8.

And if some of those playing yesterday won’t be in the first team next weekend, they have shown more than enough to challenge for RWC squad places.

[normanski]

With just short of 100 points, it was good value at £25 a ticket. Great atmosphere, at least for much of the match.

We started well and scored 3 good tries. We then seemed to go off the boil following the incident with the high tackle (how the hell was that not a card?) and Tinga played to their strengths. The half time talk made a difference it seemed (not withstanding Tomos Williams daft pass) as we turned up the intensity and Tonga couldn’t live with it.

Not a perfect performance, but a good one none the less and a few players put their hand up for next weekend, Jake Ball in particular. Cory Hill played well when he came on. Aled Davies looked very composed as did Jonah Holmes for his first cap. Liam Williams played very well and Owen Watkin made a case at IC.

Seb Davies had some nice moments but he is not a No 8.

And if some of those playing yesterday won’t be in the first team next weekend, they have shown more than enough to challenge for RWC squad places.

Superior fitness came to the fore in the second half allowing us to run them ragged. It must be a very satisfying result for Gatland to see so many younger players coming through and putting their hands up.

Really looking forward to next week against the Boks who only just managed to scrape past the Scots despite dominating long parts of the game.

It would be good to end the campaign with four out of four.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Great fun and let's try to forget how wobbly it looked when Tonga equalised. Good to see Wales being ruthless and playing full pace until the whistle - 74 points is pretty special against the 12th nation in the rankings.

Most players played well, or better - this was a showcase for their talents (as sometimes this kind of fixture should be, but isn't), in particular Liam Williams, Watkin, Dee, both scrum halves (even with Williams's intercepted pass), Patchell, Ball. Holmes didn't look like a debutant. Liam made a strong case for a starting spot next week - 2 tries and all that work under the high ball. I'd like to see Patchell too, but fear he's 3rd in Gatland's pecking order.

Looking forward to next week. It's very winnable but it will be interesting to see how we approach it. Very conservatively, I expect.

[MrK]

Great fun and let's try to forget how wobbly it looked when Tonga equalised. Good to see Wales being ruthless and playing full pace until the whistle - 74 points is pretty special against the 12th nation in the rankings.

Most players played well, or better - this was a showcase for their talents (as sometimes this kind of fixture should be, but isn't), in particular Liam Williams, Watkin, Dee, both scrum halves (even with Williams's intercepted pass), Patchell, Ball. Holmes didn't look like a debutant. Liam made a strong case for a starting spot next week - 2 tries and all that work under the high ball. I'd like to see Patchell too, but fear he's 3rd in Gatland's pecking order.

Looking forward to next week. It's very winnable but it will be interesting to see how we approach it. Very conservatively, I expect.

Really impressed with the genuine strength in depth - obviously not saying we have world class options in every position - but there is a core of players to choose from that can produce a very very strong 23, and players beyond that , that dont leave us in a "dear god no" situation.

For Next Saturday The majority of the Australia team will return - im expecting one change in the second row, and thats the introudtcion of Ball - we lose in the lineout but gain his physicality - in the backs Id expect the same again - with Adams given the chance to run out again. If Halfpenny is ruled out, would however expect to see Liam picked.

On the bench ; Dee, Evans, Lewis, and Hill pick themselves for their impact - Id actually go Wainwright as the back row cover - Back 3 I think we may see - A Davies, Biggar, L Williams

[Sandydragon]

Wainwright played very well. Ellis Jenkins wasn’t as influential as he normally is. Shame Navidi isn’t involved, great impact player for a match like this.

[Lizard]

That was bloody good for Wales (although I’m disappointed for my pacific brethren).

I think it shows a real maturing that not only did they come back when the pendulum swung against them, but they did so by delivering an absolute hammering.

Comparisons can be unfair but it’s worth noting that this is Tonga’s heaviest loss since going down 91-7 to NZ at RWC2003.

[Numbers]

Great fun and let's try to forget how wobbly it looked when Tonga equalised. Good to see Wales being ruthless and playing full pace until the whistle - 74 points is pretty special against the 12th nation in the rankings.

Most players played well, or better - this was a showcase for their talents (as sometimes this kind of fixture should be, but isn't), in particular Liam Williams, Watkin, Dee, both scrum halves (even with Williams's intercepted pass), Patchell, Ball. Holmes didn't look like a debutant. Liam made a strong case for a starting spot next week - 2 tries and all that work under the high ball. I'd like to see Patchell too, but fear he's 3rd in Gatland's pecking order.

Looking forward to next week. It's very winnable but it will be interesting to see how we approach it. Very conservatively, I expect.

What I took out of that was how quickly we re-establshed a lead, this is what the better teams do.

I thought the stand out player was Jake Ball, we've missed his carrying, Wainwright had an excellent first cap, pretty much all the subs looked good when they came on. The try by Aled Davies had Scarlets written all over it, it's hard to find too much fault with the performance all in all.

[Sandydragon]

I was very pleased with Wainwright. Very hard working and great handling skills on display.

[Numbers]

I was very pleased with Wainwright. Very hard working and great handling skills on display.

Aye, probably the breakthrough player this season, certainly for the Dragons.