RugbyRebels

So next up is Italy who despite not winning a game for a long time have looked competitive in many of their games.

Do we stick or twist for the final game? The Fail has published a team that it feels will score tries and whilst I share the sentiment that our attack is too sloppy and predictable, I’m wary of making too many changes in case we slip up badly.

I’d keep the pack as it was, with the possible exception of bringing back Basham and moving Navidi to blindside. Seb Davies to the bench. No place for AWJ at this stage. I don’t doubt that he could play a part but unless this is his final game then I’d like to keep the current locks involved.

The back line is pretty settled after a lot of change but I think we need something in our centres and perhaps bring back LRZ for Adams. Hopefully Tompkins and Halaholo are both available in which case I’d start Tompkins and Watkin and have Halaholo on the bench, JD2 to drop out.

The Italians flatter to deceive! They seem to be competitive and growing in stature in a game and then their opponents hit them with a one-two after a silly mistake. It pasta joke and I hope they can get a win soon preferably against Scotland or even England.

You’re right about not changing the combinations too much other than for injury or a first choice player returning from injury.

I thought Seb Davies had a reasonable game against a France side with a big pack and it would be worth continuing with the experiment to see how he develops against a weaker side. He reminds me a little of Shingler.

We need maximum points from the game something we failed todo against England and France.

One thing to be said of Pivac is that he has blooded a lot of new talent and now has the making of a half decent side going into the RWC next year. With at least nine competitive games and a couple of friendly matches before summer 2023 I reckon we could have developed a squad capable of giving most teams a run for their money.

We can still finish 3rd I think, that said, its a dead rubber really and I cant see him going outside of the current squad

If we want to look at more carries in the pack Id look at resting Jones and Francis this week and have a Thomas/Elias/Lewis Starting with Carre/Lake/Brown on the bench

In the second row Id pair Seb and Rowlands, I thought Seb did ok at 6 and Pivac is definiely of the mind to pick a Tshiunza/SLH/Seb type 6 but for Italy Id put him the boiler room, Id have Carter on the bench for some game time

That means I would bring Morgan into the starting 15 with Navidi and Faletau, Id bring Basham back on to the bench

So pack, 2 player changes, 1 positional

The backs Im guessing Tomos is a non starter so Hardy and Biggar to start

If Tompkins is fit he comes back in, Im a Halaholo fan and I think my preferred Wales pairing would be him an North, but we will have to wait another day for that, Watkins hasnt done much wrong, Id keep him and have Willis on the bench

Back 3 - I really dont think Williams or Adams have played well in this tournament, but they are top players, perhaps Italy is a chance to regain confidence

My team

Williams, Cuthbert, Watkin, Tompkin, Adams, Biggar, Hardy, Thomas, Elias, Lewis, Rowland, Davies, Navidi, Morgan, Faletau
Lake, Carre, Brown, Carter, Basham, Davies, Anscombe, LRZ

It's no longer a dead rubber. We need a big win to edge out England and Scotland for 3rd place, so we have to get 4 tries, and preferably 20 or more points difference too (perhaps nearly double that to take England out of the running). So we have to play the most aggressive, try scoring team we can assemble.

Not much to change for the front 5, Lake's tempting but I'd probably stick.

I'm still not convinced by Seb Davies at 6. I'd have Navidi, Morgan (or Basham, I'm not fussy) and Faletau.

Tomos if fit, otherwise Davies. I'd start Ascombe (or ideally, Patchell) but we know Biggar's going to be 10 (after being excellent on Friday).

Tompkins and Adams at centre. Otherwise Watkin (if the Adams experiment is over). (I would prefer Scott and Johnny Williams though.)

LRZ and McNicholl. I'd have Cuthbert but he really needs to learn to offload rather than getting turned over at the end of his runs. (Obviously Cuthbert will start).

No change at 15.

Seb and Basham/Morgan on the bench, Halaholo at 23.

Son of Mathonwy wrote:It's no longer a dead rubber. We need a big win to edge out England and Scotland for 3rd place, so we have to get 4 tries, and preferably 20 or more points difference too (perhaps nearly double that to take England out of the running). So we have to play the most aggressive, try scoring team we can assemble.

Not much to change for the front 5, Lake's tempting but I'd probably stick.

I'm still not convinced by Seb Davies at 6. I'd have Navidi, Morgan (or Basham, I'm not fussy) and Faletau.

Tomos if fit, otherwise Davies. I'd start Ascombe (or ideally, Patchell) but we know Biggar's going to be 10 (after being excellent on Friday).

Tompkins and Adams at centre. Otherwise Watkin (if the Adams experiment is over). (I would prefer Scott and Johnny Williams though.)

LRZ and McNicholl. I'd have Cuthbert but he really needs to learn to offload rather than getting turned over at the end of his runs. (Obviously Cuthbert will start).

No change at 15.

Seb and Basham/Morgan on the bench, Halaholo at 23.

Unless both England and Scotland get nothing next weekend (perfectly possible, but not likely) then if we want third place we have to score 40-50 points. I agree it's worth shooting for, if only to break that annoying "Boom/Bust" cycle. "Respect" notwithstanding, we really can't be worried about losing to Italy at home; any XXIII we put out there should be capable of avoiding that.

I'm still unconvinced by McN but this should be his sort of game. As to Cuthbert, you have to look at how many of those breaks did he actually have a support runner to pass to? I'd be minded to keep the pack mostly intact but mix things up behind. I'm Biggar's Biggast fan, but we have to find alternatives. I definitely want something more creative than Foxy/Watkin in the centres. I'd really like to see one new (or at least un-rested) cap in the backs somewhere.

I think we need to aim for a good win if only to finish on something of a high. Ireland game was just plain awful but since then we have scrapped a win, lost narrowly and somewhat controversially at Twickenham and then narrowly to a very good French side .

If we could win well and end up in the top half of the table it would be worth something. I don’t think whole scale changes to the starting lineup would help us here but if we can bring Tompkins back and have Halaholo on the bench then I think me can score a bunch of tries. I’d be wary about changing the pack too much as it could turn into a very tight game.

And I’ve got tickets so I’m hoping for a good day out not a nail biter

The Italians have a decent pack and some useful backs. Wholesale changes would likely upset the momentum our current squad have. It would be important for them to put into practice all the training ground moves and score points against Italy to lay the foundations for the summer trip to SA.

After the wobbly Irish start our pack seems to have grown in cohesion and technique. We more than held our own against England and yet the English pack at times shredded Ireland’s. Genge was immense at LH on Saturday but yet our Tomas Francis tamed him.

If your front five can hold their own against England and France, then their’s hope for competitive games against the Boks.

I think a few of the English players had the game of their lives on Saturday (and fair play to them), but it does make me think about that Irish game. We were so poor. I know that we have suffered from slow starts before but that was almost uninterested and defeated even before they kicked off. I don't think we had the personnel to win in Dublin this year with so many injuries but I can't help feeling that was a sub-par performance regardless.

Oh well, gone now I suppose and best to focus on what we can build from this campaign, from which there have been positives.

Anybody referring to their game against Italy as the 'Italian job' deserves to lose. Sorry. That's just the way it is.

Mikey Brown wrote:Anybody referring to their game against Italy as the 'Italian job' deserves to lose. Sorry. That's just the way it is.

I thought you might have commented on my ‘pasta joke’!

Sandydragon wrote:I think a few of the English players had the game of their lives on Saturday (and fair play to them), but it does make me think about that Irish game. We were so poor. I know that we have suffered from slow starts before but that was almost uninterested and defeated even before they kicked off. I don't think we had the personnel to win in Dublin this year with so many injuries but I can't help feeling that was a sub-par performance regardless.

Oh well, gone now I suppose and best to focus on what we can build from this campaign, from which there have been positives.

The Ireland game was quite an anomaly and it must be down to the coaching team and preparation not getting things right in the days before the match.

It also didn’t help to have our opening attack turned into a very early Irish try which got their tails up.

Team has been announced early:

Wales: 15. Johnny McNicholl, 14. Louis Rees-Zammit, 13. Owen Watkin, 12. Uilisi Halaholo, 11. Josh Adams, 10. Dan Biggar (capt), 9. Gareth Davies, 1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Dewi Lake, 3. Dillon Lewis, 4. Adam Beard, 5. Alun Wyn Jones, 6. Seb Davies, 7. Josh Navidi, 8. Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: 16. Bradley Roberts, 17. Wyn Jones, 18. Leon Brown, 19. Will Rowlands, 20. Ross Moriarty, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Callum Sheedy, 23. Nick Tompkins.

First thoughts are that the back three looks like it could do some damage although I’m a bit surprised Cuthbert is out completely.

The centre partnership is more dangerous with ball in hand and Tompkins is a welcome return.

Davies perhaps fortunate to start over Hardy but in whatever order they play they are the next two scrum halves off the rank.

A first start for Dewi Lake and o hope to see him carrying hard. No Francis, but an opportunity for our other tight heads to make their mark.

AWJ returns which is very harsh on Rowlands who has been one of our best players this tournament. But part of me would be surprised if AWJ made an announcement at the end of the game.

Another opportunity for Seb Davies to get used to the blindside. No arguments there as he did okay well last game.

Not sure why Sheedy gets the nod over Anscombe and Bradley Roberts also gets a run out.

The back line looks more incisive and will score some tries.

100h cap for Biggar and 150th for AWJ. Two huge milestone

I hope Pivac and AWJ don’t regret starting him if he gets injured. Much better to bring him on for the last twenty minutes.

Still, it’s a huge milestone and I guess we won’t see the like of this record for a long while.

I think Pivac sees this as a chance to broaden the scope of his squad before SA this summer.

I don't understand why AWJ is involved at all unless he's retiring and is being given the start out of respect.

I'd have a Navidi, Morgan (or Basham), Faletau back row. I don't think Davies is a real 6, nor is Navidi a real 7. It seems strange to leave both Morgan and Basham out of the 23.

Since Seb Davies is starting it would make more sense to have Moriarty and Morgan on the bench, not another lock (even if that lock is Rowlands, who should be starting).

If Tompkins is fit, I think we should be starting him, paired with Halaholo or Adams. Watkins has had a campaign to prove himself at this level but has left me unconvinced.

I would find a place for Liam Williams in this team. He's not a player to leave out if you want to score tries.

It’s an ‘interesting’ selection and I can only think that Privac is looking at some new combinations. Hopefully it doesn’t backfire otherwise that would totally undermine the efforts made since the Ireland game to get some self respect back.

Privac does seem to love changing the side. The days where our team picked itself (even when players were obviously out of form) now seems to have gone to the other extreme where any player can be dropped even when playing well - Rowlands.

Sandydragon wrote:It’s an ‘interesting’ selection and I can only think that Privac is looking at some new combinations. Hopefully it doesn’t backfire otherwise that would totally undermine the efforts made since the Ireland game to get some self respect back.

Privac does seem to love changing the side. The days where our team picked itself (even when players were obviously out of form) now seems to have gone to the other extreme where any player can be dropped even when playing well - Rowlands.

I suppose the constant changes keeps everyone on their toes and making sure they up their game.

We now have the basis of a good squad and this will develop over the next 12 internationals and the ‘friendlies’ before RWC.

Sandydragon wrote:It’s an ‘interesting’ selection and I can only think that Privac is looking at some new combinations. Hopefully it doesn’t backfire otherwise that would totally undermine the efforts made since the Ireland game to get some self respect back.

Privac does seem to love changing the side. The days where our team picked itself (even when players were obviously out of form) now seems to have gone to the other extreme where any player can be dropped even when playing well - Rowlands.

"Interesting" is the word that crossed my mind when I saw the announcement. I think it is a team designed to answer some questions rather than pulverize the Italians by a huge margin. I would have preferred Anscombe on the bench, but maybe it is a chance for Sheedy to shine, I hope his place kicking is steady.

Rowlands has improved a lot during the last few games and has made a great difference to the lineout. Missing starting this game will not impede his progress.

I am happy with the starting back row - it is another development game for Davies.

I am still not wholly convinced by McNicholl, but it might be a good chance for him to display solid ability.

Centres are still an information gathering exercise. At least the Adams experiment is over - it was a good idea but did not work out.

It is a bit of a risky side, but we need to find out about combinations of players, rather than worry about third, fourth or fifth (yes, I know the positions involve money).

FFS this is grim

If Davies says that the challenge in the air is fine, and it's against Wales, then it's fine

A flat first half really except for our try. Too many mistakes and the Italian pack are very competitive. Stadium feels really flat.

Not surprised. Flat performance from Wales so far.

Ross. S wrote:FFS this is grim

It is dire. This team needs a right earful at HT. Goodness we’re blunt in attack.

normanski wrote:

Ross. S wrote:FFS this is grim

It is dire. This team needs a right earful at HT. Goodness we’re blunt in attack.

The Italians look very up for it in defence though. They're putting a lot of pressure on every move you make.

Puja

Jesus...

Has Dylan Hartley changed his allegance again? Thats at least twice now that hes described Wales as "us"