Team for England 5th August

[Graigwen]

I was trying to think rationally about Wales in the next few months. This proved extremely difficult.

I could only think of one person who absolutely should be in the team for the first warm up game. This is because he is either:

1 A great discovery, star of the next decade etc......or

2 A complete waste of time and should never be near a Welsh squad again.

Gatland has never been afraid to make bold choices and this is a player he cannot know enough about. Taine Plumtree.

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[Son of Mathonwy]

Yes, unless he's an absolute disaster in training camp you'd expect to see Plumtree on the pitch at some point.

Also nailed on is Rowlands, coz he needs the caps.

I imagine Gatland will want to see how Henry Thomas goes, against England no less.

Other than them there will no doubt be some first choice players on the pitch: Lake, Beard, Faletau, Rees-Zammit.

[Sandydragon]

Is Gatland reducing the squad prior to that game? I’d agree that Rowlands is a nailed on starter to get him
To 25 caps. Plumtree if he survives the cut must be in with a chance.

Gatland has to roll the dice a bit and whilst some
Momentum would be great to take into the Fiji game, some of the new faces need to have an opportunity.

[Graigwen]

I imagine Gatland will want to see how Henry Thomas goes, against England no less.

I agree about Henry Thomas. I hope he winds up the Saes.

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[Numbers]

It'll be worth trying some of the less experienced props in the warm up games to see if they can perform at International level in the set piece, I would like to see some of the young midfielders given a chance too.

[Sandydragon]

It'll be worth trying some of the less experienced props in the warm up games to see if they can perform at International level in the set piece, I would like to see some of the young midfielders given a chance too.

Agreed. As much as I always want to beat the English, or anyone for that matter, I’d rather we have a couple of games with newer players supplementing the established ones and then run out a stronger team against the Bokke.

Ultimately if we lose all three it will be annoying but if we develop a good first choice team then it will be worth it.

[Son of Mathonwy]

It'll be worth trying some of the less experienced props in the warm up games to see if they can perform at International level in the set piece, I would like to see some of the young midfielders given a chance too.

Agreed. As much as I always want to beat the English, or anyone for that matter, I’d rather we have a couple of games with newer players supplementing the established ones and then run out a stronger team against the Bokke.

Ultimately if we lose all three it will be annoying but if we develop a good first choice team then it will be worth it.

It would be good to be able to treat them as real friendlies and exclude them from the ranking process.

[ALunpg]

That would be a good option, it is something that seems to dropped off the radar .

[Sandydragon]

It'll be worth trying some of the less experienced props in the warm up games to see if they can perform at International level in the set piece, I would like to see some of the young midfielders given a chance too.

Agreed. As much as I always want to beat the English, or anyone for that matter, I’d rather we have a couple of games with newer players supplementing the established ones and then run out a stronger team against the Bokke.

Ultimately if we lose all three it will be annoying but if we develop a good first choice team then it will be worth it.

It would be good to be able to treat them as real friendlies and exclude them from the ranking process.

Yep. The only up side is that our ranking is so poor at the moment that even a heavyish defeat won’t cause that much damage. If we do drop a few places then arguably so what? If we get out of our group and beat Fiji or Australia then we will climb back up again. If we don’t get out of our group then a teen placing is what we deserve right now.

[Graigwen]

Yep. The only up side is that our ranking is so poor at the moment that even a heavyish defeat won’t cause that much damage. If we do drop a few places then arguably so what? If we get out of our group and beat Fiji or Australia then we will climb back up again. If we don’t get out of our group then a teen placing is what we deserve right now.

Agreed.

It would be only marginally worse to be thrashed at the World Cup and be ranked 14th than to be thrashed at the World Cup and ranked tenth. I accept that some consequences follow from rankings, but I have always thought they are given too much attention. As Sandydragon says, if we make a better team and have a bit of World Cup success we will climb up the rankings.

I would not mind Domachowski and Assiratti being our starting props for the first England game and Henry Thomas coming on for a long stint as a sub. I don't care what that game does to our rankings (although I suspect it cannot do much).

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[Son of Mathonwy]

Yep. The only up side is that our ranking is so poor at the moment that even a heavyish defeat won’t cause that much damage. If we do drop a few places then arguably so what? If we get out of our group and beat Fiji or Australia then we will climb back up again. If we don’t get out of our group then a teen placing is what we deserve right now.

Agreed.

It would be only marginally worse to be thrashed at the World Cup and be ranked 14th than to be thrashed at the World Cup and ranked tenth. I accept that some consequences follow from rankings, but I have always thought they are given too much attention. As Sandydragon says, if we make a better team and have a bit of World Cup success we will climb up the rankings.

I would not mind Domachowski and Assiratti being our starting props for the first England game and Henry Thomas coming on for a long stint as a sub. I don't care what that game does to our rankings (although I suspect it cannot do much).

Yeah, Gatland's not going to worry about ranking points and nor should he. These games are all about getting us in the best shape we can be in for Fiji, Australia, and whatever else may come.

[Sandydragon]

Yep. The only up side is that our ranking is so poor at the moment that even a heavyish defeat won’t cause that much damage. If we do drop a few places then arguably so what? If we get out of our group and beat Fiji or Australia then we will climb back up again. If we don’t get out of our group then a teen placing is what we deserve right now.

Agreed.

It would be only marginally worse to be thrashed at the World Cup and be ranked 14th than to be thrashed at the World Cup and ranked tenth. I accept that some consequences follow from rankings, but I have always thought they are given too much attention. As Sandydragon says, if we make a better team and have a bit of World Cup success we will climb up the rankings.

I would not mind Domachowski and Assiratti being our starting props for the first England game and Henry Thomas coming on for a long stint as a sub. I don't care what that game does to our rankings (although I suspect it cannot do much).

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I’d like to see those props starting or coming off the bench as a combination. Really promising pairing that deserves a good look.

[UKHamlet]

The announced team *looks* exciting. I'm particularly pleased for Max, and for different reasons, HP.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Wales: 15. Leigh Halfpenny, 14. Louis Rees-Zammit, 13. George North, 12. Max Llewellyn, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Sam Costelow, 9. Gareth Davies, 1. Corey Domachowski, 2. Ryan Elias, 3. Keiron Assiratti, 4. Dafydd Jenkins, 5. Will Rowlands, 6. Christ Tshiunza, 7. Jac Morgan (capt), 8. Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements: 16. Elliot Dee, 17. Nicky Smith, 18. Henry Thomas, 19. Ben Carter, 20. Taine Plumtree, 21. Tomos Williams, 22. Dan Biggar, 23. Mason Grady.

[MrK]

My thoughts

I like a big front row and this is one
Rowlands had to start. I’d like to have seen R Davies alongside him but I’m ok with Jenkins
Looking for a big game from Christ
Costelow with a chance to persuade the selectors that 3 10s is the way to go
Really pleased to see Llewelyn at 12. He’s a perfect Gatland 12 and has good offloading skills.
I really see the matchday 13/23 sewn up by north/ Grady - both are good start/ bench options that cover centre-wing.
I hope North doesn’t take any knocks
2 speedsters on the wing
Happy for 1/2p to get the 100… hit I wouldn’t have him in my final 33
Plumtree will be interesting off the bench

[Son of Mathonwy]

Can't draw many conclusions yet about Gatland's thinking yet (other that that he likes big centres . . . but we knew that anyway). We'll get to see several new caps, players who need to be seen. Obviously this isn't our strongest team as a result of the experimentation (no Lake, Francis, Beard, Faletau, Sanjay, Adams etc) - hopefully England will make a similar selection.

I imagine Lake will start and probably captain next week given his complete omission this time. Would like to see Keiran Williams get a chance too but after the 6N I won't hold my breath.

[Graigwen]

I'll settle for that team!

It is both exciting and clearly designed as an information collecting exercise. Gatland has not been swayed by overemphasis on winning, he is focused on building a team for the World Cup having inherited a bit of a shambles.

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[Which Tyler]

Interesting that Henry Thomas is classified as "uncapped"

[normanski]

Interesting that Henry Thomas is classified as "uncapped"

Uncapped for Wales!

[normanski]

I'll settle for that team!

It is both exciting and clearly designed as an information collecting exercise. Gatland has not been swayed by overemphasis on winning, he is focused on building a team for the World Cup having inherited a bit of a shambles.

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A number of the newcomers in this team squad must be really in contention for a place in the final 33.

There are echoes of Gatland’s selection for 2011 in New Zealand. There’s a freshness about the squad which we haven’t had for some time. Like you I’m excited to see what they can do.

[Sandydragon]

I like this team. A few players omitted for the week after I suspect, but I really hope Costelow can get that backline moving. Lots to like there, hopefully they have been working on some rugby skills, not just fitness.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I like this team. A few players omitted for the week after I suspect, but I really hope Costelow can get that backline moving. Lots to like there, hopefully they have been working on some rugby skills, not just fitness.

You know who the coach is, right?

[Sandydragon]

Yesterday was an optimism bounce. Today, I think were fucked.

[normanski]

Yesterday was an optimism bounce. Today, I think were fucked.

I hope you feel differently tomorrow! There is some cause for optimism with some fresh faces. The trick will be to meld them into a slick unit which the opposition have yet to work out.

Gatland has done it before. Let’s pray he can do it again this year.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Yesterday was an optimism bounce. Today, I think were fucked.

I hope you feel differently tomorrow! There is some cause for optimism with some fresh faces. The trick will be to meld them into a slick unit which the opposition have yet to work out.
Gatland has done it before. Let’s pray he can do it again this year.

One big question is can we get our defence right this time? We failed in the 6N, admittedly with a new set of coaches and a demotivated squad.