posted Feb 24, 2007

Forget Henson for the Six Nations, woeful fall from form for Ospreys. Centre combo better today, but how do we win more ball? ( P.S. I can't abide Tony Spreadbury, anyone feel the same?)

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Feb 25, 2007

The welsh performce against France was a hell of a lot better than the performace against Scotland. Their defence creaked a bit more than it had in the first 2 games, but that was because they were attack-minded. That can happen when you focus too much on one thing but don't do the other. But I like attack minded teams. France were also playing attack minded. That's partly why they shiped 3 tries. I thought Skrela was brilliant for France. I thought Laporte might have dropped him because he wasn't as good as he can be against Ireland.
Laporte chopped and changed the forwards this week. Against England I think he'll chop and change the backs. I think Yachvilli will replace Mignoni at 9, because whenever Yachvilli plays against England he plays well.
As for Wales I think this should be their team to play against Italy:

15:Gareth Thomas(c)
14:Mark Jones/Jamie Robinson
13:Tom Shanklin
12:James Hook
11:Shane Williams
10:Stephen Jones
9:Dwayne Peel
1:Duncan Jones
2:Matt Rees
3:Chris Horsman
4:Ian Gough
5:Alun Wyn Jones
6:Ryan Jones
7:Martyn Williams
8:Alix Popham

Subs::16:Mefin Davies;17:Gethin Jenkins;18:Brent Cockbain;19:Colin Charvis;20:Mike Phillips;21:Ceri Sweeney;22:Jamie Robinson/Aled Brew.

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Feb 25, 2007

Ryan Jones????????

Can anyone telle me how many hard yards he made last night

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Feb 25, 2007

Well, while Gareth Thomas will be available, I don't think he should be brought straight in. He has a big presence on the field but is the wrong side of 30. Byrne had a comfortable game at FB and deserves another shot. I'm not sure him being at FB will make Stephen Jones pass the ball any more?! There seems to be something seriously amiss with the coaching team and their instruction to the players! Rather unprofessional in my opinion.
Now another matter is Henson, he has been slated for his performance this season. But can you really say that any of the players who have pulled on the red jersey this year been any better? Probably one or two. I think we all know that on form he is a v.good player, but would picking him at 12 and possibly playing Hook at 10 be any worse? We should now be looking to the World cup and testing some combinations - particularly ones which may see the ball passed out wide to people running onto it and not catching it standing still!

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Feb 26, 2007

From a Welsh point of view it was good to see Brent Cockbain back. I really think that they should have Colin Charvis on the bench against Italy instead on Jon Thomas. I also think that Gareth Thomas should replace Leigh Byrne at fullback and take the captaincy. Giving someone else the captaincy would take a hell of a lot of pressure off Stephen Jones. Stephen Jones has been playing well for the Scarlets partly because he's not the captain, so he doesn't have a lot of weight across his shoulders. If Wales do all that I think they can beat Italy in 2 weeks time.

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Feb 27, 2007

A much much better performance. Our main worries after Saturday were the way that France mauled us in the scrum. Italy will target that area I'm sure. Plus we gave away far too many penalties. It's what cost us the match ultimately.

add comment | complain about this comment