Summer Rugby Union Internationals
Discussion
Kermit power said:
And before we get to Saturday, there is England U20s vs the Baby Boks in the Junior WC final! 
Should be a good game, we seem to have a good system in place that gets the best out of the young talent which is starting to translate to sucess in the national side. There's a big gulf between U20's and the national side but we've already seeing previous U20's getting in the full side.I like Eastmond, SL's been trying to find a good distributor and Eastmond I believe was a srum half when he played RL so can't have half bad hands...........
ETA forgot to mention about Ash the Splash returing, he's fought his way back in largely by merit so happy enough to see him get anotehr chance. Def needed his wings clipped and not being picked for the Lions and getting dropped by Lancaster seems to have done the trick, for now........
a311 said:
Should be a good game, we seem to have a good system in place that gets the best out of the young talent which is starting to translate to sucess in the national side. There's a big gulf between U20's and the national side but we've already seeing previous U20's getting in the full side.
I like Eastmond, SL's been trying to find a good distributor and Eastmond I believe was a srum half when he played RL so can't have half bad hands...........
ETA forgot to mention about Ash the Splash returing, he's fought his way back in largely by merit so happy enough to see him get anotehr chance. Def needed his wings clipped and not being picked for the Lions and getting dropped by Lancaster seems to have done the trick, for now........
Hopefully has found the ability to tackle as well, instead of flapping his arms at attackers. Looking foward to Saturday. Not looking forward to Kieran Read returning as he was central in beating England in Nov. McCaw, Read, Kaino. Ouch. Though this will be a great test to see how the England back row compare (in fact the whole team!) to the very, very best.I like Eastmond, SL's been trying to find a good distributor and Eastmond I believe was a srum half when he played RL so can't have half bad hands...........
ETA forgot to mention about Ash the Splash returing, he's fought his way back in largely by merit so happy enough to see him get anotehr chance. Def needed his wings clipped and not being picked for the Lions and getting dropped by Lancaster seems to have done the trick, for now........
Edited by prand on Thursday 19th June 13:38
Two surprises here for me:
1) Adam Jones dropped from the squad altogether
2) Mike Phillips retains his starting spot
WALES SQUAD TO PLAY SOUTH AFRICA:
Liam Williams (Scarlets), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Jamie Roberts (Racing Metro), George North (Northampton Saints), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Mike Phillips (Racing Metro), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Perpignan), Alun Wyn Jones (Capt) (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Racing Metro), Josh Turnbull (Scarlets), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons).
Replacements: Matthew Rees (Cardiff Blues), Paul James (Bath), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Dan Baker (Ospreys), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), James Hook (Perpignan), Matthew Morgan (Ospreys).
1) Adam Jones dropped from the squad altogether
2) Mike Phillips retains his starting spot
WALES SQUAD TO PLAY SOUTH AFRICA:
Liam Williams (Scarlets), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Jamie Roberts (Racing Metro), George North (Northampton Saints), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Mike Phillips (Racing Metro), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Perpignan), Alun Wyn Jones (Capt) (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Racing Metro), Josh Turnbull (Scarlets), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons).
Replacements: Matthew Rees (Cardiff Blues), Paul James (Bath), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Dan Baker (Ospreys), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), James Hook (Perpignan), Matthew Morgan (Ospreys).
Welshname said:
I'm useless at following rugby these days. Completely useless as I don't really read any sports news.
Managed to find a google calendar now though that has all the international rugby on for the year and gets updated. Winning.
For the record, you just missed England beating South Africa 21-20 to retain the Junior Rugby World Championship. Managed to find a google calendar now though that has all the international rugby on for the year and gets updated. Winning.
It was one of those games that neither side deserved to lose though, and I really hope once the dust settles that Handre Pollard takes a bit of pleasure from winning the IRB Junior player of the year. You'd think they could've had a separate ceremony at a different time, so that the poor kid didn't have to accept it minutes after losing the biggest game of his life to date, wouldn't you?
Not to take anything away from the AB's today they were clinical and took their chances. BUT it looked like the majority of our players had one foot on the plane home in the first half, lack of intensity and just got blew away, where was the leadership in the team when our backs were against through wall? Lack of basic skills across the park, plus so many players looked absolutely shagged and shouldn't have been played in the previous game let alone this test. Brown looked a shadow of the player he was in the 6N. Really lost our shape in defence in the first half, NZ should be firing on cylinders come the rugby championship.
Having said all that much better in the second half, s
te that NZ got that final try. I'm not sure how much we've learnt from this series that we didn't already know, we've got a good if inexperienced side, Lancaster it would appear if it was the world cup starting next week wouldn't know what his best side is? We don't have the skillset to chuck the ball around like NZ so keep it simple a game based on forward power and take your chances when it's on. We've got some attacking threat in back I.e. Yarde liked the look of Cipriani if he continues to play well domestically next season should be given more time in the England set up.
All in all I reckon we did better than expected and gained a bit of respect in the rugby world. Respect doesn't win you anything though.....
Having said all that much better in the second half, s
te that NZ got that final try. I'm not sure how much we've learnt from this series that we didn't already know, we've got a good if inexperienced side, Lancaster it would appear if it was the world cup starting next week wouldn't know what his best side is? We don't have the skillset to chuck the ball around like NZ so keep it simple a game based on forward power and take your chances when it's on. We've got some attacking threat in back I.e. Yarde liked the look of Cipriani if he continues to play well domestically next season should be given more time in the England set up.All in all I reckon we did better than expected and gained a bit of respect in the rugby world. Respect doesn't win you anything though.....
desolate said:
Never thought I would be saying this but if Cipriani starts the season well he could be on the bench.
If we took our chances half as well as NZ take theirs we would be a very good side.
I think we're getting there, but it won't be by the next world cup-which given where we were at 12 months ago won't surprise anyone.If we took our chances half as well as NZ take theirs we would be a very good side.
The most comforting thing for me is after watching the U20 games I got more of an insight what the coaching teams are doing with the under age teams and the type of play and skills they're enforcing should bare fruit sooner rather than later.
Still don't know what our best centre partnership is, Eastmond was targeted today and looks a bit too small for a modern game centre against top opposition, wasn't all his fault as the gaps left in midfield during the first half you could have fit a bus through. MT is worth having on, but one thing I noticed was how the new boy Fekitoa looked in comparison. Big lad but also explosive from a standstill almost, MT needs at least 5 or 10 m to build up a head of steam, otherwise any player worth their salt can bring him down. For me for the time being drop the s
te about being creative etc and bring Brad Barrit back in. We were competitive on tour against the best team in the world, who at times we made look beatable. Home advantage in the WC we could do well-AB's and SA would put us away on current form IMO, the Aussies seem to be gathering momentum under McKenzie too. Next England game is NZ, followed by Samoa, Aussies and Boks.
ETA What have Wales had for breakfast this morning?!
Edited by a311 on Saturday 21st June 14:27
Gassing Station | Sports | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff