Six Nations. First up - the Irish!

[Numbers]

Biggest issue with players is they are not buying into the Pivac style and they randomly revert back to Gatland style, but that only works with 100% commitment.

I think Wales really needs to get rid of the old guard who really don't want to adapt to the new Pivac style (which isn't great with the current interpretations, but at least its a plan)

For me if Wales finish above 5th its a good 6N

What complete nonsense, half the squad played for him @ the Scarlets.

[Sandydragon]

Biggest issue with players is they are not buying into the Pivac style and they randomly revert back to Gatland style, but that only works with 100% commitment.

I think Wales really needs to get rid of the old guard who really don't want to adapt to the new Pivac style (which isn't great with the current interpretations, but at least its a plan)

For me if Wales finish above 5th its a good 6N

What complete nonsense, half the squad played for him @ the Scarlets.

Theres obviously a bit of muscle memory, but you are correct. Many of the team are very used to Privac.

I think our problems in 2020 were a number of player dropping off their form, a pack that wasn't securing quick ball, a poor set piece, and lots of experimentation, particularly at halfback.

Theres a nagging concern that privacy style of play may not be best suited for international rugby, but I'll reserve judgement on that until we can actually get a team out which is competitive. Before lockdown, we stuffed Italy, lost to Ireland in Dublin (which happened under Gatland enough) lost by 3 point to England away and narrowly lost to France (as I recall we could have nicked it) following a couple of games under Gatland where we could easily have lost. Only the Scotland game was a huge disappointment for me where we looked totally out of sorts.

We lost to Ireland and England under Gatland, they are good teams. France have improved and we are at a bit of a watershed, so none of this is surprising.

[Numbers]

Biggest issue with players is they are not buying into the Pivac style and they randomly revert back to Gatland style, but that only works with 100% commitment.

I think Wales really needs to get rid of the old guard who really don't want to adapt to the new Pivac style (which isn't great with the current interpretations, but at least its a plan)

For me if Wales finish above 5th its a good 6N

What complete nonsense, half the squad played for him @ the Scarlets.

Theres obviously a bit of muscle memory, but you are correct. Many of the team are very used to Privac.

I think our problems in 2020 were a number of player dropping off their form, a pack that wasn't securing quick ball, a poor set piece, and lots of experimentation, particularly at halfback.

Theres a nagging concern that privacy style of play may not be best suited for international rugby, but I'll reserve judgement on that until we can actually get a team out which is competitive. Before lockdown, we stuffed Italy, lost to Ireland in Dublin (which happened under Gatland enough) lost by 3 point to England away and narrowly lost to France (as I recall we could have nicked it) following a couple of games under Gatland where we could easily have lost. Only the Scotland game was a huge disappointment for me where we looked totally out of sorts.

We lost to Ireland and England under Gatland, they are good teams. France have improved and we are at a bit of a watershed, so none of this is surprising.

It's not as if we were hammering teams under Gatland either, a lot of our wins are by small margins as the Irish, English and Welsh have been very similar in standard, to lose those games by small margins was not a big problem for me as it could so easily have gone the other way.

The basis of Pivac's approach at the Scarlets was to have a strong set piece, a rush defence and to attack off any turnover with speed and width, coupled with a strong offloading game. We need to be achieving more turnovers if we are to really succeed with Pivac's style, whether or not that is transferable to International rugby I'm not sure, the year the Scarlets won the PRO12 in style they had the top three turnover exponents in the league with Beirne, Barclay and James Davies.

[Sandydragon]

So no Josh Adams. He is suspended from the squad after a breach of covid rules.

[Digby]

So no Josh Adams. He is suspended from the squad after a breach of covid rules.

Has he gone full on Chris Robshaw mental putting the whole shebang at risk?

[Digby]

the year the Scarlets won the PRO12 in style they had the top three turnover exponents in the league with Beirne, Barclay and James Davies.

With the amount of kicking it's not easy to get the same number of chances for turnovers even if you had the players to go hunting them, so he's going to have to adapt and think much more about returning kicks. That he's not had Liam Williams settled in at 15 is a big problem with that, but it's not just about selection.

[Graigwen]

So no Josh Adams. He is suspended from the squad after a breach of covid rules.

Just complete idiocy. I had expected better.

The "family milestone" he breached COVID rules for is reported to be a gender reveal party. "Pivac explained how the incident had been discovered with Adams understood to have attended a gender reveal party to celebrate his partner's pregnancy at another family member's home." (BBC) It is just my personal opinion, but I think gender reveal parties are utter stupidity at any time.

.

[Digby]

it was a BBC gender reveal party?

[normanski]

I make a point of watching the video of that punch every time I read anything written by him. Usually makes me feel better.

Send the link.

Here you go, 30 second in, then you get slo-mo which is strangely even more enjoyable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPzxZC0yG1c

Thanks. Hell of a smack worthy of the play in the last century.

[Numbers]

the year the Scarlets won the PRO12 in style they had the top three turnover exponents in the league with Beirne, Barclay and James Davies.

With the amount of kicking it's not easy to get the same number of chances for turnovers even if you had the players to go hunting them, so he's going to have to adapt and think much more about returning kicks. That he's not had Liam Williams settled in at 15 is a big problem with that, but it's not just about selection.

Agree re:opportunities for turnovers, another thing to take into account is the point margins in International rugby, a lot of the time teams finish within a score of each other, we don't need to be scoring 40 points a game to win test matches we just need to be effective when turnovers are achieved and to get the off-loading game going.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Hope our boys get a good look at this one just before the match

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rug ... g-19750293

[Sandydragon]

Daily Fail rumour mill has North starting at 13 with Amos and LRZ on the wings.

[Numbers]

Daily Fail rumour mill has North starting at 13 with Amos and LRZ on the wings.

They're saying JD2 is injured aren't they, that's not good news, Watkin can count himself unlucky but surely he must be on the bench for this one now.

[Sandydragon]

Daily Fail rumour mill has North starting at 13 with Amos and LRZ on the wings.

They're saying JD2 is injured aren't they, that's not good news, Watkin can count himself unlucky but surely he must be on the bench for this one now.

Not good at all at this stage in his career.

[Graigwen]

JD2 is still finding his way back to form, but is not there yet. There are flashes of attacking brilliance but he is not rock solid in defence. I would not pick him againsnst ireland.

These leaks to the Fail have become so reliable, almost as if they are deliberate.

Oh, and I have no idea what our best XV is at the moment.

.

[Sandydragon]

11. Amos
12. Jonny Williams
13. North
14. LRZ
15. Halfpenny

Thats got a lot of attacking threats. Amos isn't an out and out winger, but he is an intelligent footballer. LRZ has got pace, agility and the confidence of youth to have a go. North will make a dent and Jonny Williams I think is set for a long Wales career. Provided they can get some quality ball, they will make the Irish defence nervous.

Defensively, Amos is probably better at fielding kicks than North. But Norths defence at 13 and LRZ's relative inexperience are potential causes for concern.

[Wallpaperman]

Was about to post something very similar. I don’t think that Wales will get the best out of Amos on the wing, but he is sound under the high ball, and might do a good job of marking James Lowe.

Moving North to 13 is a statement of intent, and he could do some damage if Wales can get some quick ball. He’ll have his work cut out defending against Ringrose though.

[Wallpaperman]

In Walesonline there’s a story about two Irish rugby podcasters who say Wales are rubbish and Ireland will annihilate us on Sunday.

Pivac should play the podcast as part of his team talk before the game to get a bit of passion going - something we missed in our play over the last year or so.

Wales Online haven’t done their annual Neil Francis article yet either. He never has anything good to say about Wales. It’s Tony Copsey’s fault.

The Wales Online article is there today. In all fairness to Francis he isn’t too far wide of the mark with his current assessment of Wales, and points out that it isn’t all wine and rose for Ireland at the moment. He’s never short on hyperbole though and states that ‘Wales are one step away from the abyss’. Might need to mention that to the groundsman. Or the coach driver.

[Graigwen]

I think Wales are perhaps one step or perhaos two from the abyss

I also think they are only a couple of steps from being on the way to being a really good team.

I don't know which way we will go this weekend. It may not be decisisive but we are starting to run out of time. Nobody expects rebuilding to be done in a couple of games, but we have already had two runs of games and rebuilding can't go on forever.

.

[normanski]

I think Wales are perhaps one step or perhaos two from the abyss

I also think they are only a couple of steps from being on the way to being a really good team.

I don't know which way we will go this weekend. It may not be decisisive but we are starting to run out of time. Nobody expects rebuilding to be done in a couple of games, but we have already had two runs of games and rebuilding can't go on forever.

.

Yep - a bit of a conundrum as to where Wales are at the moment.

There were some tentative good signs against England last year. Absolutely imperative that the front five hold their own in the scrums and the lines out are stable. If we have a platform we can inflict some damage on Ireland. We need a good first twenty minutes to settle and then start to exert some pressure.

I’m still hopeful of a Wales win.

[Mr Mwenda]

I think Wales are perhaps one step or perhaos two from the abyss

I also think they are only a couple of steps from being on the way to being a really good team.

I don't know which way we will go this weekend. It may not be decisisive but we are starting to run out of time. Nobody expects rebuilding to be done in a couple of games, but we have already had two runs of games and rebuilding can't go on forever.

.

That's fair, the nature of international rugby is that margins are so small between teams but the scorelines are so wide often if you see what I mean. I'd've thought Pivac needs a good showing now otherwise that bloody-minded winning culture under Gatland must have been pretty much eroded.

[francoisfou]

Here's your opposition tomorrow:

15. Keenan ; 14. Earls, 13. Ringrose, 12. Henshaw, 11. Lowe ; 10. Sexton (cap), 9. Murray ; 7. Van Der Flier, 8. Stander, 6. O’Mahony ; 5. Ryan, 4. Beirne ; 3. Porter, 2. Herring, 1. Healy.
16. Kelleher, 17. Kilcoyne, 18. Furlon, 19. Henderson, 20. Connors, 21. Gibson Park, 22. Burns, 23. Larmour.

No Doris, but it's still a strong line-up. As I wrote earlier in the thread, the 6N needs a resurgent Welsh XV and I hope to see a good performance by your team and hopefully a good win!

[Wallpaperman]

Here's your opposition tomorrow:

15. Keenan ; 14. Earls, 13. Ringrose, 12. Henshaw, 11. Lowe ; 10. Sexton (cap), 9. Murray ; 7. Van Der Flier, 8. Stander, 6. O’Mahony ; 5. Ryan, 4. Beirne ; 3. Porter, 2. Herring, 1. Healy.
16. Kelleher, 17. Kilcoyne, 18. Furlon, 19. Henderson, 20. Connors, 21. Gibson Park, 22. Burns, 23. Larmour.

No Doris, but it's still a strong line-up. As I wrote earlier in the thread, the 6N needs a resurgent Welsh XV and I hope to see a good performance by your team and hopefully a good win!

That’s a good team. Going for Porter and Beirne probably means that they aren’t frightened of the Welsh set piece, and gives them some extra strength at carrying and the breakdown. There’s also some class on the bench in Furlong, Henderson and Larmour. Wales will need to stop their close carrying in the 22, and, as always, try and disrupt Sexton. The choice of replacement props will also be very important (assuming that Wyn Jones and Francis start)

[Sandydragon]

Here's your opposition tomorrow:

15. Keenan ; 14. Earls, 13. Ringrose, 12. Henshaw, 11. Lowe ; 10. Sexton (cap), 9. Murray ; 7. Van Der Flier, 8. Stander, 6. O’Mahony ; 5. Ryan, 4. Beirne ; 3. Porter, 2. Herring, 1. Healy.
16. Kelleher, 17. Kilcoyne, 18. Furlon, 19. Henderson, 20. Connors, 21. Gibson Park, 22. Burns, 23. Larmour.

No Doris, but it's still a strong line-up. As I wrote earlier in the thread, the 6N needs a resurgent Welsh XV and I hope to see a good performance by your team and hopefully a good win!

That’s a good team. Going for Porter and Beirne probably means that they aren’t frightened of the Welsh set piece, and gives them some extra strength at carrying and the breakdown. There’s also some class on the bench in Furlong, Henderson and Larmour. Wales will need to stop their close carrying in the 22, and, as always, try and disrupt Sexton. The choice of replacement props will also be very important (assuming that Wyn Jones and Francis start)

If picked, Lydiate is going to be busy tomorrow stopping ball carriers early.

[Sandydragon]

Here's your opposition tomorrow:

15. Keenan ; 14. Earls, 13. Ringrose, 12. Henshaw, 11. Lowe ; 10. Sexton (cap), 9. Murray ; 7. Van Der Flier, 8. Stander, 6. O’Mahony ; 5. Ryan, 4. Beirne ; 3. Porter, 2. Herring, 1. Healy.
16. Kelleher, 17. Kilcoyne, 18. Furlon, 19. Henderson, 20. Connors, 21. Gibson Park, 22. Burns, 23. Larmour.

No Doris, but it's still a strong line-up. As I wrote earlier in the thread, the 6N needs a resurgent Welsh XV and I hope to see a good performance by your team and hopefully a good win!

That’s a good team. Going for Porter and Beirne probably means that they aren’t frightened of the Welsh set piece, and gives them some extra strength at carrying and the breakdown. There’s also some class on the bench in Furlong, Henderson and Larmour. Wales will need to stop their close carrying in the 22, and, as always, try and disrupt Sexton. The choice of replacement props will also be very important (assuming that Wyn Jones and Francis start)

The rolling maul is a big concern as well.