Welsh perspective - a realistic one for you loonies *mod warning post 73*

kevtwin

Im Welsh!

Rory Best

It wont make any difference to our game plan whether he plays or not as he is a hooker and our aim in the line-outs is to win our own and stop you getting a maul going, simple. If Cronin plays it just means we might have a chance of nicking the odd line-out off you.
Our scrum will do what it was always going to do, try and do your front row. Now ive read a lot of comments here about how strong your front row is so i thought i would add some facts to the debate.
In the 6N game, your scrum did not have a particularly dominant game and here are fans ratings that suggest slightly the opposite.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/mar/12/six-nations-wales-ireland-player-ratings

We have the Lions props on Saturday, Gethin rated one of if not the best loose-head around, and Adam, who is without doubt one of the best tight heads. This is not Welsh bias, this is the Worlds opinion.

Expect some problems at scrum-time whether or not Best plays. If your scrum doesnt function then all the go forward that made you look good against the Oz and Italy (after Castro went off) will be dissipated. Once the go-forward is lost then so is the effectiveness of your incredibly strong back-row. Scrum-wang is everything and im not sure how, but many on here seem to have forgotten exactly who the Welsh props are on Saturday. Paul James - effective in Cardiff - couldnt get a game.

Irelands back row

Pretty much the same as the one that played Wales in the 6N except that it is improved with Ferris, but then, so is ours with three very strong but very different players to yours. I rate the Irish back row very highly indeed but again, this site seems to be writing off the back row that had the Boks on their knees.
Now, your argument that, no matter how good we are we couldnt find the experience to BEAT the Bok, leads me to the next point.

This years 6 Nations

Prior to Irelands last points - The O Gara penalty before half-time - there was a clear knock-on by the Irish that the ref missed. If you look at the highlights its very clear, but there you go. If you take away Wales' illegal try, and also Irelands dodgy 3 points, Wales would still have won. You are cannot use our failure against the Boks against us unless you are prepared to ignore the Phillips try, because of course, a Hook penalty clearly went over. These things happen, get over it, we had to against SA.

Fitness and Physicality

Wales have only been outscored in a game once in the whole of 2011 and against England, Ireland and South Africa, conceded tries within the first three minutes. This is a clear indication of a stamina that other sides have clearly struggled to match over 80 minutes. This is fact, not conjecture - check them, i am right.
If Ireland do not score within the first 10 minutes, it could be argued that they only have another 30 minutes left to beat Wales, unless, from somewhere, POC, BOD, ROG, DOC and D'Arcy have discovered a wonder drug to give them fresh legs. We are very very fit indeed, and the records show that we get better as the game goes on.

The Bench

We have 2 British Lions who have double Grand SLams and another 2 players with GRand Slams including Bradley Davies who tore Matfield - no less- a new ringpiece last autumn. Our bench has some inexperience, but then again it has incredible experience as well. With 15/20 to go, Bradley, Hook and Ryan are no average players to bring to the fight and neither is Paul James who has become a fair old scrummager - see Wales v Ireland 2011 again.

The Backs

Lions galore on both sides, GS winners galore on both sides, gainline breakers galore on both sides. To even pretend that Ireland have superiority here is ludicrous, its a damn good match up overall. You have Bowe and Bod, we have Shane and Jamie.

Experience

This is a false god! Youre experience didnt get you a single second half point in Cardiff against a worse Welsh side than this one. You were still in the running for another GS but you didnt score a single point, not one.
Ireland have experienced players, so have Wales. Again a false prophet is the HEC experience as it hardly made you world beaters in the 6Nations, in your warm up games or against the USA.

Summary

Anyone on here that thinks Ireland are superior to Wales to the degree im reading on here, is lacking in any knowledge whatsoever, or too fond of the black stuff.
Welsh fans are simply not confident at all other than we know we CAN beat Ireland. We know we can, but doing it on the day is another matter. The Welsh side have probably seen this RWC come a year too early as i truly believe we are on the edge of some truly momentous times with a squad as young as this.
I dont know which way its going to go but i also dont think either Ireland or Wales have an overall edge. You have a cracking line-out but we will have the edge in the front row, to think otherwise is mental.
I think our backrows nullify each other and the backs as well.

To me, its very close, nailbiting, to some on here, Wales are going to be reamed. I find that hilarious.

we shall see. Too many on here are looking at a semi final you might not get to.

duckysauce

may the best team win



cmon ireland

kevtwin

duckysauce wrote: »

may the best team win



cmon ireland

an excellent response sir!

good post on the merits of the Welsh team. I definitely have a lot of respect for the team. Think this is going to be one of those games where I spend half the match cowering behind the couch...

I'll be like a kid at Christmas the night before too, sleep wont be easy!

maddness

I've just been looking at some of the crap on the Welsh rugby forums and its the very same as here with the obvious Welsh bias. Its all part of the fun

Enjoy......hope you come second.

wixfjord

Good post. I think you Welsh are playing up our superiority complex a bit too much though!

Think we're missing one big part of the game on Sat too.
Kicking.
ROG v. Priestland?
I know who I'd back in a gunfight.

durkadurka

Most people I know think ireland will just about edge it.

I can't be arsed arguing the points one by one but to suggest we think we'll walk it is nonsense.

donfers

where are all the posts saying wales are going to get reamed?

you strike me as being very defensive mate

Wales are in decent form and have some good young players but if you're not confident about putting them away then you've no chance in a world cup....they're a promising side, no more than that and on their day they could snatch it but i still think Ireland should nick it.

Wales seem to have gotten very excited about coming second in their pool and whether the arrogance is justified or not, Ireland feed off that kind of attitude.

oh and let's not forget this is just a quarter final, for all the talk of these two sides being the form sides they still have to win a semi-final to even get the final, and all that talk is precisely that-talk..............france and england will be loving the media love-in with wales and ireland (and unlike us both those sides have been to world cup finals more than once), i think Kidney and Ireland know how to handle expectations and play things down and be humble and dignified, do wales?

profitius

Welcome to the forum, Kevtwin.

I said I think Ireland should be about 1/3 or 1/2 to win this game and stand by that. Ireland outplayed Australia and are full of HEC winners who are used to playing on the big stage. Irish provinces finshed top of the ML last season.

I think some Welsh look at the Irish teams and think they're winning things because they're cute and know when to cheat etc. The fact is the Irish players are better.

On the day Wales can win and it'll be a tight match but overall if you're being realistic you'd have to say the Irish team are better.

If Wales win I'd love to see the go on to the final!

durkadurka

I just read the first half of the qf prediction thread and it's mostly Ireland by a score.

yeraulone

kevtwin wrote: »

Im Welsh!

our deepest sympathy

walshb

duckysauce wrote: »

may the best team win



cmon ireland

**** that, may Ireland win!

@profitius

@profitius, if you genuinely believe that we should be 1/3 or 1/2 to win this game, then you should be getting as much money as possible on us

http://www.oddschecker.com/rugby-union/internationals/rugby-world-cup/ireland-v-wales/winner

getting 11/13 on a 1/3 is free money.

.ak

I'm very conscious of Irish fans over-rating Ireland, especially the ones that were badmouthing the team prior the WC... But, to be honest, they seem to be the minority around here. I can think of only 3 or 4 people on this forum that post regularly that might think Ireland will win easy on saturday.

In my opinion, we're the bookies favorites so actually we're not favorites, as we don't handle that title well!

It's a 50/50 game for me, and one that no doubt might be the stand out game of the tournament for the neutrals.

May the best team win, and I know I'll be backing whoever wins this game all the way to the final!!

profitius

Deleted User wrote: »

@profitius, if you genuinely believe that we should be 1/3 or 1/2 to win this game, then you should be getting as much money as possible on us

http://www.oddschecker.com/rugby-union/internationals/rugby-world-cup/ireland-v-wales/winner

getting 11/13 on a 1/3 is free money.

I have but I also know theres no such thing as free money! I do have a big bet on Ireland but I'm not going to go over my limit.

walshb

.ak wrote: »

May the best team win, and I know I'll be backing whoever wins this game all the way to the final!!

No no. Jeez, they'll be worse than the English from 1966.

slingerz

I think that Wales will be suprised by the Irish scrum to be honest. Also think a lot of NH sides dont apprecriate the strenght of the Irish back row as Heslip, Ferris and O'Brien are IMO the best backrow in rugby at the moment.

O'Gara or Sexton over Priestland every day and while Hook may compare somewhat with these two again I reckon O'Gara has it over him.

I have actually backed Wales, more because I got them at 5/4 than anything else so either way the result goes I win, unless there's a bloody draw!

overshoot

have to disagree slightly with experience being a red herring, however i think it will only come to play if we are ahead. to be honest i think it really only comes to play in closing out games, but you have to be in a position to do that first.
he is right to say Best playing wont affect their game plan, but it is a boost to us, giving us a better chance in the lineout and scrum and if they function we get more options in our gameplan.
i dont think this years six nations are much of an indication of either team, both had a long term view to the WC and (potentially) sacrificed short term wins in order to go for it now. our choke tackle wasnt perfected in one training session.
going to be a tight game cant wait:D
on people saying one team will win easy, iv seen it on welsh forums too, tinted glasses is all i can say, when your team is on form its hard to look beyond them but these are the 2 form teams from the northern hemisphere!

uRbaN

kevtwin wrote: »

Im Welsh!

Rory Best

It wont make any difference to our game plan whether he plays or not as he is a hooker and our aim in the line-outs is to win our own and stop you getting a maul going, simple. If Cronin plays it just means we might have a chance of nicking the odd line-out off you.
Our scrum will do what it was always going to do, try and do your front row. Now ive read a lot of comments here about how strong your front row is so i thought i would add some facts to the debate.
In the 6N game, your scrum did not have a particularly dominant game and here are fans ratings that suggest slightly the opposite.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/mar/12/six-nations-wales-ireland-player-ratings

We have the Lions props on Saturday, Gethin rated one of if not the best loose-head around, and Adam, who is without doubt one of the best tight heads. This is not Welsh bias, this is the Worlds opinion.

Expect some problems at scrum-time whether or not Best plays. If your scrum doesnt function then all the go forward that made you look good against the Oz and Italy (after Castro went off) will be dissipated. Once the go-forward is lost then so is the effectiveness of your incredibly strong back-row. Scrum-wang is everything and im not sure how, but many on here seem to have forgotten exactly who the Welsh props are on Saturday. Paul James - effective in Cardiff - couldnt get a game.

Irelands back row

Pretty much the same as the one that played Wales in the 6N except that it is improved with Ferris, but then, so is ours with three very strong but very different players to yours. I rate the Irish back row very highly indeed but again, this site seems to be writing off the back row that had the Boks on their knees.
Now, your argument that, no matter how good we are we couldnt find the experience to BEAT the Bok, leads me to the next point.

This years 6 Nations

Prior to Irelands last points - The O Gara penalty before half-time - there was a clear knock-on by the Irish that the ref missed. If you look at the highlights its very clear, but there you go. If you take away Wales' illegal try, and also Irelands dodgy 3 points, Wales would still have won. You are cannot use our failure against the Boks against us unless you are prepared to ignore the Phillips try, because of course, a Hook penalty clearly went over. These things happen, get over it, we had to against SA.

Fitness and Physicality

Wales have only been outscored in a game once in the whole of 2011 and against England, Ireland and South Africa, conceded tries within the first three minutes. This is a clear indication of a stamina that other sides have clearly struggled to match over 80 minutes. This is fact, not conjecture - check them, i am right.
If Ireland do not score within the first 10 minutes, it could be argued that they only have another 30 minutes left to beat Wales, unless, from somewhere, POC, BOD, ROG, DOC and D'Arcy have discovered a wonder drug to give them fresh legs. We are very very fit indeed, and the records show that we get better as the game goes on.

The Bench

We have 2 British Lions who have double Grand SLams and another 2 players with GRand Slams including Bradley Davies who tore Matfield - no less- a new ringpiece last autumn. Our bench has some inexperience, but then again it has incredible experience as well. With 15/20 to go, Bradley, Hook and Ryan are no average players to bring to the fight and neither is Paul James who has become a fair old scrummager - see Wales v Ireland 2011 again.

The Backs

Lions galore on both sides, GS winners galore on both sides, gainline breakers galore on both sides. To even pretend that Ireland have superiority here is ludicrous, its a damn good match up overall. You have Bowe and Bod, we have Shane and Jamie.

Experience

This is a false god! Youre experience didnt get you a single second half point in Cardiff against a worse Welsh side than this one. You were still in the running for another GS but you didnt score a single point, not one.
Ireland have experienced players, so have Wales. Again a false prophet is the HEC experience as it hardly made you world beaters in the 6Nations, in your warm up games or against the USA.

Summary

Anyone on here that thinks Ireland are superior to Wales to the degree im reading on here, is lacking in any knowledge whatsoever, or too fond of the black stuff.
Welsh fans are simply not confident at all other than we know we CAN beat Ireland. We know we can, but doing it on the day is another matter. The Welsh side have probably seen this RWC come a year too early as i truly believe we are on the edge of some truly momentous times with a squad as young as this.
I dont know which way its going to go but i also dont think either Ireland or Wales have an overall edge. You have a cracking line-out but we will have the edge in the front row, to think otherwise is mental.
I think our backrows nullify each other and the backs as well.

To me, its very close, nailbiting, to some on here, Wales are going to be reamed. I find that hilarious.

we shall see. Too many on here are looking at a semi final you might not get to.

BOD called it after Italy, whoever turns up on the day will win it. Its 50/50.

I'm sure from a Welsh perspective this forum looks completely biased no more than www.scumv.co.uk does to me when I dip in there but thats the nature of it all...we want our team to win, and you want yours.

Some of your points are valid, (I do think Wales have a superior front row & scrum and an excellent bench) however discounting experience is naive. Have you ever played any sport at any level competitively?

I am nervous about the game but I am certain that the Irish players are focused on what they have to do and are not taking Wales for granted.

Good luck to Wales but you will forgive me if I hope to hear my Welsh workmates bemoaning how the ref lost them the game and Ireland cheated the whole game.

huan.W

I watched Eng vs Wal video (full game on Youtube) in this year's 6N last night. I think the Welsh backrow were quite average. They really have stepped up since. How many times have they played together since 6N? Consistency the key.

CoDy1

kevtwin wrote: »

Lions galore on both sides, GS winners galore on both sides

HEC winners galore on both....oh wait :D:D:D This is cup rugby now.

oncall

huan.W wrote: »

I watched Eng vs Wal video (full game on Youtube) in this year's 6N last night. I think the Welsh backrow were quite average. They really have stepped up since. How many times have they played together since 6N? Consistency the key.

Faletau is new to this back row, Lydiate is just getting better and better and THE WARBURTRON is world class. We have an out and out 7, which may well be to our advantage in this dogfight, I back us for the fight on the floor. Raw power and ball in hand probably your back row more penetrative, we'll just gather and distribute. It'll be an interesting confrontation. I think we'll win if we can secure our on ball on set piece play. We'll get at least parity as scrum, its the lineout which is a concern as ever.

irishbucsfan

Rory Best
First you say it doesn't matter if he plays, then you say you're going to target our front row. Good luck with that.

The Irish Back Row
You had the Boks on their knees? Wasn't enough was it. Our back row actually got us a win against the Ozzies.

This Year's 6 Nations
Thankfully for both our sakes, this year's 6 Nations has absolutely no relevancy, because both our sides are far better than they were on that day. I do think it's nice that you're able to equate a missed knock-on with a complete misunderstanding and incorrect technical application of the laws of the game though.

Fitness and Physicality
This bit is the most bizarre. You were fitter than Samoa and Fiji, congrats. What happened at the end against South Africa? The idea that any team at this stage of the competition is going to have an edge in conditioning is insane.

The Bench
Probably the only place I'd consider Wales to have the edge, but only just. And for all those medals you're proud of they only just have the edge.

Experience
According to you experience is meaningless. Fine so. Let's see how far that gets you.


In the end, Ireland are the favourites for a reason. They have the superior pack, superior experience and superior leadership. If you need to find solace in a win you guys had between two hugely different teams in the 6 Nations (where did you guys finish in that competition? Below us?) go ahead, I expect it will be the only win you guys get against us for a while.

It will be a good game between a team that finished first in their group and are undefeated, and a team who didn't and aren't. Good luck.

/smarm

oncall

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Rory Best
First you say it doesn't matter if he plays, then you say you're going to target our front row. Good luck with that.

The Irish Back Row
You had the Boks on their knees? Wasn't enough was it. Our back row actually got us a win against the Ozzies.

This Year's 6 Nations
Thankfully for both our sakes, this year's 6 Nations has absolutely no relevancy, because both our sides are far better than they were on that day. I do think it's nice that you're able to equate a missed knock-on with a complete misunderstanding and incorrect technical application of the laws of the game though.

Fitness and Physicality
This bit is the most bizarre. You were fitter than Samoa and Fiji, congrats. What happened at the end against South Africa? The idea that any team at this stage of the competition is going to have an edge in conditioning is insane.

The Bench
Probably the only place I'd consider Wales to have the edge, but only just. And for all those medals you're proud of they only just have the edge.

Experience
According to you experience is meaningless. Fine so. Let's see how far that gets you.


In the end, Ireland are the favourites for a reason. They have the superior pack, superior experience and superior leadership. If you need to find solace in a win you guys had between two hugely different teams in the 6 Nations (where did you guys finish in that competition? Below us?) go ahead, I expect it will be the only win you guys get against us for a while.

It will be a good game between a team that finished first in their group and are undefeated, and a team who didn't and aren't. Good luck.

/smarm

No concerns about your front row, after we've finished with the set peice, maybe some of your backs can do a bit of sprinting practice trying to catch Gethin ;o)
Hmmm, our back row doesn't take penalty kicks or drop goals.
If its tight in last 15 mins you'd better have your kicking game in good order because we'll still be running hard and strong.
This young side is not a carer for history, you won't intimidate it, with your wily old heads, that can work both ways.
We beat a Samoa side that was very strong, gave the mighty Boks a torrid time and Oh yeah defeated Australia scoring 4 tries.
If Ireland win I salute you, you will deserve it.

duckysauce

oncall wrote: »

No concerns about your front row, after we've finished with the set peice, maybe some of your backs can do a bit of sprinting practice trying to catch Gethin ;o)
Hmmm, our back row doesn't take penalty kicks or drop goals.
If its tight in last 15 mins you'd better have your kicking game in good order because we'll still be running hard and strong.
This young side is not a carer for history, you won't intimidate it, with your wily old heads, that can work both ways.
We beat a Samoa side that was very strong, gave the mighty Boks a torrid time and Oh yeah defeated Australia scoring 4 tries.
If Ireland win I salute you, you will deserve it.

You beat a Samoa team that had only a four day turn around, lost two of their key players, and had a try cancelled that should have gone to the TMO. You couldn't put a sleepy SA team away either. Looking forward to Saturday.

oncall

duckysauce wrote: »

You beat a Samoa team that had only a four day turn around, lost two of their key players, and had a try cancelled that should have gone to the TMO. You couldn't put a sleepy SA team away either. Looking forward to Saturday.

LOL... you couldn't even get a bonus point against the USA :rolleyes:

duckysauce

oncall wrote: »

LOL... you couldn't even get a bonus point against the USA :rolleyes:

lol :eek: we didn't lose a match either, and toped our pool.

this "fight talk" is pathetic...

from both sides tbh.

oncall

Deleted User wrote: »

this "fight talk" is pathetic...

from both sides tbh.

Hey, I'm not fighting, I was just indulging. If you win you deserve it and respectfully so, even if we put 66 points on a team ranked one higher than USA, 'titter', sorry could resist that one.

efb

baa baa
(you know you want too)

oncall

efb wrote: »

baa baa
(you know you want too)

In all honesty, I think both sides are nervous of this one and both sides for their own reasons think they have the edge on the other team, without being arrogant. It'll be decided soon.

pynchy

If you were to go onto any rugby forum for any country you would find people supporting there team and picking through their good points.

I see both teams as being fairly evenly matched but i do think when our pack starting hitting hard its going to be felt. To compare either of our teams to the way we were playing anytime before the world cup would be fairly stupid, the teams since playing in the world cup are totally different, they have had more training and playing time together than they probably ever have had at this level. Both teams have come on in leaps and bounds and are very impressive.

What i think this will come down to is a team game, where the team that work together will win and a big part of this is the coaching and management, this where i think we have it. We have a confident unit that are playing off each others strengths.

One team may well run away with it but there are so many factors that can not be accounted for such as weather and ref'ing.

Whether it is biased as an Irishman or not we are going to win and there will be tears.

Its going to be a great match and what probably makes this a predictably brilliant match is that we both play good looking rugby and neither team tend to play dirty unlike some of our european neighbours!

oncall

pynchy wrote: »

If you were to go onto any rugby forum for any country you would find people supporting there team and picking through their good points.

I see both teams as being fairly evenly matched but i do think when our pack starting hitting hard its going to be felt. To compare either of our teams to the way we were playing anytime before the world cup would be fairly stupid, the teams since playing in the world cup are totally different, they have had more training and playing time together than they probably ever have had at this level. Both teams have come on in leaps and bounds and are very impressive.

What i think this will come down to is a team game, where the team that work together will win and a big part of this is the coaching and management, this where i think we have it. We have a confident unit that are playing off each others strengths.

One team may well run away with it but there are so many factors that can not be accounted for such as weather and ref'ing.

Whether it is biased as an Irishman or not we are going to win and there will be tears.

Its going to be a great match and what probably makes this a predictably brilliant match is that we both play good looking rugby and neither team tend to play dirty unlike some of our european neighbours!

Good post: In total agreement but you made missed a 'not' in the last but one paragraph.

pynchy

oncall wrote: »

Good post: In total agreement but you made missed a 'not' in the last but one paragraph.

wow...deep!

ah no in all fairness this is going to be amazing for both teams, it just tears of injustice look far better on welsh players;)

oncall

pynchy wrote: »

wow...deep!

ah no in all fairness this is going to be amazing for both teams, it just tears of injustice look far better on welsh players;)

I won't wish you good luck, as I'd prefer you earn the victory without luck, lets just hope for a great spectacle not a turgid stalemate, if it turns into a dogfight, you'll probably win. If you do win make sure you do a job on England if they get to the semi's.:)

pynchy

we're getting to civil here now... but yeah dito.

errlloyd

Just gonna go ahead and touch some wood when I say this...

But sure Wales have only beaten Ireland once away from home in the last couple of years (by which I mean lots of years). You scraped to a disputed win, in Cardiff, in front of 80,000 of your people this year. We now seem to have some form, personally I think it will be close, but I can see why people on this forum think it might be easy.

Also, I still haven't seen one person on this forum openly say we're gonna win.

oncall

errlloyd wrote: »

Just gonna go ahead and touch some wood when I say this...

But sure Wales have only beaten Ireland once away from home in the last couple of years (by which I mean lots of years). You scraped to a disputed win, in Cardiff, in front of 80,000 of your people this year. We now seem to have some form, personally I think it will be close, but I can see why people on this forum think it might be easy.

Also, I still haven't seen one person on this forum openly say we're gonna win.

One good omen, I'm pretty sure we've never lost to a celtic nation in NZ hehe, these stats are important, yeah that was tongue in cheek, catch you all Saturday, goodnight.

Gee Bag

Was really fidgety all day today thinking about the game on saturday, I'll be as mad as a bag of spiders all day tomorrow.

It really is too close to call so all i can say is..............


G'WAN IRELAND!!!!!

RonBo88

I really hope Wales get smashed and they don't end up getting a jammy 2 point win due to a bad decision.

Considering rugby is their national sport, Wales are pretty bad and we should beat them like we do in every other sport.

Kayless

Your obvisusly not very confident, otherwise why would you come on here seeking vaildation, you keep going on about the Lions for christ sake one of our provisional teams (munster) beats Aus, when was the last time the Welsh team beat Aus? Realistic my arse!

SteelyDanJalapeno

I don't get this thread,

we've got Sean O'Brien right?

Fireball07

Look I really do think Ireland are better player for player than Wales. But when does that mean anything really, especially since the difference is so slight?

I think their back row is exceptional, I think ours is marginally better but all it takes is for one of our players to have an off day and there's is better. The same for them, and that applies all over the pitch.

Having marginally superior players in more positions could end up counting for nothing. I'd say the chances of all our players performing to their highest standard is unlikely, the same for Wales.

It's going to be a very tight game, it really really could swing either way...but I think Ireland will win, barely. But by no more than a score...and if Wales win, I wouldn't be surprised. I'd be gutted, because we're definitely capable of winning but not surprised.



(I think our win over Italy has made people way more confident about this game despite Wales being a definitely stronger side. People were pessimistic about the Italian game, and were worried that the Australia game was a once-off....but we produced a marvellous performance and now we think we can do it again. Because we know we can beat Wales...of course they know they can beat us too.)

Jawgap

Good post OP and some good discussion.....

.....my only point relates to teams saying we have this Lions prop, or that Lions [position]......

....for me it's not about who had players in the last Lions test team, but who'll have them in the next Lions test team in Oz!!

stackerman

Welcome to the forum Kevtwin

I have to agree with a lot of what you say. I personally think that Wales are potentially the best out of the home nations at the moment. However as BOD said, it will be down to whoever turned up on the day, and a wee bit of luck (always important).

As already mentioned, please don't judge us all by the ramblings of a few. Have a look at your own welsh forums and come back to us and tell us you don't have your fair share of twits too

There are so many variables that one can only say . . .
50/50 game

I do however think that the winner should reach the Final, as both England and France have been poor so far. But this is the beauty of the World Cup, and knock out comps - one game can change your forum overnight.

Whoever wins on Sat, the talk will be of a fantastic team.

Whoever looses, the talk will be of a team that flatters to deceive.

It's the nature of the game, and I love it.

May the best team win, and please God the winner makes it to the final.

Come on Ireland (I'm allowed to say that )


Kevin

endabob1

Last 4 games have been 2 wins each; 3 of those have been by less than 1 score, I expect nothing else tomorrow, it will be tighter than an alter boy on his first day.

Our front row has come on in leaps and bounds since the 6N & Best makes a huge difference to that.
If we can get any kind of ascendancy at scrums I expect us to win, I think our back row & second rows are better, we will try to deny Wales quick ball (like we did to the Wallabies) and prevent the quick backs getting a run at our potential weak spots.

Watched an NZ show last night and they went for Ireland but interestingly they raised the point about penalties, can't remember the stats but they said Wales have given away a number of pens particularly at the break down. I think it certainly helps us that we've had Joubert in the group stages & know what to expect.

Ireland by <7 in a thriller

bamboozle

the OP for all his raving about the Welsh fitness and physicality seems to forget that they lost to SA, that they didnt score after the 54th minute (despite their hyped up fitness he's talking about)

fitness and physicality is all well and good, having the experience and old heads capable of closing a game out is a different story.

Wales went in front v's SA, got dazzled in the bright lights and lost the game.

this was against a SA team missing Botha, and which lost De Villiers and Matfield to injury during the game

slingerz

ROG will have Ireland ahead by the end of the game. Having Priestland at 10 is an error of judgement by Gatland

efb

Has warren got laryngitis?

Leslie91

I haven't heard anybody boasting about how Ireland are gona win handily. The feeling I get is that most everyone thinks it will be very tight. And I concur.

All I hope is that the better, more deserving team wins and that a ref decision doesn't decide it.

For example it could be argued that Wales were the better team against SA but got beat and we all remember the error in allowing the quick lineout in Cardiff (nevermind the missed knock on beforehand as mentioned above).

So there you have it, may the better team win. If it is Wales then good luck to them (hope they stuff the English next) but

MON IRELAND!!!!.

walshb

I am getting a wee bit more confident. I think if we play well and they play well we will win. We are a better team.