Wales vs Ireland buildup [MOD WARNING POST #8]

thomond2006

Off-topic poll ideas, anyone?

Edit: Merci monsieur mod!

Mahatma Geansai

.ak wrote: »

I think Henshaw is more rounded, where as Roberts is a specialist strike runner. Henshaw is far more mobile and has better hands and feet. Roberts is probably the better off first phase if you're looking for crash ball, he's more likely to gain big yards.

Henshaw's strike running will only improve, but it is already a strength to his game. I'd agree that he does have a little more subtlety to his game than Roberts though.

All we need to do now is get a 13 beside him (Earls) that will thrive in the space he creates by drawing in opposition defenders. Once we add a greater attacking threat to our game, we will start looking like the complete team that should be aiming for success in the RWC.

corny

It wasn't kick to contest last year. It was kick to turn North and Cuthbert around and make a mockery of their blitz (hard up on the outside) defence.

It doesn't matter anyway we'll kill them in the tight just like last year.

Dave_The_Sheep

.ak wrote: »

We'll have to bring our A game, we'll need to be as fierce as we were against England and as accurate.

With regards to our kicking and chasing, we'll have to be far more accurate. There were a lot of balls put up that were a few metres too long and the English back 3 had a good bit of space to start with. Giving people like Halfpenny and North space with be more dangerous than the last game.

I have a bad feeling about this game, though that could just be the dread of a possible loss to Gatland to scupper any chance at a Grand Slam attempt in Scotland.

S12b

Swiwi. wrote: »

Henshaw vs Roberts worth the price of admission alone IMO.

.ak wrote: »

I can actually see them sending North down Henshaw's channel, see if he can cope with a big man and a step.

Does anyone else find it hilarious that this baby faced child is our defensive enforcer???

Tox56

S12b wrote: »

Does anyone else find it hilarious that this baby faced child is our defensive enforcer???

And Henderson is likely to be our talismanic second row enforcer for the next 10 years but still can't order a drink without ID

total former

I think we're getting ahead of ourselves in the Henshaw v Roberts debate lads.

Roberts has a lot more subtlety than he's being given credit for here, and the crash-ball tactic is the coach's decision, not his.

davegrohl48

S12b wrote: »

Does anyone else find it hilarious that this baby faced child is our defensive enforcer???

Don't let the accordion title fool ya, those accordion lads have farmer handshakes.

davegrohl48

S12b wrote: »

Does anyone else find it hilarious that this baby faced child is our defensive enforcer???

Don't let the accordion title fool ya, those accordion lads have farmer handshakes.

walshb

Very tough game for us. We can win, but I am fence sitting here. Away from home in Rugby is always difficult, despite our away record vs. Wales. Many close fought games. Both teams more than capable of winning on their day.

walshb

George Hook wrote: »

He gave no mention of that in his post - but yes I see it now.

I'm sure we'll win but at the back of my mind I keep thinking at some point we will have a bad game. Not that I've seen anything to suggest as such but just well, good things tend not to last.

So, George, what excuses for us winning will you have?

Rightwing

I've gone with Irl up until now. Think Wales will have too much for us in what will be undoubtedly be our toughest match of the 6N.

thomond2006

Welsh players who will play this weekend: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/31700702

Oddly all the regions are playing Irish provinces at home!

Yeah_Right

Have to say I have never really rated Halfpenny as a counter-attacking FB. Maybe I just haven't watched him enough or am simply having a memory blank.

Yeah_Right

Yeah_Right wrote: »

Have to say I have never really rated Halfpenny as a counter-attacking FB. Maybe I just haven't watched him enough or am simply having a memory blank.

He's far better than Kearney for one. I'm pretty sure one of the Lions tries came directly from a Halfpenny counter-attack.

ionadnapokot

Wud have to agree that 1/2p is better at picking a line from deep. looks like RK is taking the ball into contact near his forwards when running it back.
Neither are great distributers of the ball from hand.

Teferi

I can take a loss against any team in the world but losing to Wales makes me sick to the bottom of my stomach. A small section of their fans are embarrassing, they have annoying bigots in their rugby media and I think their coaching ticket leave a lot to be desired in a variety of areas. I think there are quite a few things that are just plain unlikeable about Welsh rugby to be honest. That said, the vast majority of the players are absolute gents. This is always my most anticipated match of the tournament, I go absolutely Kevin Keegan for a victory.

George Hook

walshb wrote: »

So, George, what excuses for us winning will you have?

I have one up my sleeve.

Studio George will say something like: If you notice, most teams in the last while haven't played well against us SA, England (this year) and Wales last year to name a few - we've just been very lucky that those teams didn't turn up on the day. If we win it, it will be because the other team didn't play well - not because we cut their defence open.


How's that work for you? Obviously the real answer is because Joe forces the other teams to play the game he has planned and they can't implement their own game plan causing their performance to suffer as a consequence.:)

Webbs

Teferi wrote: »

I can take a loss against any team in the world but losing to Wales makes me sick to the bottom of my stomach. A small section of their fans are embarrassing, they have annoying bigots in their rugby media and I think their coaching ticket leave a lot to be desired in a variety of areas. I think there are quite a few things that are just plain unlikeable about Welsh rugby to be honest. That said, the vast majority of the players are absolute gents. This is always my most anticipated match of the tournament, I go absolutely Kevin Keegan for a victory.

To be honest if you asked majority of Welsh supporters they would say almost exactly the same as above just changing the word Ireland for Wales.
Its natural to want success against a team when for the past decade there has been nothing to separate them on the pitch. Both sets of supporters then look for the little things that annoy them to get worked up about.

davegrohl48

[Deleted User] wrote: »

He's far better than Kearney for one. I'm pretty sure one of the Lions tries came directly from a Halfpenny counter-attack.

Would agree he's better in that regard than Kearney. I know nowadays full backs don't want to end up isolated but Kearney over his career has had occasions in attacking positions where it's all about maximising yardage near the try line n he ends up coming straight down the middle into contact.I guess true stepping agility is rare in those who are bulked up. You tend to lose a bit of the quick step. Similar Halfpenny is a good bit heavier now than earlier in his career.

Cosmo Kramer

thomond2006 wrote: »

I'll take Roberts in the side over Scott Williams any day. I think our current centres can negate Roberts. Scott Williams would offer far more of a threat IMO with his footwork and pace. He's very underused by Wales. I would take him at Munster in a heartbeat.

Is Williams the lad that nearly killed himself trying to tackle BOD last year?

ionadnapokot

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Is Williams the lad that nearly killed himself trying to tackle BOD last year?

that's him. hasn't been right since:)

Idbatterim

sexton has to be back! How likely are Heaslip and O'Brien to feature? Full strength I fancy us...

Big Nelly

Idbatterim wrote: »

sexton has to be back! How likely are Heaslip and O'Brien to feature? Full strength I fancy us...

Heaslip wont be back, can't see how he would be.....

O'Brien should be ok with 2 weeks to recover

irishbucsfan

Big Nelly wrote: »

Heaslip wont be back, can't see how he would be.....

O'Brien should be ok with 2 weeks to recover

Heaslip's was a 4 week injury about 4 weeks before the Welsh game. It'll come down to luck really, it's touch and go.

Cool_CM

ionadnapokot wrote: »

2011 Wales 19 Ireland 13 L (Mike Phillips - Peter Allan - Jonathan Kaplan )

That hurt. Let us never speak of that one again.

Uno my Uno.

Webbs wrote: »

To be honest if you asked majority of Welsh supporters they would say almost exactly the same as above just changing the word Ireland for Wales.
Its natural to want success against a team when for the past decade there has been nothing to separate them on the pitch. Both sets of supporters then look for the little things that annoy them to get worked up about.

I've found over the years that many many Welsh fans (and to a certain extent Welsh Rugby) have a superiority complex when it comes to Ireland and Irish Rugby. It can be infuriating and explains why it is so satisfying to beat them. It means that they treat games dismissively make condescending comments about players and fans and on the reasonably frequent occasion that they lose to us they blame their own poor performance or more typically the ref rather than acknowledge our better performance/team. Its very very rare to hear a Welsh fan admit that his team is second best, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Of course most Welsh people are just normal, polite happy everyday peopel when they aren't wearing a red jersey/pink cowboy hat :D:D

sydthebeat

just had a sneaky look over on gwlad forum and have seen these beauties

In theory a side that only has a maul, cross kicking and huge levels of breakdown cheating should be beatable but I'm not sure we're clinical enough to do it.

A 10 point Welsh win, with England not winning that big, would set up an interesting last weekend.

What a boon it would be to have Wales stuff it up his hole (POC on his 100th cap) in a sound thrashing that leaves us with only a 12pt margin to make up on Italy.

They have some bloody good players but their cheating turns me off from appreciating their skills.

it could be that the elite refs have rewritten the laws yet again and have decided that, flopping onto ball carrier, going in at the side and tackling defenders behind the line of scrimmage is acceptable, it's just that only the Irish have been told.

i must admit ... some of those comments have me flabbergasted... i dont see anything about our ruck play to be considers as such constant cheats??
do they not know you can ruck beyond the tackle, if you drive the first rucker back you move the offside line AND the gate back...... and flood the area then??? the ABs have been doing that for years.....

Idbatterim

if its it cheating, do they not deem the ref to be the best judge of that, or do they feel they know better?!

Sure they probably wont even be getting out of their group at the worldcup!

Webbs

We all know that Gwlad is a level headed forum representative of the majority of Welsh supporters!! Most Welsh supporters I know just laugh at Gwlad forum its a bit like reading the Sun newspaper in don't let facts get in the way of a good story or rant

If you cherry pick comments from this forum at times it wouldnt make for pretty reading either, though its a lot saner on here in general to say the least.

Overall and for the last decade or so the Welsh believe they have a team that can win, so do the Irish. So Its pretty much always a damn close affair. Its amazing how close the two teams have been in terms of personnel over that extended period.