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Arnoldtoo

The thinking ape's ape
May 18, 2006
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He said this:

We are playing the greatest Welsh side ever. That's what we are hearing, we'll take it at face value," said Jones.

I'd say he was right. Wales clear favourites.

35-3 and our 3 will be courtesy of Daly since we'll never get far enough into Welsh territory for Farrell to reach.
 

E17yid

Well-Known Member
Jan 21, 2013
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I'd say he was right. Wales clear favourites.

35-3 and our 3 will be courtesy of Daly since we'll never get far enough into Welsh territory for Farrell to reach.

Very funny Arnold.

Joking aside I guess some are taking issue with the “that’s what we’re hearing” bit

Other than the fact that Gats has never said that (though I think he has said this is the best squad he’s had during is time with us) I don’t see the problem.

Other than a few injuries and 1 exile (Webb) you’d have to say it is anyway. Lots of people saying “Eddie obviously doesn’t know what he’s talking about did he not see us in the 60s and 70s” but can you imagine Vunipola running at Bennett? Lol. It would be a non contest. They’d get destroyed with the intensity of the modern game.

Having said that they’d beat the English in a good old fashioned 15v15 dust up.
 

Arnoldtoo

The thinking ape's ape
May 18, 2006
35,335
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Very funny Arnold.

Joking aside I guess some are taking issue with the “that’s what we’re hearing” bit

Other than the fact that Gats has never said that (though I think he has said this is the best squad he’s had during is time with us) I don’t see the problem.

Other than a few injuries and 1 exile (Webb) you’d have to say it is anyway. Lots of people saying “Eddie obviously doesn’t know what he’s talking about did he not see us in the 60s and 70s” but can you imagine Vunipola running at Bennett? Lol. It would be a non contest. They’d get destroyed with the intensity of the modern game.

Having said that they’d beat the English in a good old fashioned 15v15 dust up.

Bennett would do well to use his sidestep to get out the way! But comparing different eras in any sport is always unfair on the oldsters.

I don't see why Eddie should want to wind the Welsh up; I doubt they could get any more determined to beat England than they already are.

But I'm not going to make any sensible predictions just yet. LH might be back ...
 

E17yid

Well-Known Member
Jan 21, 2013
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Bennett would do well to use his sidestep to get out the way! But comparing different eras in any sport is always unfair on the oldsters.

I don't see why Eddie should want to wind the Welsh up; I doubt they could get any more determined to beat England than they already are.

But I'm not going to make any sensible predictions just yet. LH might be back ...

To be fair it’s worked well for him since he’s been coaching England. How much influence his previous digs has had on the results is debatable, obviously.

I’m actually quite worried about Halfpenny the guy can’t get through a training session with vomiting a bad headaches and it was almost 3 months ago since that twat Kerevi whacked him. He’s just turned 30 too. Shame as prior to the concussion he was playing some good rugby but I seriously doubt he’ll be involved in this years 6N
 

E17yid

Well-Known Member
Jan 21, 2013
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Talking of Halfpenny we could really do with him against England. We massively missed him last year, in fact I’m convinced if he was playing at 15 instead of Anscombe there’s no way you score that first try as his positioning is to good. Looking at how you’re exploiting space in behind this year you’d think it’s tailor made for Halfpenny but sadly he won’t be playing.

Liam Williams is in good form though.
 

SugarRay

Well-Known Member
Jul 6, 2011
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If Halfpenny is back and Williams moves to the wing, that’s actually a big result for England imo.

Williams is a much better player and seeing him stuck on the wing would be a positive!

Jones is maybe trying to wind the Welsh up so they overdo it. There’s a fine line between controlled aggression and losing the head. So far his mind games have worked against the Welsh it can be argued. Isn’t he unbeaten against them?
 

SugarRay

Well-Known Member
Jul 6, 2011
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To be fair it’s worked well for him since he’s been coaching England. How much influence his previous digs has had on the results is debatable, obviously.

I’m actually quite worried about Halfpenny the guy can’t get through a training session with vomiting a bad headaches and it was almost 3 months ago since that twat Kerevi whacked him. He’s just turned 30 too. Shame as prior to the concussion he was playing some good rugby but I seriously doubt he’ll be involved in this years 6N

I didn’t know he was struggling that much. Very worrying.
Something needs to be done regarding the physicality of the game. Reducing the amount of games has to be high on the list if it’s going to remain this physical.
 

E17yid

Well-Known Member
Jan 21, 2013
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If Halfpenny is back and Williams moves to the wing, that’s actually a big result for England imo.

Williams is a much better player and seeing him stuck on the wing would be a positive!

Jones is maybe trying to wind the Welsh up so they overdo it. There’s a fine line between controlled aggression and losing the head. So far his mind games have worked against the Welsh it can be argued. Isn’t he unbeaten against them?

He’s a totally different player, though. There’s no way you can say Liam Willian’s is better defensively, positionally or under the high ball than Halfpenny. Equally you can’t say Halfpenny is faster or more attacking or more likely to beat a man than Liam Williams.

I agree with what you’re saying , though, Williams is a bit wasted on the wing, though he is a great finisher. I’d play Williams at FB more but, as I say, there are some games that are ideal for Halfpenny and when you’re up against a 10 like Farrel who’s a great reader of the game you need a great reader of the game at 15 to combat that not saying Williams is a poor reader of the game but it’s not his strength.
 

SugarRay

Well-Known Member
Jul 6, 2011
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He’s a totally different player, though. There’s no way you can say Liam Willian’s is better defensively, positionally or under the high ball than Halfpenny. Equally you can’t say Halfpenny is faster or more attacking or more likely to beat a man than Liam Williams.

I agree with what you’re saying , though, Williams is a bit wasted on the wing, though he is a great finisher. I’d play Williams at FB more but, as I say, there are some games that are ideal for Halfpenny and when you’re up against a 10 like Farrel who’s a great reader of the game you need a great reader of the game at 15 to combat that not saying Williams is a poor reader of the game but it’s not his strength.

Oh they are like chalk and cheese as players and probably as people too ( my Welsh mate is an ex-pro, such a small world down there in that game, I’ve heard many a story about the pricks of Welsh rugby, Williams name has cropped up! )
As an opponent though, I’d much rather see Halfpenny at fullback than Williams. Williams is a match winner.
 

E17yid

Well-Known Member
Jan 21, 2013
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I didn’t know he was struggling that much. Very worrying.
Something needs to be done regarding the physicality of the game. Reducing the amount of games has to be high on the list if it’s going to remain this physical.

Yeah, Tipuric and Moriarty have come back from recent, longish spells of concussion and been alright but from what I’m hearing it don’t sound good.

On you other post, I don’t think the players give a shit really. All this does is rile up some of the fans. Obviously if Eddie came out slagging off individual players that could rile them up but he’s not going to do that. He had a little dig at Patchell last year but nothing bad.
 

E17yid

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Jan 21, 2013
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Oh they are like chalk and cheese as players and probably as people too ( my Welsh mate is an ex-pro, such a small world down there in that game, I’ve heard many a story about the pricks of Welsh rugby, Williams name has cropped up! )
As an opponent though, I’d much rather see Halfpenny at fullback than Williams. Williams is a match winner.

Goldfish bowl is the term often used to describe rugby culture in Wales which is pretty apt.

My old man has had a drink with Williams said he’s a lovely guy,apparently, he’s nuts but then aren’t all scaffolders a bit mental?

It depends on what kind of opponent. I reckon Farrell wouldn’t like seeing Halfpenny there but other players would. It’s a difficult one.
 

E17yid

Well-Known Member
Jan 21, 2013
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Oh they are like chalk and cheese as players and probably as people too ( my Welsh mate is an ex-pro, such a small world down there in that game, I’ve heard many a story about the pricks of Welsh rugby, Williams name has cropped up! )
As an opponent though, I’d much rather see Halfpenny at fullback than Williams. Williams is a match winner.

Also the other problem is if we play Anscombe at 10 we have to play Halfpenny as if we don’t we have no goal kicker. Obviously if we play Biggar then it’s fine but with Anscombe at 10 we won’t win big matches as his kicking isn’t good enough. That reason alone is enough of a case to play Halfpenny. Personally I’d play Biggar anyway, especially against England
 

Japhet

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2010
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I didn’t know he was struggling that much. Very worrying.
Something needs to be done regarding the physicality of the game. Reducing the amount of games has to be high on the list if it’s going to remain this physical.

The concussions are coming from one off incidents so I don't see the number of games being a problem in that respect. Players are a lot more powerful now than they used to be which is not good news for the smaller guys. Rob Horne at Northampton recently got injured in a fairly innocuous collision which resulted in permanent paralysis to his right arm and shoulder so it's a game where you're always risking your health, just like it's always been. Another player was recently killed as a result of a head injury. My take is that if players accept the risk then it's up to them. There are continual rule changes to try to protect them but there will always be casualties in contact sports. I hope the Nanny State doesn't get involved but that the rugby authorities continue to do their best to protect the players.
 

E17yid

Well-Known Member
Jan 21, 2013
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Ross Moriarty made a good point re player safety he said something like all the emphasis is on protecting the ball carrier but you hardly see any ball carriers getting knocked out so a lot of these new laws are stupid. Will try and find quotes later.
 

SugarRay

Well-Known Member
Jul 6, 2011
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The concussions are coming from one off incidents so I don't see the number of games being a problem in that respect. Players are a lot more powerful now than they used to be which is not good news for the smaller guys. Rob Horne at Northampton recently got injured in a fairly innocuous collision which resulted in permanent paralysis to his right arm and shoulder so it's a game where you're always risking your health, just like it's always been. Another player was recently killed as a result of a head injury. My take is that if players accept the risk then it's up to them. There are continual rule changes to try to protect them but there will always be casualties in contact sports. I hope the Nanny State doesn't get involved but that the rugby authorities continue to do their best to protect the players.

I do think that players have become almost too big. They’ve surely reached the maximum in terms of size they can go. Too much emphasis on physicality now.
Sure, the game was ‘dirtier’ back in the day but it’s far more demanding physically now.
 

SugarRay

Well-Known Member
Jul 6, 2011
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11,110
Goldfish bowl is the term often used to describe rugby culture in Wales which is pretty apt.

My old man has had a drink with Williams said he’s a lovely guy,apparently, he’s nuts but then aren’t all scaffolders a bit mental?

It depends on what kind of opponent. I reckon Farrell wouldn’t like seeing Halfpenny there but other players would. It’s a difficult one.

Oh I’m not talking about off the field regarding Williams, I’m talking on it. ‘Defused’...

The stories crack me up. A goldfish bowl is being kind! It’s ridiculous.
 

DaiT

Well-Known Member
Jan 29, 2011
374
698
Got to think England are clear favourites. They have played well and at pace. We have looked a bit pedestrian and mistake ridden. I will be up at 5.45 am here in Auckland to watch. I always like to wake up the neighbours with our National Anthem. Blast it through the speakers and open all the windows. Going to be a great match.....

only if we win though ?
 

teok

Well-Known Member
Aug 11, 2011
10,836
33,607
Gatland knows how to deal with england. He will have some thing up his sleeve. Also looks like mako is out which is a huge loss (motm vs ire etc).
 

E17yid

Well-Known Member
Jan 21, 2013
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Gatland knows how to deal with england. He will have some thing up his sleeve. Also looks like mako is out which is a huge loss (motm vs ire etc).

They’re waiting on a scan aren’t they so no news yet unless I’m missing something?

This made me laugh

France, meanwhile, have been plunged further into disarray, with the scrum-half, Morgan Parra, taking aim at the coaching methods of Jacques Brunel, whose decision to select two centres on the wings and a wing at full-back has been heavily criticised. “I think that we are capable of doing what the English do, but are we working on this during training? I think we don’t work on it enough, even not at all,” he said. “Yet these are very simple things that are today part of high-level rugby. We can do this. But do we work on it? No.”
The French rugby newspaper Midi Olympique on Monday ran a banner headline that read “Waterloo” and reported that “a wind of rebellion rises again”. One unnamed player told it that “nobody knew which position to play” in the second half. “It was chaos,” he said. “We were lost on the pitch and tried to ask the bench.”
 

E17yid

Well-Known Member
Jan 21, 2013
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Lol. Gats and Halfpenny were obviously reading my posts last night:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/47210774

Leigh Halfpenny is over his concussion and will return to Wales training on Wednesday as they prepare to face England in the Six Nations, says his Scarlets boss Wayne Pivac.

The British and Irish Lion has not played since suffering ahead blow against Australia in November.

"It's great to see him running around with a smile on his face," said Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac.

Fly-half Rhys Patchell is also fit after a hamstring injury.

The pair will return to Wales training on Wednesday, with Pivac waiting for news on whether they will be released to travel to Italian side Benetton in the Pro14 on Saturday.

Halfpenny was injured in a challenge by Wallabies centre Samu Kerevi that Wales boss Warren Gatland described as "reckless".

The blow led to Halfpenny missing Wales wins against Tonga and South Africa with Liam Williams and Josh Holmes having played at full-back since.

Halfpenny's return would ease any goal-kicking worries Wales might have if Gareth Anscombe is preferred at fly-half to Dan Biggar when they take on England in Cardiff on Saturday, 23 February.
 
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