Warren Gatland has made nine changes for the visit of England. Mason Grady makes his Wales debut at centre and Owen Williams and his namesake Tomos are the starting half-backs, while Leigh Halfpenny gets the nod at full-back. Alun Wyn Jones returns to the second row alongside Adam Beard, while Christ Tshiunza combines with Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau in the back row.
Not sure the result matters as much as giving new players the experience. He can't go all out and play an all out inexperienced side... well he could but then when the wheels come off (fairly likely), he needs experience to steady the ship. As long as it's not another embarrassing scoreline
General feeling in pub yesterday was that mediocre Welsh players have been grossly overpaid. A matter of "not what you know but who you know"
The problem, in some respects, has been the attempt to match/get close to the salaries on offer in England and France exacerbated by the failure to drive commercial income in the Regions - not forgetting that the ****eshow that is the WRU - it controls the competition monies that goes through them rather than go directly to the clubs/regions
Surely none of you were expecting a win today? Bloody hell even Italy are above us, get that wooden spoon ready!.......
I don't understand the kicking strategy of giving possession back to England all the time when your behind and the clock is running down? Never understood this concept, useless Wales team at the minute.......
Was this a must win game? You wouldn't think so with the way Wales kicked the ball away aimlessly? Defense not much better than the Swans........
To slow in release from rucks n mauls ! Not enough supply to zamit our fastest player that he had to go hunting for the ball ! Not enough fazes gaining ground ! Lots needing I improvement! Oh yeah and THIS IS NOT SOCCER FFS !
England won very comfortably. Useless (stupidity) kicking game (as usual) and zero attacking creativity. Pass it along the line and hope a gap miraculously appears in the opposition defence. I hate to say it but definitely time for AWJ, Tips and Toby to be relegated to the bench (or out). Use the last two games to progress the newer players. There is literally nothing to lose. Oh, and how disappointing to hear the "chariot" so loud and proud throughout the game, you'd think it was Twickers.
The result of years underfunding the professional game as well as failing to invest in a World Leading development programme. As for the large number of English fans in the stadium - you need look no further than the combination of high ticket prices and a couple of years of poor Welsh performances.
To underpin and support your comment about the lack of attacking creativity, in the 240 minutes of this year’s 6N that we have played so far, we have scored 3 tries - 2 from rolling mauls and yesterday’s interception try. We seemingly have no creativity or cutting edge in attack. Gatland wanted Howley - Phillips phoned Howley to say the Board didn’t want him at this juncture. So they’ve basically given Gatland a ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card in this respect ….
