Have the Welsh written themselves off too early?
Roar Guru By Lab animal, 15 May 2012 The Crowd is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Adam Jones, Rob Howley, Rugby Union, Wales Rugby Union, wallabies
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There’s quite a bit of gloom coming out of Wales, regarding the tests against the Wallabies next month.
Now that Warren Gatland is on crutches, caretaker coach Rob Howley recently described the three upcoming tests as “three car crashes”.
By his subsequent remarks he seems to be thinking that while the Wallabies will merely be involved in a fender bender, his team’s vehicle is in danger of being a write-off.
One of his best players, tight head-prop Adam Jones, has been even more pessimistic, describing the coming tour as “a test too far”.
Jones feels that after an exhausting season, and having already made the long trip to the antipodes this year – where they lost out on a medal to the Wallabies – it’s going to be difficult for his team to come up with the fire necessary to win the series.
“One test, or even two, okay,” he said. “But three… well.”
On various blogs Welsh fans have made it know they are really mad at him for throwing in the towel.
Yet some of them have conceded that history is not on their side – Wales are 1-8 against the Wallabies in Australia, and 8-12 in Wales.
From Jones’ remarks it appears that he thinks that if his team loses either the first or second test, they’ll lose the series. He reckons they’ll be too fatigued and anxious to get home to come out fighting in the third.
But have he and his coach done their homework? Are they awarding the Wallabies greater prowess than the Wallabies actually deserve?
There are still question marks about our (assumed) team for 9 June.
The front row is looking good for a change, especially with two excellent hookers, even if they’re not as good as the Welsh front row.
The engine room is a concern, with Horwill off his feed and Sharpe no longer good for 80 minutes at test speed.
If Palu could be a little more dynamic we’ll have a terrific back row with Pocock and Higgers on the sides.
Genia has to play his best if he’s to keep up with Beale, who’s looking like a saviour at number 10.
The midfield is so-so on attack if it’s going to be McCabe and Adam Ashley-Cooper.
No worries with Digby on one wing, but it’s probably too soon for Mitchell on the other.
I’d go with Mogg at number 15 to sharpen up the offence but I doubt Deans will agree.
Wales will have a tall back line with Ashley Beck (six foot three) substituting for the injured Roberts, Cuthbert (six foot six) and George North (six foot four).
World-class flanker Sam Warburton is back to lead the squad, which will have been officially announced by the time you read this.
All we need is for Howley and Adam Jones to be a little more sanguine about their chances and we’ll get three combative and enjoyable Test matches.
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The Crowd Says (15) | Page 1 of Comments
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- Explore:
- Adam Jones, Rob Howley, Rugby Union, Wales Rugby Union, wallabies
May 15th 2012 @ 7:46am
nickoldschool said | May 15th 2012 @ 7:46am | Report comment
Too much rugby is killing rugby. The Welsh internationals, like all euro teams, have been playing rugby non-stop for almost 2 years.
2010-2011 with their club
June to oct 2011: RWC training camps and RWC
Oct 2011 to now: Domestic leagues, Heineken cup & 6 nations
June 2012: tours in SH
bit much no? They need a break from rugby. to play 3 tests is suicidal and unfair for clubs who pay them big money.
May 15th 2012 @ 8:24am
Orpheus said | May 15th 2012 @ 8:24am | Report comment
Scotland also have to play three tests on their trip south plus a game against the Tahs. Great for the advertisers and sponsors but so tough on the players. Squads have to be enlarged and some sort of agreement reached so that a team can field a mix of A and B players for a test. The days of always starting your best 15 may be over. Everybody wants to see their best team on the field, but should we really work them like packhorses?
NB – the wallabies will need their best team to win the first and second tests against Wales. The Welsh may be tired but they’re coming loaded for bear.
May 15th 2012 @ 9:06am
Justin2 said | May 15th 2012 @ 9:06am | Report comment
Horwill has been huge the last two weeks and Sharpe is still the best LO general in the country so no issue with that pair. Question is whether Sharpe will be called on due to his departure at the end of this season. I think it would be stupid not to use him, esp[especially with the short turn around in Tests.
Genia wont have any issue in “keeping up” with Beale. But who knows what Dingo will pick, he isnt exactly the best selector going around.
May 15th 2012 @ 9:51am
Jagman said | May 15th 2012 @ 9:51am | Report comment
Was really fretting the welsh team until I read the Roberts is out injured.
May 15th 2012 @ 2:31pm
Orpheus said | May 15th 2012 @ 2:31pm | Report comment
Keep on fretting Jagman, Wales are bringing out a team bristling with talent even without crashball Roberts.
May 15th 2012 @ 3:27pm
Moaman said | May 15th 2012 @ 3:27pm | Report comment
Adam Jones needs an uppercut if he did say what is reported! Unreal.If I were coach I’d be furious and a fan I’d be gutted.Talk about get the violin out.If you aren’t up for it then don’t tour–simple as that.
May 15th 2012 @ 9:52pm
Ben S said | May 15th 2012 @ 9:52pm | Report comment
I’m a bit surprised by his comments. The other side of the coin is that he was simply being honest rather than being disingenuous. Realistically it has been a very long season for him, but I wouldn’t doubt that a rugby man like Jones would still give 100% when on tour. However, there’s also been the issue that historically the Welsh have been perceived as notoriously (and possibly incorrectly) labelled bad or unwilling tourists.
May 16th 2012 @ 6:30am
Moaman said | May 16th 2012 @ 6:30am | Report comment
Ben; (Wales15/Rugby Fan) Last year I spent a bit of time reading some blogs on a welsh RU site I googled.I was astounded by the level of pessimism that seemed all-pervasive( particularly having arrived there via The Roar
)….sort of polar opposites of our australian brethren. Now I appreciate honesty as much as the next man-but-in sporting situations Adam Jones’ reported comments are not helpful to those around him.At all.They need to be building their self-belief and raising expectations a notch….otherwise the dragons may as well be lemmings!
May 16th 2012 @ 10:33am
Rugby Fan said | May 16th 2012 @ 10:33am | Report comment
It’s almost as if neither the fans nor players want to “dare to believe”.
Whatever faults Clive Woodward may have had as a manager, one of his key contributions to England was making sure his players not only believed they could beat the best, but expected to beat the best. Gatland needs to do the same with his squad. I think some of the concern from supporters is that they are worried that Gatland won’t be on tour to do so.
May 15th 2012 @ 9:48pm
Wales15 said | May 15th 2012 @ 9:48pm | Report comment
Don’t worry Wales will be up for it. Whether they will win remains to be seen. I was a bit dissapointed by Jones comments, because it is our (Wales) best chance in many a time. We have got a strong side, and good strength in depth (although Australia’s is much stronger again)
It is true the Brits team play too much rugby. That was probably a factor in the December game. Wales hadn’t had a break from the WC – well a week perhaps, and thrown into Heineken Cup rugby (on -par with the super 15 stuff) – a lot of the team were injured for that game too – we even had our 4th choice prop starting.
I have to say though that im really glad Jamie Roberts is out. He is the most overrated player in the game, and perhaps with him out there might be more creativity in the midfield. They did lack that to a certain degree.
Yeah but don’t listen to the Welsh over there. They are negative about everything, guess they learn from the Poms. Either way who ever wins, let’s hope that some good decent football is played.
May 15th 2012 @ 11:27pm
Rugby Fan said | May 15th 2012 @ 11:27pm | Report comment
I was also disappointed to hear Adam Jones speaking that way.
Just after the Six Nations, Wales were high on confidence but the injury to Roberts, the threat of Warburton not making the tour, turmoil in the provinces, and Gatland’s freak accident began to sow seeds of doubt. I wrote at the time that it would be a worry if players started making excuses because it would indicate they were not taking out the right attitude,
For some reason. Welsh players carry a reputation for being poor tourists. This seems odd to me, given the major role they have often played in successful Lions campaigns. Of course, Jones is right about overplaying. However, it’s a professional game now and there’s no room for homesickness or feeling sorry for yourself when you head out to test yourself against the best teams in the world.
Wales won two Grand Slams before without being able to establish consistent success against Southern Hemisphere sides. If this current squad want to show they are capable of doing better, then this tour is the place to do it.
There’s also more than bragging rights at stake. Fourth place in the IRB rankings at the end of the year will be one of the seeds for the next World Cup. Currently England hold that spot on 83.62 points and Wales are fifth on 83.32. Australia are in second place, so if Wales can knock over the Wallabies, it could make a big difference in the run-in to the final 2012 tally.
May 16th 2012 @ 8:24pm
matthew said | May 16th 2012 @ 8:24pm | Report comment
Wales have only a handful of world class players. Jamie Roberts is certainly one of them and his absence will be a massive critical blow to their chances of winning even a single game in Oz. I also think Warren Gatland is the key architect for everything the Welsh have achieved the past couple of years (lets face it, they havent achieved anything against the major southern rugby nations even a Bok team in disarray, they also struggled against Samoa in the RWC and lost to a poor Australia). Basically, I think they are an over-rated team who get praised because they play an admittedly entertaining brand of rugby. They’ll always be a couple of key players away from disaster against strong rugby teams.
May 16th 2012 @ 11:41pm
Ben S said | May 16th 2012 @ 11:41pm | Report comment
A Bok team in disarray?
May 16th 2012 @ 10:38pm
Wales15 said | May 16th 2012 @ 10:38pm | Report comment
lol Hang on a sec, didn’t Australia actually lose to Samoa during that year or the year before- on home territory? Oh and you couldn’t beat a poor Ireland side, who we have beaten consistently as of recent. We didn’t struggle against Samoa, the Samoans played very well. They were quite unlucky not to have made the quarters, they nearly beat the saffies. So Samoa are a pretty handy team.
I think you are wrong in saying that they only get praised due to their style of football. It was highlighted over the course of the 6N that it was their mental toughness and defence which has been characteristic of their success. I believe they only conceded 3 tries over the course of the tournament. In fact, one of the criticisms of the Welsh team has ironically been their “One-dimensional” style of play, through no other than Mr Jamie Roberts. Who would have thought?
I however agree that currently we have not got a massive amount of world class players. But how do they fall into that perception with the SH supporters? EU rugby is not shown as frequently in Aus. But the reason for few world class players is because we are a very young team and over time that is when they will fall into that category. Our current strength is that we play for each other and use each others strengths.
I have to say Australia are a great team, but you have a lot more player pools to pick from. i.e the pacific islands, NZ, and Aus. Whereas we have a bare minimum, supported by limited resources. So we deserve some credit.
May 17th 2012 @ 11:38am
Moaman said | May 17th 2012 @ 11:38am | Report comment
Wales has aprox 22,000 senior male players compared to Australia’s 40,000 and NZ’s 27,000.