Wales team for Sat....(Jones@10)

[LLCOOLJ14]

Wales: Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Mark Jones (Llanelli Scarlets), Tom Shanklin (Cardiff Blues), Gavin Henson (Ospreys), Shane Williams (Ospreys); Stephen Jones (Llanelli Scarlets), Mike Phillips (Ospreys); Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Huw Bennett (Ospreys), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Ian Gough (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues), Ryan Jones (Ospreys, capt).
Replacements: Duncan Jones (Ospreys), Matthew Rees (Llanelli Scarlets), Ian Evans (Ospreys), Gareth Delve (Gloucester), Dwayne Peel (Llanelli Scarlets), James Hook (Ospreys), Sonny Parker (Ospreys).<!- E BO ->

[RobbieG]

Looks weak

[LLCOOLJ14]

Im happy to see Hook and Peel on the bench..wrong call IMO...Id have picked the other 2... Hook especially....amazing he cant get a game for them...

[Ruck]

Don't see too much to fear from that team.

[Aussiedub]

I would sooner Hook and Peel had started myself...

[hooke]

Its the Ospreys in disguise - they are very confident - hope we front up in pack then we'll kill them.

[Monster Fan]

If they can impose their game their backs will do well but its up to our forwards to front up for this one. good to see poc back from that respect, hard on mod as it is but he'll be used as there will be question marks over pocs legs for sat.


jesus i hope we win!

[webbs]

Think there is more impact from the bench for the Welsh which may be telling come last quarter

[mayfly]

Hopefully Horan will fire Shane Williams into Hill 16 after 30 seconds. Little ******.

[sewa]

I'd have went with either Peel/Jones or preferably Hook/Phillips. Those combos are used to each other and complement each others games as a result.

[Harry]

I don't know where all the over confidence is coming from people thinking we're going to hammer the welsh. I fancy them to put one over on us because:

a) they have a better team imho
b) they have a better coach

[carney]

i am with you harry, and would be in the middle of a 'the end is nigh' sort of a mood, but am watching this match in departures in dublin and then going on holiday - if we win, what a nice week. if we lose, f**k it forget about it.

[Harry]

enjoy your holiday, when you come back EOS will have one match left to
save himself from the inevitable. He's has never once won the matches
that really count, and this is one of them. The end of the world is
nigh people, Galtland is going to screw us. I foresee dark clouds ahead
on Saturday. Dark, brooding clouds. England will beat us as well,
leaving us fourth in the table at the end of the six nations........



Repent oh optimistic ones, repent your sins now.

[FourMasters]

enjoy your holiday, when you come back EOS will have one match left to
save himself from the inevitable. He's has never once won the matches
that really count, and this is one of them. The end of the world is
nigh people, Galtland is going to screw us. I foresee dark clouds ahead
on Saturday. Dark, brooding clouds. England will beat us as well,
leaving us fourth in the table at the end of the six nations........



Repent oh optimistic ones, repent your sins now.

So you're saying Ireland by 20? That's the spirit [img]smileys/lol.gif[/img]

[ciaranb]

I can't fathom how Hook is on the bench! A far better outhalf than S. Jones as far as I'm concerned! Maybe this could be to our advantage - hope Warren hasn't come back to bite us in the arse!!

[mickyd]

Do people underestimate Lee Byrne?


Couple of lads at lunch today were saying he is crap.


I think he is a good player who is bang in form.





Also imoWales are better with Hook at out half. Still Jones is no mug.

[ciaranb]

I'm with you on all points there mickyd Byrne is a strong runner and a good counter attacker and no slouch in defence either! I think Hook is the better OH option too even if Jones is handy enough! Also see Jamie Robinson is not even on the bench - I though that he was very good against Munster on Sat in the ML! It just shows that Gatland believes he has a bit of depth in players in Wales

[mickyd]

I'm with you on all points there mickyd Byrne is a strong runner and a good counter attacker and no slouch in defence either! I think Hook is the better OH option too even if Jones is handy enough! Also see Jamie Robinson is not even on the bench - I though that he was very good against Munster on Sat in the ML! It just shows that Gatland believes he has a bit of depth in players in Wales

I think there is no doubt that wales have more depth in the backs than we do!


Where we must (and might) win it is up front.


ROG to kick us to a narrow win.

[Sin a bhfuil]

Some serious impact on that bench. There's a few bluffers in that pack however.


Overall though, if we can sort out our lineout and do the basics right in the tight, I think we have enough quality at 8, 9 and 10 to see us home. I would guess Ireland by 7 to 10 points.

[munsteryboy]

Jones ripped us apart in the opening 20 minutes at Lansdowne in 06. I think the weather will play a crucial part, if it rains then we will f**k up their pack using our hard b***tards like paul, Donnacha and Leamy. Also if O'GARA plays well we win. I think Trimble might have an influence on this game

[duckysauce]

I'm with you on all points there mickyd Byrne is a strong runner and a good counter attacker and no slouch in defence either! I think Hook is the better OH option too even if Jones is handy enough! Also see Jamie Robinson is not even on the bench - I though that he was very good against Munster on Sat in the ML! It just shows that Gatland believes he has a bit of depth in players in Wales

yeah hes been on form this year and is a fast f+=ker, rog better find touch on sat or we will be cut up

[TheRedHurricane]

Thank god Peel isnt playing. We should be able to handle Philips phyicality, it will make up for what the pack is lacking.

[shambo]

i would like to publicly acknowledge the benevolence of Gatland in giving Ireland a major advantage by leaving Hook on the bench. Eddie must have agreed to give gatland half of his 4 year salary or something. Quite how anyone could leave the best young provenfly half in the world on the bench is quite staggering- i simply can't fathom it.If wales can beat Ireland despite leaving their best half backs on the line- then we should give up the game.

[Scin]

Im happy to see Hook and Peel on the bench..wrong call IMO...Id have picked the other 2... Hook especially....amazing he cant get a game for them...

So I am.

[Tobyglen]

enjoy your holiday, when you come back EOS will have one match left to save himself from the inevitable. He's has never once won the matches that really count, and this is one of them. The end of the world is nigh people, Galtland is going to screw us. I foresee dark clouds ahead on Saturday. Dark, brooding clouds. England will beat us as well, leaving us fourth in the table at the end of the six nations........

Repent oh optimistic ones, repent your sins now.

For once Harry i think you a wrong, cant see this welsh team beating us. Philips at scrum half is a joke. We'll beat them by 15. I still hope that clown goes but i think the players are really up for this one.

[Sin a bhfuil]

While Peel/ Hook are slightly more in form than Phillips/ Jones, I'm surprised that people see such a difference between the pairings. They are all top class half-backs IMO.Phillips has a savage pass on him and Jones, as mentioned above, gave ROG an absolute nightmare a couple of years ago until he got injured. Gatland will have no qualms bringing the other two on after 20 mins if needs be anyway. Seems like Gatland wants to keep it steady from the off and then open it up as the game wears on and no two better men to orchestrate that than a fresh Peel/ Hook combination. Not as crazy a decision as some think.

[webbs]

For once Harry i think you a wrong, cant see this welsh team beating us. Philips at scrum half is a joke. We'll beat them by 15. I still hope that clown goes but i think the players are really up for this one.

Phillips is a good choice for the Welsh to start this game, he has good distribution has the power and pace to trouble the Irish back row and will provide that extra 'back row forward' on defense to try and watch Reddan. Only question mark is his temperament which for Wales lately hasn't been an issue.
His combination with Jones is all about trying to have control and when the Irish are likely to come roaring out the blocks especially upfront these two are the best halfbacks to have if the Welsh pack is on the back foot, as it gets looser as undoubtedly it will then who better than the sniping and dynamism of peel and unpredictability of hook

[shambo]

his passing is awful- what games have you being watching recently. He's not even first choice for the ospreys. He crabbs across the pitch when he passes and he's so predictable in terms of breaking now he's simply an extra backrow forward rather than a scrumhalf.


and jones simply isn't in the same class as Hook. Fine player in his own right- but Hook is different class.


Thanks Warren- over to you Eddie if we can't win on Saturday it will be the end of the road.

[sewa]

He is behind a top class all black in Marshall but for me you never know which Phillips your going to get. I've seen him have games where he has scored 2 or 3 tries and played like an extra back row to Richie McCaw standards. I've seen other games where he has hadno impact at all on the game.

[Aussiedub]

i would like to publicly acknowledge the benevolence of Gatland in giving Ireland a major advantage by leaving Hook on the bench. Eddie must have agreed to give gatland half of his 4 year salary or something. Quite how anyone could leave the best young provenfly half in the world on the bench is quite staggering- i simply can't fathom it.If wales can beat Ireland despite leaving their best half backs on the line- then we should give up the game.

Well maybe that is why you are not an international coach - I personally would have been delighted to see Hook starting as he still demonstrates an inability to control a game and do the simple things at the right time....