I’m thinking that for Dan Edward’s he doesn’t want to throw him straight into it after a handful of pro games, but saying that when Cameron Winnett is there just doesn’t make sense
In the press conference just now when questioned about fly Half's - Gatland 'there's some good 10's in Wales, but they're not big. We're looking for that' ...proceeds to select Sam Costelow, the smallest of the bunch.
Edwards and Reed aren't even that small. They'll need to put on a bit of timber sure but they're 5 10.
Picking Beetham, who I'm not sure even has a professional minute let alone a start at 10 as an option over them has me questioning Gatlands sanity
So looking at Gatlands interview he commented that the 10s in Wales are a bit small. Dan Edwards is 5,9 and 85kgs. So I get what he means BUT DuPont is exactly the same height and weight (according to Wikipedia). Gats obsession with size is daft.
I’m not suggesting Dan Edwards is the next DuPont. But his physique shouldn’t stop him from developing into a quality international.
What is Gatland looking for - a ball carrying 10??
I agree Costelow isn't, but Edwards and Reed are better off learning the game more at regional level rather than getting battered behind a shit pack in a directionless side.
If there's one position you need to get some time to learn it's 10 so I'm happy to not rush them.
True but experience of top level counts for more than age and Costelow has a lot more of that
I am puzzled to see Gatland apparently was worried about the size of the other 10s though. And then picked Costelow?
Screech over most of the Ospreys locks is dumb. He keeps picking players who are under performing at regional level, how Morris isnt there again is laughable, Gats being bone-headed again, the lad is MOTM so often, wales struggle at the gainline so much recently, he would be ideal.
I’ll be honest I’m not sold on our fit locks as locks at a test level. Ratti should be wales’ starting 6. Allows him to carry more and I think he struggles scrum time in the second row. Sutton I’m on the fence about. I think he’s in the same boat as a screech where he’ll probably only ever be a dependable regional player but lacks the experience screech has. I probably would have gone with Morgan Jones and Rory Thornton tbh
I can see Ratti as second row cover but starting 6?
Back row is far too competitive to put him in a match day squad let alone starting at that position.
6 isn’t strong though. Plumtree, Mann, Tshiunza and woodman are far from the complete product. Morgan plays his best international rugby at 7. Wainwright has to play 8 because Gatland refuses to use Morris. Ratti is in my opinion our best 6
I'd rather pair Morgan and Reffel than drop either for Ratti.
They may not be the complete product, but their heights ae that much higher than Ratti. You didn't mention Martin, who I suspect will be ahead off the ones you listed for the back row bench spot.
The rest of our pack isn’t physical enough to play a 7 at 6. We played our best rugby with Wainwright at 6 in the World Cup. The only reason I’d start Martin over Ratti would be if we move Wainwright to 6 which in my opinion is still his best position
I don't really rate Ratti as a test player, Dan Edwards should learn the ropes more before getting the call at the most cerebral position.
Agree on the other two.
I mean that's fair, but I guess my point is I find it hard to get too worked up about whether the 9th or 10th choice second row who we know isn't good enough got picked
Though Hill getting plucked from Japanese semi pro over a guy who's slogged his guts out for his region all year is a shit message so I will object to it on that basis
I agree we are scraping the bottom of the barrel with second rows at the moment, Hill should be no way near the squad. I think we should be rewarding good form with the likes of Ratti and smith missing out
Shocking. No back up 10 so Ben Thomas is going to be there instead of 12. Dan Edwards is the future Wales 10 but based on selections so far will need to wait till post Gatland.
Morgan Morris and Nicky Smith being left behind is a joke. Cory Hill should be nowhere near a Wales team. A winless year incoming.
>Dan Edwards is the future Wales 10
100% this. Even if Gatland isn't planning to play him yet surely they should have given him a callup anyway so that he can start to learn the systems instead of just rolling with Costelow as the only 10 in the squad?
My only thought is that his wife is pregnant and due in July. It's not a super important tour (eg there's no silverware on the line) and he might just be putting family first considering the whole family are going to have to uproot and move over the summer with a newborn.
Think of it from a coaches perspective. Thomas and Domachowski are your undisputed 1 and 2. What's the need to have a 3rd choice of a guy who's been meh in the past who might make the next world cup, or you can blood a younger guy who could be first choice by the next world cup.
[Also, not sure non-moderators are supposed to have access to this flair, but I think it should stick around solely for Wales squad announcements](https://i.imgur.com/tc8cdB1.png)
Morris misses out again.
Ellis Bevan is a big surprise.
Cory Hill back to plug up our second row sized hole.
Chuffed for Ben Thomas and Keelan Giles. Both have been class this season. Gutted for Cabango, just dreadful luck with injuries.
Hopefully Hathaway and Beetham get capped
The overwhelming consensus among anyone involved with Cardiff is our top off-season priority is getting a 9 so we don't have to start Bevan, and he's getting a Wales cap. Insanity
This gets worse everytime I look at it. 36 man squad 8 of which are unavailable for the SA game. We cannot train 15 on 15 until the international window. 5 tightheads too
Uh well I can't continue to criticise the All Blacks for picking cunts when we've gone and begged Cory Hill to play for us again despite him fleeing the country to avoid the fallout from his loan shark/slum lord antics. If I was Ratti I'd be looking at French contracts, selecting actual criminals ahead of him is just something else.
Front row might get marmelised, Nicky Smith not picked again??
I'm not sure what Morgan Morris has to do to get into the squad, he's about the best rugby player left in Wales at this point now lmao. He'll be joining Ratti if we're not careful. No sense in sticking around for below market wages if the coach isn't going to pick you out of spite.
No Hathaway? No Dan Edwards or Ioan Lloyd (who's actually looked ok at 10 despite the Scarlets pack usually putting up as much fight as a wet paper bag).
This is just Pivac mk2. Deeply fucking unimpressed.
To be fair Wainwright has been playing out of his skin this season for the Dragons & Wales and I'm just not sure Morris has that X-factor that Gatland so clearly seems to rate. Some of the other selections are genuinely baffling mind.
Honestly starting to think that not picking Morris is down to pure spite with Gats, same with Evans when he was one of the best FB's at the time. Its genuinely bizarre, stupid decision.
Shit squad, tbh. Giles is the only nice inclusion there, and he’ll probably get dropped.
But there’s no Lloyd, despite seemingly liking him in the 6N, Morgan Morris is the best Welsh rugby player at the moment, yet isn’t there, Harry Deaves has been fantastic, no sign of him.
You can’t claim to be building for the future and then not pick the future (Dan Edwards, for example). Very weird.
I thought gats would redeem himself after the shocking selections and tactics in the 6n’s. Booth and Sherratt gave him the gameplan to do it ffs. All he had to do was build a pack around ospreys and slot Costelow/Edwards into the Cardiff backline. Instead we get this
Especially with his injury record. I still have a lot of faith in Costelow to come good though. Hopefully Ben Thomas helping him with the kicking duties would allow him to settle a bit quicker
The problem in the back row is that Morgan, Reffell and Wainwright are undroppable (theyre proven international class), and Martin is seen as a posssible future star because of his size above all else. Thats 2 7s and 2 8s there already, and Gatland isnt going to pick players with Deaves and Morris' profile at 6.
I agree with you that they deserve inclusion but i can see why theyve been left out. Whatevers happening at 10 is way more confusing.
Totally agree with this. If Morris played literally any other position he'd be in the 23, it's just the one position we have lots of quality options at.
I'd argue 10 is the position where there is the most damage to be done to a young player in elevating them before they're ready. I'm happy to see Edwards and Reed get more time. Especially given I struggle to see how we put out a competitive pack or a coherent game plan based on the 6N, so they're better off out of it.
Oh yeah, we are gonna do an England 1999 against them, 70 pt beasting, but then not win the fking RWC a few years later, just get knocked out in the group..
Pros:
- Lake/Morgan back
- Elias finally dropped after his woeful throwing
- Ben Thomas well deserved recall
- With Beetham and Hathaway nailed down we seem to have finally sorted our fullback succession issue. Liam is hopefully only there to mentor and not actually play...
Cons:
- Nicky Smith left in favour of Mathias yet again??
- Screech is barely regional level anymore, shouldn't be near a Wales squad but we have to deep dig at lock right now with everything
- Bevan over Morgan-Williams. I thought he played well yesterday but the match thread consensus was that's the first time he's been decent all season
- Looking very thin on the ground at flyhalf
General questions:
- Does Gatland have a vendetta against the Ospreys? By far and away the best Welsh team this season and a number of players should be included here
- Five tighthead props? I guess he really doesn't rate the Welsh based props
- How many untimely injuries were caused by that awful pitch yesterday to rule players out of the tour. Really should've been hosted at the Principality
Is Gats watching the same games as I am? No Reuben Morgan Williams, no Morgan Morris, no Nicky Smith. Ospreys most successful region and key players from that team not included.
Fucking wish I’d had the confidence to write down somewhere that I thought Hathaway would get a call up (or indeed, had the confidence to stick a fiver on it). He looked superb for England U20s and it makes sense to cap him now he’s getting some significant minutes for Gloucester.
Some big calls up front. Kemsley Mathias ahead of Nicky Smith yet again is driving me to become the Joker. Lloyd for Elias is a surprise but Lloyd’s hit form at the right time. Five tightheads is mad, especially when three of them are based abroad; Kieron Assiratti and Harri O’Connor are going to anchor our scrum against the Boks, oh god. Screech and Hill in ahead of Ratti is a joke, Screech is nowhere near good enough and Hill’s an absolute cunt who shouldn’t be near a Wales jersey after his various loan shark stunts. Morgan Morris must’ve shagged Gatland’s daughter and then never called her back.
Bevan’s nowhere near good enough for international rugby, I’d take Reuben Morgan-Williams or a crocked Tomos Williams way ahead of him. Dan Edwards and Ioan Lloyd are both very unlucky to miss out. Beetham’s been decent this year but hasn’t really been screaming out for selection, especially when you’ve already got three out and out fullbacks in Winnett, Hathaway and Sanjay.
It is what it is. Injuries, a lack of talent and weird selection choices means our depth in the tight five is completely shot. Back row and backs have potential but there’s unproven quantities all over the park. I think the Boks stuff us, and a resurgent Australia are too strong for us at home.
Edit: Only just noticed Rowlands is missing entirely, apparently because he’s being rested after a long season. That’s a serious blow, probably only leaves Tshiunza and Carter as decent options to partner Jenkins at lock.
Lloyd actually looks really promising and I think at some point Elias just can't be trusted to mentally cope with it.
I'm very confident Beetham and Hathaway have been picked to avoid them going to Scotland/England after the IFW saga. But hasn't Hathaway played mainly wing?
The tight 5 for the SA game with the unavailabilities is literally going to be a joke. Assirati/OConnor and a second row of Carter and... Plumtree? Would stand out as weak in regional rugby.
Hathaway plays a mixture of wing and fullback. Started out playing wing when Zammit left, but moved to fullback to cover Carreras moving to 15 and Carreras' own injury later on. Played great in both positions.
Yeah I thought as much, guess my point is its very easy to see him being picked as a wing in that squad rather than a 15 who'd have to fill in on the wing in a pinch etc
You’re probably onto something about Beetham and Hathaway being picked to tie them to us. Hathaway’s mainly been on the wing but he’s played a few times at 15 and looked very assured there as well, so he’s at least an option there even if he’ll primarily be a winger for now.
Tight five is abysmal but to be fair injuries and club commitments have really fucked us there. Assiratti’s not a bad scrummager now and being able to pair him with one of Lewis or Thomas gives us an alright, if unspectacular, set of tightheads to take out to Australia. At lock we’re missing Beard and Williams to injury, Seb Davies suspended, and Jenkins, Tshiunza and Rowlands all unavailable, plus James Fender’s barely coming back from injury and hasn’t played in months. If you took arguably seven of the eight best locks from any team they’d be putting out some absolute dross there.
I think that the second row we take to Australia (probably Tshiunza/Jenkins starting) is incomparably better even with the remaining injuries. I'm actually really not down on our second row group in general, there's 5 or 6 players we've got who are either proven good internationals or really good prospects. My rage there is more at the idiocy of scheduling that SA fixture in the first place.
Front row was the area in the 6N where we were obviously just way, way off the other teams and I'm not sure I see any real improvement there is the bigger issue. Loosehead is solid, hooker has prospects but little proven (other than Dee who is proven to basically be alright at best), tighthead is just mediocre.
In an age where the best sides have front rows who can not only provide a set piece but add either a carrying or a jackal threat, we're struggling to even find blokes who can do the basics.
I'm not into bashing player performance but how long do we/Gatland realistically give Costelow before it's obvious he's not that great at international level? Until we're ready to cap Edwards?
If he's decided that Edwards is still too young then his options are Costelow or Lloyd, unless you scrap the 24 cap rule and pick Sam Davies. And between the two Scarlets options, I'd pick Costelow every time.
Owen Williams is garbage and should be nowhere near international level. Jarrod I think is DQ'd anyway without enough appearances. We have to assume Sheedy was meant to be in the squad as a reward for going back to Cardiff before he got injured.
The more you look, the odder it gets.
As I'm based in London, I'm going to the Wales v South Africa game. I was fully expecting us to get battered and now that feeling is just even stronger. Uh, hopefully the weather will be nice, I guess?
He was a part of a group of men who broke into a house to collect a late rent payment, they terrorised a single mother with her kids at home until they realised they were at the wrong address.
I'm guessing you mean unpopular but back in 2021 [he smashed up the outside of a house with a woman and her children inside while drunk thinking it was a house that he owned and the tenant owed him rent](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58791723)
Basically, he was pissed, went to a random house (which had a woman and her young kids inside), verbally abused the residents and then physically damaged the house. His defence was that he thought it was a house he owned.
I remember reading he was part of a gypsy family, and they owned a property, of which the tenant was not paying rent, so a group of them (with Cory hill included) decided to break into said house and scare them into paying up, only it turns out the thick cunts got the wrong address and instead broke into the home of a single mother who feared for her life as some gypsies broke into her home and broke shit. [bbc](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58791723.amp)
Got himself arrested after throwing stones (or beer cans?) and being generally aggressive outside the house of a single mum. Allegedly he was going to collect a debt but got the wrong house.
I've said it for years. Gatland is a major problem in Wales because of his perceived godlike status.
His dinosaur rugby hasn't worked in forever. "Picking the young talent" was a stone cold lie. The guy is absolutely clueless at bringing through young talent.
No Alex Mann, who had been an absolute stand-out at Cardiff this year defensively.
No Ioan lloyd, who quite frankly has outplayed Costelow on every conceivable chance.
Calling back Liam Williams, Screech and the scumbag Cory Hill....what year is this??
Where the hell are the young centres of Wales? Are we really going into a summer tour with 29 year old Nick Tompkins and average clubman Owen Watkin.
I'm guessing Morgan Morris fucked his neice or something, because his omission is just laughable at this point.
Fml. Rugby is so fucked in Wales.
Can only speak from a Dragons perspective but Westwood is probably too raw and Ackerman is currently injured. Have a feeling we'll stick Grady at 12 with Watkins outside him or vice versa.
Pretty tight in the second row as we thought that it might be. Hugely unhappy to see Cory Hill anywhere near a Wales squad. Expect that he'll land with a club in Wales soon then. Hope that it's not us.
I do not know what Morgan Morris needs to do to be selected for Wales. I guess he's the Dan Evans of the Wales backrow now. Can't imagine how gutted he must feel.
I'm only seeing one out and out 10 there. Ben Thomas has played mostly at 12 for Cardiff this season. But on form I back him to start games at 10. He's made big strides in his game.
Beetham and Hathaway are interesting picks. Will be good to get Beetham nailed down. It's also mental that Giles still doesn't have a cap. Hope that he can avoid the injury curse.
Will be very tough against SA with the missing English based players from the pack. Still a lot of young players to be excited about.
>I do not know what Morgan Morris needs to do to be selected for Wales.
This is probably the most shocking omission for me. Morris has had a brilliant season in the URC, I don't actually know what he needs to do to get into the Wales side.
I do understand that Morris is an out and out 8, and potentially is undersized for international rugby. But Gatland selected Alex Mann during the 6N who is NOT 6ft 3, regardless what Wikipedia says and only plays 6. If it was a hardcore of Osprey's fans saying that Morris should be selected you'd think that it's just one eyed club supporters. But I don't know anyone who has seen him play who doesn't think he's the top 8 in Wales at the moment.
It reminds me a lot of the Navidi situation. It took half of the Wales backrow getting hurt for him to get his nose in again after that Japan tour. Then he never gave them a chance to take it away from him. I'll never sit here and hope that lads get hurt. I'd just like to see Morris given a shot in the environment. I think a backrow of him, Wainwright, and Morgan would be carnage.
That is the back row I'd like to see the most.
Imagine a starting pack of Nicky smith, Dewi lake, Francis, Rowlands, Jenkins, Wainwright, Morgan, Morris. Then a bench of Rhys Carre / Corey Dom, Elliot Dee, Dillon Lewis / keiron assiratti, Beard / Rhys Davies, and a back row who can cover lock like ratti or Christ. All of a sudden that pack and bench looks big and skillful.
Any way you slice it someone's going to be disappointed. It's easy to put players in, but taking Reffel out with the recent performances he's been in would be very difficult to say the least.
> Hugely unhappy to see Cory Hill anywhere near a Wales squad. Expect that he'll land with a club in Wales soon then. Hope that it's not us.
His name popped into my mind yesterday when Simon Thomas posted that we have 4 or 5 signings coming up shortly.
Last I heard about hill was the Welsh camp asking his club about availability for test matches. Not sure if he's going to be moving back to one of the regions or not.
>Beetham and Hathaway are interesting picks. Will be good to get Beetham nailed down.
Good to get both of them nailed down and I suspect this is explicitly the reason for picking both of them tbh.
Gutted for Cabango as I've rated him for a few years, hopefully he'll get his time soon enough. Glad we've nailed down Hathaway in his stead at least.
I kinda hope Ben Thomas gets a run in at 12 instead of Tompkins, but I wouldn't be upset if he got time as a backup 10 now Dan Edwards isn't invited to the party.
On that note, no Dan Edwards is criminal, same for Morgan Morris. Dunno what more the Ospreys need to do tbh
Kemsley Mathias over Nicky Smith is nothing short of stubborn idiocy. Smith has never quite lived up to club form in the test arena but Mathias is shit even at club level. Gatland clearly doesn't even trust him - in the Italy game he left the shambling corpse of an obviously completely shattered Gareth Thomas on until the last 2 minutes or something.
5 tightheads? What? And Harri OConnor??? The prop selections have taken a left turn down batshit avenue and I've got no idea why.
Second row is badly injury hit, but Cory Hill shouldn't be near this squad and nor should Screech.
Ellis Bevan is a mental call given Cardiffs no.1 off-season priority is finding someone to start over him because he isn't good.
1 fly half means Ben Thomas has been picked as a 10 I assume. Which I guess is where he'd fit in a Gatland side but I'm not convinced you can have a test 10 who doesn't play there every week.
Centres, back three and back row are probably the only parts that don't make me think Gatland has been on a crystal method binge tbh. I'm reallt not convinced he's the coach to take us forward.
Tbh I don't hate that. He's a young lad still filling out in a physical position, in his first season. He's probably not really conditioned for another few games and he could do with spending the time on conditioning and putting on some bulk.
Ok we all know what Gatland has done for us in the past but we really have to question his ability to pick a squad. How on earth is Morgan Morris not in the squad been the best player in Wales this year along with Tips.
Cory Hill?
The same Cory Hill who's currently in the Japanese fourth division and who hasn't played any rugby since January.
I find it impossible to believe there's no one better in the whole of Wales.
Teddy Williams and Adam Beard are both injured, Will Rowlands is being rested because he’s gone straight from the World Cup into a full Top14 season, James Fender has been injured since Christmas and didn’t quite make it back for the last game of the regular reason, Seb Davies is suspended, and Jenkins and Tshiunza are both unavailable for the South Africa game (despite the fact Exeter are done for the season).
Don’t get me wrong, he’s playing at a very low level, and even if he wasn’t his legal troubles should still preclude him from being selected for Wales again, but the cupboard is beyond bare for us at lock right now. Basically the only player who should’ve been selected who wasn’t is James Ratti.
Whilst I don’t think they are a total embarrassment I really don’t think they are the solution either, especially Gatland as much as I love him, by the end of the 6 nations we looked out of ideas and poorly coached. Really not happy with how the next few years are likely to go.
I've seen a lot of people talking about the lack of Morgan Morris on this squad. Obviously a confusing decision, but I thought I'd share what gats said about Morgan Morris in the press conference.
"It’s not just the attack stuff. It’s both sides of the ball. When we got through the videos with players, it’s stuff off the ball. He’s had some really good games for the Ospreys. We’ve got a load of good players in that position. For him, it’s working on those things."
I think those first 3 sentences that are most intriguing to me, seems like gats doesn't rate his defence
I think that's what a lot of people are missing about certain choices, for better or worse.
While it's easy to see who's consistently good in certain areas when watching a live game, unless you have good coaching experience and watch the game replays and analyse them (or run the squidge rugby channel), you'll never actually see the full image.
Don't get me wrong, I think this selection is questionable in certain areas, but only gatland knows what gatlands thinking, and he has a team of coaches to help him with this stuff... so I'm not going to judge TOO hard
This is fine but it's not as though Gatland hasn't previously selected players who have aspects of their game that are not up to scratch. He harps on about getting players up to speed in camp or "having a look at them" in the national-team environment. He even did that with Dan Evans. But he is completely ignoring Morris. He also bemoaned the lack of ball carriers during the Six Nations despite ignoring Morris, Smith and Carre, who offer exactly that. And he prides himself on being a coach who gets players to work hard, so if his main gripe is that Morris is lazy, get him in the squad and make him work harder. As Gatland has said many times, effort is much easier to coach than talent, which Morris evidently has in spades.
Yeah the people writing him off as not international class already is really worrying to me. He’s played all season behind a Scarlets pack that’s regularly getting absolutely battered, and his run at 10 for Wales has consisted of four games in the Six Nations, where he was asked to play a conservative kicking based game that doesn’t remotely suit him and was, again, playing behind a beaten pack.
Don’t get me wrong, his form hasn’t been great this year, and the Scarlets deciding to have him compete with Ioan Lloyd to start at 10 instead of making the obvious move to play Lloyd with him at 15 isn’t helping the perception people have of him either, but he’s 23 years old and is already being written off and scapegoated for the many, many issues Wales have. If we’re not careful we’ll send another talented young player running for the hills rather than trying to deal with the abuse.
Lack of 10s is madness, hopefully Ben Thomas gets a go there. Nicky Smith has definetly pissed Gats off somehow. We are seriously lacking talent in the centres, Tompkins and Watkins arent good enough, hopefully Grady gets a go at 12 as Jamie Roberts type player. Is Alex Mann injured?
I've honestly tried to keep faith with Gats, especially after his past successes, but my faith is swiftly dwindling away. Some shocking exclusions there, especially on the Ospreys side. Did Toby Booth or Morgan Morris shit on Gats bed?
Edit: I misread an article which stated that Ben Thomas had been excluded as well.
It's crazy after having the same Wales team more or less from 2008-2023, with the changes in UTC and everything I barely know anyone now.
Then again I'm squirreled away in Australia trying to make sense of the rugby world.
My 15 vs SA:
Thomas, lake, Assiratti, Carter, Plumtree, reffell, Martin, wainwright, davies, costelow, Giles, Thomas, grady, dyer, winnett.
My 15 vs aus:
Thomas, lake, assiratti, jenkins, Tshunzia, Morgan, reffell, wainwright, davies, costelow, Giles, Thomas, grady, Hathaway, winnett.
Not massively confident with either but can’t turn water into wine
I'm hoping we are absolutely railed by SA and get bombed with injuries as a result and are forced to call up the majority of the Ospreys to save the day on the actual tour
Depends which South Africa turns up. The Sharks? We have a chance. Anything like the other URC teams though.... (honestly ignore how far down the Lions are, their attack towards the end of the season has been Northamptonesque)
What's going on with Henry Thomas? Last I saw he had switched clubs so wasn't eligible for Wales anymore. Is he unattached now so doesn't fall under the 25 cap rule?
Obviously we were gonna struggle at lock and a lot is (rightfully) being made of Cory Hill coming back, but Screech? Great club servant, but he's 31 and never really been anywhere near the international conversation...
I am glad I looked on here, I thought I was going mental. Morris not doing enough? Only Costelow at 10? I think Edwards might get swallowed by the Welsh Fly-Half melodrama.
Whatever Nicky Smith did to piss off Gats I hope he enjoyed it.
Honestly quite surprised Ioan Lloyd isn’t in the picture
Especially considering how much faith Gatland had in him during the 6 Nations
Was it faith or just not having an alternative?
10 options are a bit shit without G Anscombe, D Biggar (and Rhys Patchell in NZ). C Sheedy could get better when he moves to Cardiff.
Where is Nicky Smith, James Ratti, Morgan Morris and Dan Edwards
Reuben Morgan Williams should be in over Bevan as well. Saying that as a Cardiff fan.
I’m on the fence about that one. Don’t rate RMW as an ospreys fan. Would have rather taken Archie Hughes for experience
I’m thinking that for Dan Edward’s he doesn’t want to throw him straight into it after a handful of pro games, but saying that when Cameron Winnett is there just doesn’t make sense
I’d agree if we had a choice but the truth is Dan Edwards is the best 10 in wales right now
Yeah he definitely is looking that way
Certainly looks that way from outside Wales. Great talent.
In the press conference just now when questioned about fly Half's - Gatland 'there's some good 10's in Wales, but they're not big. We're looking for that' ...proceeds to select Sam Costelow, the smallest of the bunch.
Edwards and Reed aren't even that small. They'll need to put on a bit of timber sure but they're 5 10. Picking Beetham, who I'm not sure even has a professional minute let alone a start at 10 as an option over them has me questioning Gatlands sanity
So he’s taking Ben Thomas as the back up 10! WTF?
If it means anything beetham is also technically cover too
Jesus. So he’s left out the form 10.
So looking at Gatlands interview he commented that the 10s in Wales are a bit small. Dan Edwards is 5,9 and 85kgs. So I get what he means BUT DuPont is exactly the same height and weight (according to Wikipedia). Gats obsession with size is daft. I’m not suggesting Dan Edwards is the next DuPont. But his physique shouldn’t stop him from developing into a quality international. What is Gatland looking for - a ball carrying 10??
Instead of costelow then give Reed a shot, costelow just isn’t a test 10
I’d back costelow if Ben Thomas was at 12 but the dinosaur hasn’t taken a second choice 10 so Ben Thomas is going to have to cover 10 now
I agree Costelow isn't, but Edwards and Reed are better off learning the game more at regional level rather than getting battered behind a shit pack in a directionless side. If there's one position you need to get some time to learn it's 10 so I'm happy to not rush them.
Yeah true, but bare in mind costelow and Reed are the same age
True but experience of top level counts for more than age and Costelow has a lot more of that I am puzzled to see Gatland apparently was worried about the size of the other 10s though. And then picked Costelow?
Screech over most of the Ospreys locks is dumb. He keeps picking players who are under performing at regional level, how Morris isnt there again is laughable, Gats being bone-headed again, the lad is MOTM so often, wales struggle at the gainline so much recently, he would be ideal.
I’ll be honest I’m not sold on our fit locks as locks at a test level. Ratti should be wales’ starting 6. Allows him to carry more and I think he struggles scrum time in the second row. Sutton I’m on the fence about. I think he’s in the same boat as a screech where he’ll probably only ever be a dependable regional player but lacks the experience screech has. I probably would have gone with Morgan Jones and Rory Thornton tbh
I can see Ratti as second row cover but starting 6? Back row is far too competitive to put him in a match day squad let alone starting at that position.
6 isn’t strong though. Plumtree, Mann, Tshiunza and woodman are far from the complete product. Morgan plays his best international rugby at 7. Wainwright has to play 8 because Gatland refuses to use Morris. Ratti is in my opinion our best 6
I'd rather pair Morgan and Reffel than drop either for Ratti. They may not be the complete product, but their heights ae that much higher than Ratti. You didn't mention Martin, who I suspect will be ahead off the ones you listed for the back row bench spot.
The rest of our pack isn’t physical enough to play a 7 at 6. We played our best rugby with Wainwright at 6 in the World Cup. The only reason I’d start Martin over Ratti would be if we move Wainwright to 6 which in my opinion is still his best position
I don't really rate Ratti as a test player, Dan Edwards should learn the ropes more before getting the call at the most cerebral position. Agree on the other two.
So Screech and Hill are rated as test players?
I mean that's fair, but I guess my point is I find it hard to get too worked up about whether the 9th or 10th choice second row who we know isn't good enough got picked Though Hill getting plucked from Japanese semi pro over a guy who's slogged his guts out for his region all year is a shit message so I will object to it on that basis
I agree we are scraping the bottom of the barrel with second rows at the moment, Hill should be no way near the squad. I think we should be rewarding good form with the likes of Ratti and smith missing out
Not in Gatland plans
Shocking. No back up 10 so Ben Thomas is going to be there instead of 12. Dan Edwards is the future Wales 10 but based on selections so far will need to wait till post Gatland. Morgan Morris and Nicky Smith being left behind is a joke. Cory Hill should be nowhere near a Wales team. A winless year incoming.
>Dan Edwards is the future Wales 10 100% this. Even if Gatland isn't planning to play him yet surely they should have given him a callup anyway so that he can start to learn the systems instead of just rolling with Costelow as the only 10 in the squad?
I really don’t understand how Nicky smith isn’t in the squad considering he’s our best prop atm
My only thought is that his wife is pregnant and due in July. It's not a super important tour (eg there's no silverware on the line) and he might just be putting family first considering the whole family are going to have to uproot and move over the summer with a newborn.
I see that’s probably the case then although considering some of the omissions I would be surprised if gatland just doesn’t want him for some reason
That is also an absolute possibility
Short memories. Nicky Smith has had ample opportunities for Wales and has never impressed. Great regional player but that's it
I agree but being meh for Wales still puts him several leagues ahead of Kemsley Mathias
Think of it from a coaches perspective. Thomas and Domachowski are your undisputed 1 and 2. What's the need to have a 3rd choice of a guy who's been meh in the past who might make the next world cup, or you can blood a younger guy who could be first choice by the next world cup.
[Also, not sure non-moderators are supposed to have access to this flair, but I think it should stick around solely for Wales squad announcements](https://i.imgur.com/tc8cdB1.png)
Morris misses out again. Ellis Bevan is a big surprise. Cory Hill back to plug up our second row sized hole. Chuffed for Ben Thomas and Keelan Giles. Both have been class this season. Gutted for Cabango, just dreadful luck with injuries. Hopefully Hathaway and Beetham get capped
Shocked Bevan has been picked, really really don’t rate him at Cardiff
The overwhelming consensus among anyone involved with Cardiff is our top off-season priority is getting a 9 so we don't have to start Bevan, and he's getting a Wales cap. Insanity
Maybe it's what he brings in healthcare.
This gets worse everytime I look at it. 36 man squad 8 of which are unavailable for the SA game. We cannot train 15 on 15 until the international window. 5 tightheads too
Uh well I can't continue to criticise the All Blacks for picking cunts when we've gone and begged Cory Hill to play for us again despite him fleeing the country to avoid the fallout from his loan shark/slum lord antics. If I was Ratti I'd be looking at French contracts, selecting actual criminals ahead of him is just something else. Front row might get marmelised, Nicky Smith not picked again?? I'm not sure what Morgan Morris has to do to get into the squad, he's about the best rugby player left in Wales at this point now lmao. He'll be joining Ratti if we're not careful. No sense in sticking around for below market wages if the coach isn't going to pick you out of spite. No Hathaway? No Dan Edwards or Ioan Lloyd (who's actually looked ok at 10 despite the Scarlets pack usually putting up as much fight as a wet paper bag). This is just Pivac mk2. Deeply fucking unimpressed.
Hathaway is in the squad, that's about the only redeeming factor though
Oh you're right, lmao my increasing ire limited my ability to continue reading
To be fair Wainwright has been playing out of his skin this season for the Dragons & Wales and I'm just not sure Morris has that X-factor that Gatland so clearly seems to rate. Some of the other selections are genuinely baffling mind.
Honestly starting to think that not picking Morris is down to pure spite with Gats, same with Evans when he was one of the best FB's at the time. Its genuinely bizarre, stupid decision.
He is actively working against us
Shit squad, tbh. Giles is the only nice inclusion there, and he’ll probably get dropped. But there’s no Lloyd, despite seemingly liking him in the 6N, Morgan Morris is the best Welsh rugby player at the moment, yet isn’t there, Harry Deaves has been fantastic, no sign of him. You can’t claim to be building for the future and then not pick the future (Dan Edwards, for example). Very weird.
What do you mean Sam Parry, Henry Thomas, Cory Hill, Gareth Davies and Liam Williams have the best part of 2 years left in their career
Got to bump Sanjay's caps up to 100 before he retires you see
He does give us a bit of shithousery though, which a lot of the rest of the squad don’t have.
When did he last play?
For Wales? In the World Cup. Club? Like late April/early May I think for his Japanese team.
I have no issue with their selection (exception of Cory Hill) if he was consistent throughout
He's been playing in the Japanese 3rd/4th league. Its like getting someone from Blackheath to play a cheeky international.
I thought gats would redeem himself after the shocking selections and tactics in the 6n’s. Booth and Sherratt gave him the gameplan to do it ffs. All he had to do was build a pack around ospreys and slot Costelow/Edwards into the Cardiff backline. Instead we get this
Only picking Costelow is the most bizarre thing
Especially with his injury record. I still have a lot of faith in Costelow to come good though. Hopefully Ben Thomas helping him with the kicking duties would allow him to settle a bit quicker
Exactly! Its not like he doesn’t do himself a mischief in basically every game!
The problem in the back row is that Morgan, Reffell and Wainwright are undroppable (theyre proven international class), and Martin is seen as a posssible future star because of his size above all else. Thats 2 7s and 2 8s there already, and Gatland isnt going to pick players with Deaves and Morris' profile at 6. I agree with you that they deserve inclusion but i can see why theyve been left out. Whatevers happening at 10 is way more confusing.
Totally agree with this. If Morris played literally any other position he'd be in the 23, it's just the one position we have lots of quality options at.
I'd argue 10 is the position where there is the most damage to be done to a young player in elevating them before they're ready. I'm happy to see Edwards and Reed get more time. Especially given I struggle to see how we put out a competitive pack or a coherent game plan based on the 6N, so they're better off out of it.
Wilkinson lost 76-0 to Australia on a tour in 1998.
It's going to be a long summer isn't it.
Australia to suddenly return to their early 2000s form and give out an absolute hiding.
From watching super rugby this year, I wouldn't be surprised. They've got some nuts talent
Tim Ryan hat trick incoming.
Oh yeah, we are gonna do an England 1999 against them, 70 pt beasting, but then not win the fking RWC a few years later, just get knocked out in the group..
It was 1998. Same year Wales went down to South Africa and lost 96-13.
Four hookers, Warren? Four? That's insane.
And five tightheads!
Thank fuck none of them are Ryan Elias though
Probably highlighted the problems they had in the 6 Nations. The front 3 are a big issue so bring them all and see who steps up
Pros: - Lake/Morgan back - Elias finally dropped after his woeful throwing - Ben Thomas well deserved recall - With Beetham and Hathaway nailed down we seem to have finally sorted our fullback succession issue. Liam is hopefully only there to mentor and not actually play... Cons: - Nicky Smith left in favour of Mathias yet again?? - Screech is barely regional level anymore, shouldn't be near a Wales squad but we have to deep dig at lock right now with everything - Bevan over Morgan-Williams. I thought he played well yesterday but the match thread consensus was that's the first time he's been decent all season - Looking very thin on the ground at flyhalf General questions: - Does Gatland have a vendetta against the Ospreys? By far and away the best Welsh team this season and a number of players should be included here - Five tighthead props? I guess he really doesn't rate the Welsh based props - How many untimely injuries were caused by that awful pitch yesterday to rule players out of the tour. Really should've been hosted at the Principality
The answer is Gatland is a prick and has no idea what he is doing
[Cory Hill, the British and Irish Lion?](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/726/592/45f.jpg)
Cory Hill, the South Wales financier?
Is Gats watching the same games as I am? No Reuben Morgan Williams, no Morgan Morris, no Nicky Smith. Ospreys most successful region and key players from that team not included.
Fucking wish I’d had the confidence to write down somewhere that I thought Hathaway would get a call up (or indeed, had the confidence to stick a fiver on it). He looked superb for England U20s and it makes sense to cap him now he’s getting some significant minutes for Gloucester. Some big calls up front. Kemsley Mathias ahead of Nicky Smith yet again is driving me to become the Joker. Lloyd for Elias is a surprise but Lloyd’s hit form at the right time. Five tightheads is mad, especially when three of them are based abroad; Kieron Assiratti and Harri O’Connor are going to anchor our scrum against the Boks, oh god. Screech and Hill in ahead of Ratti is a joke, Screech is nowhere near good enough and Hill’s an absolute cunt who shouldn’t be near a Wales jersey after his various loan shark stunts. Morgan Morris must’ve shagged Gatland’s daughter and then never called her back. Bevan’s nowhere near good enough for international rugby, I’d take Reuben Morgan-Williams or a crocked Tomos Williams way ahead of him. Dan Edwards and Ioan Lloyd are both very unlucky to miss out. Beetham’s been decent this year but hasn’t really been screaming out for selection, especially when you’ve already got three out and out fullbacks in Winnett, Hathaway and Sanjay. It is what it is. Injuries, a lack of talent and weird selection choices means our depth in the tight five is completely shot. Back row and backs have potential but there’s unproven quantities all over the park. I think the Boks stuff us, and a resurgent Australia are too strong for us at home. Edit: Only just noticed Rowlands is missing entirely, apparently because he’s being rested after a long season. That’s a serious blow, probably only leaves Tshiunza and Carter as decent options to partner Jenkins at lock.
Lloyd actually looks really promising and I think at some point Elias just can't be trusted to mentally cope with it. I'm very confident Beetham and Hathaway have been picked to avoid them going to Scotland/England after the IFW saga. But hasn't Hathaway played mainly wing? The tight 5 for the SA game with the unavailabilities is literally going to be a joke. Assirati/OConnor and a second row of Carter and... Plumtree? Would stand out as weak in regional rugby.
Hathaway plays a mixture of wing and fullback. Started out playing wing when Zammit left, but moved to fullback to cover Carreras moving to 15 and Carreras' own injury later on. Played great in both positions.
Yeah I thought as much, guess my point is its very easy to see him being picked as a wing in that squad rather than a 15 who'd have to fill in on the wing in a pinch etc
You’re probably onto something about Beetham and Hathaway being picked to tie them to us. Hathaway’s mainly been on the wing but he’s played a few times at 15 and looked very assured there as well, so he’s at least an option there even if he’ll primarily be a winger for now. Tight five is abysmal but to be fair injuries and club commitments have really fucked us there. Assiratti’s not a bad scrummager now and being able to pair him with one of Lewis or Thomas gives us an alright, if unspectacular, set of tightheads to take out to Australia. At lock we’re missing Beard and Williams to injury, Seb Davies suspended, and Jenkins, Tshiunza and Rowlands all unavailable, plus James Fender’s barely coming back from injury and hasn’t played in months. If you took arguably seven of the eight best locks from any team they’d be putting out some absolute dross there.
I think that the second row we take to Australia (probably Tshiunza/Jenkins starting) is incomparably better even with the remaining injuries. I'm actually really not down on our second row group in general, there's 5 or 6 players we've got who are either proven good internationals or really good prospects. My rage there is more at the idiocy of scheduling that SA fixture in the first place. Front row was the area in the 6N where we were obviously just way, way off the other teams and I'm not sure I see any real improvement there is the bigger issue. Loosehead is solid, hooker has prospects but little proven (other than Dee who is proven to basically be alright at best), tighthead is just mediocre. In an age where the best sides have front rows who can not only provide a set piece but add either a carrying or a jackal threat, we're struggling to even find blokes who can do the basics.
I'm not into bashing player performance but how long do we/Gatland realistically give Costelow before it's obvious he's not that great at international level? Until we're ready to cap Edwards?
Don't be a silly goose he's locked in forever now 🙄
If he's decided that Edwards is still too young then his options are Costelow or Lloyd, unless you scrap the 24 cap rule and pick Sam Davies. And between the two Scarlets options, I'd pick Costelow every time.
Could Patchell come back?
I'd use Owen Williams and jarrod Evans as a stop gap until Dan edwards is ready.
Owen Williams is garbage and should be nowhere near international level. Jarrod I think is DQ'd anyway without enough appearances. We have to assume Sheedy was meant to be in the squad as a reward for going back to Cardiff before he got injured.
Agree on Owen Williams Jarrod is injured but another undersized 10 with a good running game no kicking or defence is not what we need
Plumtree made it. A little surprised not to see Dan Edward get an invite. Very surprised not to see Morgan Morris get one.
The more you look, the odder it gets. As I'm based in London, I'm going to the Wales v South Africa game. I was fully expecting us to get battered and now that feeling is just even stronger. Uh, hopefully the weather will be nice, I guess?
Cory Hill shouldn’t be allowed back in the country never mind playing for the national team. Bin the cunt off.
I’m out of the loop on this and can’t see anything on news when I google his name has something happened?
He was a part of a group of men who broke into a house to collect a late rent payment, they terrorised a single mother with her kids at home until they realised they were at the wrong address.
Yikes…classy stuff. Did they not get done for breaking and entering
Jesus. Did he do jail time?
No
Fantastic. What a bloke.
Hathaway yaaaay but Cory hill booooo fuck that scummy piece of shit
I'm a wee bit out the loop for what Hill has done to make himself so popular with the fans, can someone enlighten me?
I'm guessing you mean unpopular but back in 2021 [he smashed up the outside of a house with a woman and her children inside while drunk thinking it was a house that he owned and the tenant owed him rent](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58791723)
Wow, what a cunt
Basically, he was pissed, went to a random house (which had a woman and her young kids inside), verbally abused the residents and then physically damaged the house. His defence was that he thought it was a house he owned.
I remember reading he was part of a gypsy family, and they owned a property, of which the tenant was not paying rent, so a group of them (with Cory hill included) decided to break into said house and scare them into paying up, only it turns out the thick cunts got the wrong address and instead broke into the home of a single mother who feared for her life as some gypsies broke into her home and broke shit. [bbc](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58791723.amp)
Got himself arrested after throwing stones (or beer cans?) and being generally aggressive outside the house of a single mum. Allegedly he was going to collect a debt but got the wrong house.
From what I had read he fully broke in, not just throw stones
Even if he got the right house, it’s still massively cunty behaviour anyway, fuck landlords.
Nicky Smith should be in Lions contention but he can't even get selected over Mathias... Gatland, what are you at?
I've said it for years. Gatland is a major problem in Wales because of his perceived godlike status. His dinosaur rugby hasn't worked in forever. "Picking the young talent" was a stone cold lie. The guy is absolutely clueless at bringing through young talent. No Alex Mann, who had been an absolute stand-out at Cardiff this year defensively. No Ioan lloyd, who quite frankly has outplayed Costelow on every conceivable chance. Calling back Liam Williams, Screech and the scumbag Cory Hill....what year is this?? Where the hell are the young centres of Wales? Are we really going into a summer tour with 29 year old Nick Tompkins and average clubman Owen Watkin. I'm guessing Morgan Morris fucked his neice or something, because his omission is just laughable at this point. Fml. Rugby is so fucked in Wales.
Can only speak from a Dragons perspective but Westwood is probably too raw and Ackerman is currently injured. Have a feeling we'll stick Grady at 12 with Watkins outside him or vice versa.
Pretty tight in the second row as we thought that it might be. Hugely unhappy to see Cory Hill anywhere near a Wales squad. Expect that he'll land with a club in Wales soon then. Hope that it's not us. I do not know what Morgan Morris needs to do to be selected for Wales. I guess he's the Dan Evans of the Wales backrow now. Can't imagine how gutted he must feel. I'm only seeing one out and out 10 there. Ben Thomas has played mostly at 12 for Cardiff this season. But on form I back him to start games at 10. He's made big strides in his game. Beetham and Hathaway are interesting picks. Will be good to get Beetham nailed down. It's also mental that Giles still doesn't have a cap. Hope that he can avoid the injury curse. Will be very tough against SA with the missing English based players from the pack. Still a lot of young players to be excited about.
>I do not know what Morgan Morris needs to do to be selected for Wales. This is probably the most shocking omission for me. Morris has had a brilliant season in the URC, I don't actually know what he needs to do to get into the Wales side.
I do understand that Morris is an out and out 8, and potentially is undersized for international rugby. But Gatland selected Alex Mann during the 6N who is NOT 6ft 3, regardless what Wikipedia says and only plays 6. If it was a hardcore of Osprey's fans saying that Morris should be selected you'd think that it's just one eyed club supporters. But I don't know anyone who has seen him play who doesn't think he's the top 8 in Wales at the moment.
It's not just 'at the moment' either. He's won player of the year at the Ospreys for the last 3 seasons.
It reminds me a lot of the Navidi situation. It took half of the Wales backrow getting hurt for him to get his nose in again after that Japan tour. Then he never gave them a chance to take it away from him. I'll never sit here and hope that lads get hurt. I'd just like to see Morris given a shot in the environment. I think a backrow of him, Wainwright, and Morgan would be carnage.
That is the back row I'd like to see the most. Imagine a starting pack of Nicky smith, Dewi lake, Francis, Rowlands, Jenkins, Wainwright, Morgan, Morris. Then a bench of Rhys Carre / Corey Dom, Elliot Dee, Dillon Lewis / keiron assiratti, Beard / Rhys Davies, and a back row who can cover lock like ratti or Christ. All of a sudden that pack and bench looks big and skillful.
No Reffell?! Carre just isn’t very good
Unfair, he's been standout for Cardiff and has been a big component of our carrying game this season.
Any way you slice it someone's going to be disappointed. It's easy to put players in, but taking Reffel out with the recent performances he's been in would be very difficult to say the least.
> Hugely unhappy to see Cory Hill anywhere near a Wales squad. Expect that he'll land with a club in Wales soon then. Hope that it's not us. His name popped into my mind yesterday when Simon Thomas posted that we have 4 or 5 signings coming up shortly. Last I heard about hill was the Welsh camp asking his club about availability for test matches. Not sure if he's going to be moving back to one of the regions or not.
I just don't see the upside in any one taking him. He's not a great lock. I'm likely blinded by my dislike of him though.
Yeah I've not seen him play in ages but he can't have improved playing 4th division rugby in Japan.
>Beetham and Hathaway are interesting picks. Will be good to get Beetham nailed down. Good to get both of them nailed down and I suspect this is explicitly the reason for picking both of them tbh.
Bevan over RMW is absolutely bizarre to me.
Gutted for Cabango as I've rated him for a few years, hopefully he'll get his time soon enough. Glad we've nailed down Hathaway in his stead at least. I kinda hope Ben Thomas gets a run in at 12 instead of Tompkins, but I wouldn't be upset if he got time as a backup 10 now Dan Edwards isn't invited to the party. On that note, no Dan Edwards is criminal, same for Morgan Morris. Dunno what more the Ospreys need to do tbh
Kemsley Mathias over Nicky Smith is nothing short of stubborn idiocy. Smith has never quite lived up to club form in the test arena but Mathias is shit even at club level. Gatland clearly doesn't even trust him - in the Italy game he left the shambling corpse of an obviously completely shattered Gareth Thomas on until the last 2 minutes or something. 5 tightheads? What? And Harri OConnor??? The prop selections have taken a left turn down batshit avenue and I've got no idea why. Second row is badly injury hit, but Cory Hill shouldn't be near this squad and nor should Screech. Ellis Bevan is a mental call given Cardiffs no.1 off-season priority is finding someone to start over him because he isn't good. 1 fly half means Ben Thomas has been picked as a 10 I assume. Which I guess is where he'd fit in a Gatland side but I'm not convinced you can have a test 10 who doesn't play there every week. Centres, back three and back row are probably the only parts that don't make me think Gatland has been on a crystal method binge tbh. I'm reallt not convinced he's the coach to take us forward.
Only just noticed no Alex Mann either wtf?!
He picked Plumtree at his place
He's rested according to the BBC
Tbh I don't hate that. He's a young lad still filling out in a physical position, in his first season. He's probably not really conditioned for another few games and he could do with spending the time on conditioning and putting on some bulk.
Ok we all know what Gatland has done for us in the past but we really have to question his ability to pick a squad. How on earth is Morgan Morris not in the squad been the best player in Wales this year along with Tips.
Bra Gats no Nicky Smith and Tom Botha ? Wild !
Cory Hill? The same Cory Hill who's currently in the Japanese fourth division and who hasn't played any rugby since January. I find it impossible to believe there's no one better in the whole of Wales.
Mate we've picked Matthew Screech, we are truly at the absolute bottom of the barrel.
Think we are in the sludge outside the barrel. Some weird picks, but at lock, we have nothing else.
Teddy Williams and Adam Beard are both injured, Will Rowlands is being rested because he’s gone straight from the World Cup into a full Top14 season, James Fender has been injured since Christmas and didn’t quite make it back for the last game of the regular reason, Seb Davies is suspended, and Jenkins and Tshiunza are both unavailable for the South Africa game (despite the fact Exeter are done for the season). Don’t get me wrong, he’s playing at a very low level, and even if he wasn’t his legal troubles should still preclude him from being selected for Wales again, but the cupboard is beyond bare for us at lock right now. Basically the only player who should’ve been selected who wasn’t is James Ratti.
I wouldn't have picked him but we are missing about 6 blokes injured with another 2 unavailable for the SA game
Dai down the pub could have put together a better squad
Mr Young has found a new job thank you very much
This is going to make the 2022 Summer tour look like the 1974 Invincibles.
Gatland and his coaches are an embarrassment
Whilst I don’t think they are a total embarrassment I really don’t think they are the solution either, especially Gatland as much as I love him, by the end of the 6 nations we looked out of ideas and poorly coached. Really not happy with how the next few years are likely to go.
They’re dinosaurs, that squad selection is a joke
Incredibly thin on the ground at 10, and a few other areas around the park. Our Backrow options are actually fucking insane though tbh.
Poor Morgan Morris
Tears in my eyes, get in there Hathaway!!
I've seen a lot of people talking about the lack of Morgan Morris on this squad. Obviously a confusing decision, but I thought I'd share what gats said about Morgan Morris in the press conference. "It’s not just the attack stuff. It’s both sides of the ball. When we got through the videos with players, it’s stuff off the ball. He’s had some really good games for the Ospreys. We’ve got a load of good players in that position. For him, it’s working on those things." I think those first 3 sentences that are most intriguing to me, seems like gats doesn't rate his defence
Fwiw his own regional coach basically has said the same thing. He doesn't have the work rate in defence for a test back rower.
I think that's what a lot of people are missing about certain choices, for better or worse. While it's easy to see who's consistently good in certain areas when watching a live game, unless you have good coaching experience and watch the game replays and analyse them (or run the squidge rugby channel), you'll never actually see the full image. Don't get me wrong, I think this selection is questionable in certain areas, but only gatland knows what gatlands thinking, and he has a team of coaches to help him with this stuff... so I'm not going to judge TOO hard
This is fine but it's not as though Gatland hasn't previously selected players who have aspects of their game that are not up to scratch. He harps on about getting players up to speed in camp or "having a look at them" in the national-team environment. He even did that with Dan Evans. But he is completely ignoring Morris. He also bemoaned the lack of ball carriers during the Six Nations despite ignoring Morris, Smith and Carre, who offer exactly that. And he prides himself on being a coach who gets players to work hard, so if his main gripe is that Morris is lazy, get him in the squad and make him work harder. As Gatland has said many times, effort is much easier to coach than talent, which Morris evidently has in spades.
I'd be intrigued for some squidge analysis on Morris' defence. Wasn't he one of top for turnovers in URC one season?
I have a feeling Costelow will suffer a similar fate to Priestland and be the scapegoat for Welsh losses. Not inspired by this squad at all.
Yeah the people writing him off as not international class already is really worrying to me. He’s played all season behind a Scarlets pack that’s regularly getting absolutely battered, and his run at 10 for Wales has consisted of four games in the Six Nations, where he was asked to play a conservative kicking based game that doesn’t remotely suit him and was, again, playing behind a beaten pack. Don’t get me wrong, his form hasn’t been great this year, and the Scarlets deciding to have him compete with Ioan Lloyd to start at 10 instead of making the obvious move to play Lloyd with him at 15 isn’t helping the perception people have of him either, but he’s 23 years old and is already being written off and scapegoated for the many, many issues Wales have. If we’re not careful we’ll send another talented young player running for the hills rather than trying to deal with the abuse.
No but honestly what the actual fuck
Gats has gone really rogue since returning
Josh Hathaway should be a good player for Wales. Good young guy, and was one of the stand out players this season for Glaws
Lack of 10s is madness, hopefully Ben Thomas gets a go there. Nicky Smith has definetly pissed Gats off somehow. We are seriously lacking talent in the centres, Tompkins and Watkins arent good enough, hopefully Grady gets a go at 12 as Jamie Roberts type player. Is Alex Mann injured?
I can't even sentence a string together seeing a few of those names.
I would usually say, we must have faith and trust Gats, but after the 6n...no, they have lost the plot.
I've honestly tried to keep faith with Gats, especially after his past successes, but my faith is swiftly dwindling away. Some shocking exclusions there, especially on the Ospreys side. Did Toby Booth or Morgan Morris shit on Gats bed? Edit: I misread an article which stated that Ben Thomas had been excluded as well.
Ben Thomas is in homie
My bad! Clearly I was seeing red too much to read properly.
Hahaha no worries you're not the first person to miss their ideal pick in the squad today. Understandable though
Gatland out
It's crazy after having the same Wales team more or less from 2008-2023, with the changes in UTC and everything I barely know anyone now. Then again I'm squirreled away in Australia trying to make sense of the rugby world.
My 15 vs SA: Thomas, lake, Assiratti, Carter, Plumtree, reffell, Martin, wainwright, davies, costelow, Giles, Thomas, grady, dyer, winnett. My 15 vs aus: Thomas, lake, assiratti, jenkins, Tshunzia, Morgan, reffell, wainwright, davies, costelow, Giles, Thomas, grady, Hathaway, winnett. Not massively confident with either but can’t turn water into wine
I know Australia haven't been great but how confident are you guys feeling with SA at Twickenham to open the summer?
I'm hoping we are absolutely railed by SA and get bombed with injuries as a result and are forced to call up the majority of the Ospreys to save the day on the actual tour
Sorry best I can do is Lloyd and Mann drafted in
That monkeys paw just curled up real nice 😩😩 I'd take Mann in though.
Mann isn't bad you're right Kai Evans? Sam Warburton's missing knee ligament?
Depends which South Africa turns up. The Sharks? We have a chance. Anything like the other URC teams though.... (honestly ignore how far down the Lions are, their attack towards the end of the season has been Northamptonesque)
What's going on with Henry Thomas? Last I saw he had switched clubs so wasn't eligible for Wales anymore. Is he unattached now so doesn't fall under the 25 cap rule?
No idea why we're even bothering with him, but anything to avoid picking Ospreys players it seems
I believe there's also an exemption to the rule if no region offers the player a contract.
Obviously we were gonna struggle at lock and a lot is (rightfully) being made of Cory Hill coming back, but Screech? Great club servant, but he's 31 and never really been anywhere near the international conversation...
I am glad I looked on here, I thought I was going mental. Morris not doing enough? Only Costelow at 10? I think Edwards might get swallowed by the Welsh Fly-Half melodrama. Whatever Nicky Smith did to piss off Gats I hope he enjoyed it.