Tim v France

[Numbers]

Anscome and the Priest possibly as Biggar and Sanjay still carrying niggles?

Also I can think of no other fit available back of sufficient standard that covers more than one position with game time under his belt?

Hallam Amos has played 3 games since injury, I think he's scored in two of those, I'd have him ahead of Cuthbert in a heartbeat.

[normanski]

I'm worried that the French back line will click this championship - I just hope it's not on Friday night.

[morepork]

Just out of interest what are you expecting from this french team? I have been waiting for them to sort it out for ages now.

Lot's of pantomime villain faces in the forwards, but only one of them will actually make any impact. The backs will stand deep and throw the ball at each others heads a lot, and they will kick the ball a lot.

Should be a classic.

[Bob]

Expecting the crap French team to turn up. It's their usual one these days

[tigran]

Just out of interest what are you expecting from this french team? I have been waiting for them to sort it out for ages now.

You can't sort many things after two weeks... But there's real potential here..

[Sourdust]

Always scared that when they finally crack it, we'll be the fall guys.

But then, I've felt that way for good few years now.

[tigran]

Your boys are clearly favourites

[TibetanBlue]

A little dissapointed with the team. James has done nothing wrong and I find Gatland's 'explanation' completely unsatisfactory and contradictory to how he treats others (his favourites). The criticism of James not finishing off that try vs. Scotland by some on here is ridiculous - how often do breaks like that result in tries? The scottish defender, who's slow, had the angle on him.
Also I'm struggling to grasp the dropping of Tipuric to the bench - I love Warburton but it's clear that Tipuric is the best player/footballer we have full-stop. If we do need a genuine blind side in the team, then Warburton should make way for Lydiate, not Tipuric.
Shame about Charteris but we're blessed to have a back up of Davies' quality - he's part of a very successful Wasps team so should be in form

Agree with others about the bench - I'd have happily seen Nipper on the bench over 1 of Priestland and Anscombe. The fact remains he offers something completely different and has shown previously that he can spark things.

ANYWAY, still think we'll win this one assuming the frnech don't choose Friday to burst into life.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Recent history (the last 4 years) suggests we should win. And their first two matches were pretty unimpressive wins, so not too worried there. Obviously they're going to stop our run of wins one day, but we're certainly favourites..... even if it is a Friday nighter.

[Spiffy]

A little dissapointed with the team. James has done nothing wrong and I find Gatland's 'explanation' completely unsatisfactory and contradictory to how he treats others (his favourites). The criticism of James not finishing off that try vs. Scotland by some on here is ridiculous - how often do breaks like that result in tries? The scottish defender, who's slow, had the angle on him.
Also I'm struggling to grasp the dropping of Tipuric to the bench - I love Warburton but it's clear that Tipuric is the best player/footballer we have full-stop. If we do need a genuine blind side in the team, then Warburton should make way for Lydiate, not Tipuric.
Shame about Charteris but we're blessed to have a back up of Davies' quality - he's part of a very successful Wasps team so should be in form

Agree with others about the bench - I'd have happily seen Nipper on the bench over 1 of Priestland and Anscombe. The fact remains he offers something completely different and has shown previously that he can spark things.

ANYWAY, still think we'll win this one assuming the frnech don't choose Friday to burst into life.

That has been discussed here already. The bloke running the angle has farther to run that the one running straight down the touchline. Draw yourself a little triangle if your are still in doubt. James just didn't have the gas to run in a try that you would expect most international wings to score. To call Taylor slow is just ridiculous. He showed a great turn of pace to run him down (and also scored a very good try himself towards the end of the game where again he showed pace as well as great footwork to leave Anscombe flat footed).

As for Friday's game - A very experienced Wales team playing at home against a fairly experimental French lot should be confident of a good win. I think you'll win by about 25-30 points.

[Tre]

A little dissapointed with the team. James has done nothing wrong and I find Gatland's 'explanation' completely unsatisfactory and contradictory to how he treats others (his favourites). The criticism of James not finishing off that try vs. Scotland by some on here is ridiculous - how often do breaks like that result in tries? The scottish defender, who's slow, had the angle on him.
Also I'm struggling to grasp the dropping of Tipuric to the bench - I love Warburton but it's clear that Tipuric is the best player/footballer we have full-stop. If we do need a genuine blind side in the team, then Warburton should make way for Lydiate, not Tipuric.
Shame about Charteris but we're blessed to have a back up of Davies' quality - he's part of a very successful Wasps team so should be in form

Agree with others about the bench - I'd have happily seen Nipper on the bench over 1 of Priestland and Anscombe. The fact remains he offers something completely different and has shown previously that he can spark things.

ANYWAY, still think we'll win this one assuming the frnech don't choose Friday to burst into life.

That has been discussed here already. The bloke running the angle has farther to run that the one running straight down the touchline. Draw yourself a little triangle if your are still in doubt. James just didn't have the gas to run in a try that you would expect most international wings to score. To call Taylor slow is just ridiculous. He showed a great turn of pace to run him down (and also scored a very good try himself towards the end of the game where again he showed pace as well as great footwork to leave Anscombe flat footed).

As for Friday's game - A very experienced Wales team playing at home against a fairly experimental French lot should be confident of a good win. I think you'll win by about 25-30 points.

'Most international wings'... come off it.

James is not slow, I watch him every week. He looked like he tired during that break to me, like he didnt have the legs to make it.

Could be there's an issue with his conditioning, which I believe Gatland has alluded to this week.

[Billyfish]

I spose the most pertinent question is whether Cuthbert would have scored that try? Would he have slowed? I suspect not, but then I've never seen him run flat out in a straight line over that distance.

With his apparent lack of self belief, he'd probably have knocked on whilst trying to pick the ball up in the first place mind, hands over his face and looking up to the gods once again.

[Renniks]

Cuthbert would have tackled himself, which would have been his first tackle of the game that actually slowed a player

[davejames78]

We needed Mark Jones there. Straight line speed and literally nothing else.

Although he was obviously at his best just after the ref's whistle had gone. Devastating runner after the event.

[TibetanBlue]

A little dissapointed with the team. James has done nothing wrong and I find Gatland's 'explanation' completely unsatisfactory and contradictory to how he treats others (his favourites). The criticism of James not finishing off that try vs. Scotland by some on here is ridiculous - how often do breaks like that result in tries? The scottish defender, who's slow, had the angle on him.
Also I'm struggling to grasp the dropping of Tipuric to the bench - I love Warburton but it's clear that Tipuric is the best player/footballer we have full-stop. If we do need a genuine blind side in the team, then Warburton should make way for Lydiate, not Tipuric.
Shame about Charteris but we're blessed to have a back up of Davies' quality - he's part of a very successful Wasps team so should be in form

Agree with others about the bench - I'd have happily seen Nipper on the bench over 1 of Priestland and Anscombe. The fact remains he offers something completely different and has shown previously that he can spark things.

ANYWAY, still think we'll win this one assuming the frnech don't choose Friday to burst into life.

That has been discussed here already. The bloke running the angle has farther to run that the one running straight down the touchline. Draw yourself a little triangle if your are still in doubt. James just didn't have the gas to run in a try that you would expect most international wings to score. To call Taylor slow is just ridiculous. He showed a great turn of pace to run him down (and also scored a very good try himself towards the end of the game where again he showed pace as well as great footwork to leave Anscombe flat footed).

As for Friday's game - A very experienced Wales team playing at home against a fairly experimental French lot should be confident of a good win. I think you'll win by about 25-30 points.

Drawing triangles is fine but it assumes that they have an equivalent starting point along the length of the pitch which they didn't.
As for Taylor, not sure why I wrote slow when I clearly meant fast. Yes he is fast - another reason why I feel the criticism of James is unfair

I'm confident we'll win but 25-30 points seems a bit extreme - we rarely 'hammer' anyone under Gatland's game plan, 10 point win for me

[Numbers]

A little dissapointed with the team. James has done nothing wrong and I find Gatland's 'explanation' completely unsatisfactory and contradictory to how he treats others (his favourites). The criticism of James not finishing off that try vs. Scotland by some on here is ridiculous - how often do breaks like that result in tries? The scottish defender, who's slow, had the angle on him.
Also I'm struggling to grasp the dropping of Tipuric to the bench - I love Warburton but it's clear that Tipuric is the best player/footballer we have full-stop. If we do need a genuine blind side in the team, then Warburton should make way for Lydiate, not Tipuric.
Shame about Charteris but we're blessed to have a back up of Davies' quality - he's part of a very successful Wasps team so should be in form

Agree with others about the bench - I'd have happily seen Nipper on the bench over 1 of Priestland and Anscombe. The fact remains he offers something completely different and has shown previously that he can spark things.

ANYWAY, still think we'll win this one assuming the frnech don't choose Friday to burst into life.

How many turnovers has Tipuric won so far?

[Numbers]

France: Maxime Medard; Virimi Vakatawa, Maxime Mermoz, Jonathan Danty, Djibril Camara; Jules Plisson, Maxime Machenaud; Jefferson Poirot, Guilhem Guirado (capt), Rabah Slimani, Alexandre Flanquart, Paul Jedrasiak, Antoine Burban, Damien Chouly, Wenceslas Lauret.

Replacements: Camille Chat, Uini Atonio, Vincent Pelo, Yoann Maestri, Loann Goujon, Sebastien Bezy, Francois Trinh Duc, Gael Fickou.

[Billyfish]

"In the past they've gone out with the attitude of saying 'jouez, jouez, let's play' and for teams like us that's just happy days - we love that kind of thing, it's so easy to shut down."

Warren can speak French? Eat your heart out Butler!!

[Spiffy]

A little dissapointed with the team. James has done nothing wrong and I find Gatland's 'explanation' completely unsatisfactory and contradictory to how he treats others (his favourites). The criticism of James not finishing off that try vs. Scotland by some on here is ridiculous - how often do breaks like that result in tries? The scottish defender, who's slow, had the angle on him.
Also I'm struggling to grasp the dropping of Tipuric to the bench - I love Warburton but it's clear that Tipuric is the best player/footballer we have full-stop. If we do need a genuine blind side in the team, then Warburton should make way for Lydiate, not Tipuric.
Shame about Charteris but we're blessed to have a back up of Davies' quality - he's part of a very successful Wasps team so should be in form

Agree with others about the bench - I'd have happily seen Nipper on the bench over 1 of Priestland and Anscombe. The fact remains he offers something completely different and has shown previously that he can spark things.

ANYWAY, still think we'll win this one assuming the frnech don't choose Friday to burst into life.

That has been discussed here already. The bloke running the angle has farther to run that the one running straight down the touchline. Draw yourself a little triangle if your are still in doubt. James just didn't have the gas to run in a try that you would expect most international wings to score. To call Taylor slow is just ridiculous. He showed a great turn of pace to run him down (and also scored a very good try himself towards the end of the game where again he showed pace as well as great footwork to leave Anscombe flat footed).

As for Friday's game - A very experienced Wales team playing at home against a fairly experimental French lot should be confident of a good win. I think you'll win by about 25-30 points.

'Most international wings'... come off it.

James is not slow, I watch him every week. He looked like he tired during that break to me, like he didnt have the legs to make it.

Could be there's an issue with his conditioning, which I believe Gatland has alluded to this week.

So are you saying he lost speed during his touchline dash? You are playing with semantics. To say he didn't have the legs to make it means he was not fast enough over the entire sprint to score. He might seem fast playing for Cardiff each week but international rugby is a step up.
As for his conditioning, Wales have stated on many occasions over the past few years that they are fitter than any team they play. Would Cement Head really pick him if he were not fit?

[Renniks]

"In the past they've gone out with the attitude of saying 'jouez, jouez, let's play' and for teams like us that's just happy days - we love that kind of thing, it's so easy to shut down."

Warren can speak French? Eat your heart out Butler!!

They do so well of shutting down that style of play when NZ / Aus (and even Fiji) do it…

[Tre]

That has been discussed here already. The bloke running the angle has farther to run that the one running straight down the touchline. Draw yourself a little triangle if your are still in doubt. James just didn't have the gas to run in a try that you would expect most international wings to score. To call Taylor slow is just ridiculous. He showed a great turn of pace to run him down (and also scored a very good try himself towards the end of the game where again he showed pace as well as great footwork to leave Anscombe flat footed).

As for Friday's game - A very experienced Wales team playing at home against a fairly experimental French lot should be confident of a good win. I think you'll win by about 25-30 points.

'Most international wings'... come off it.

James is not slow, I watch him every week. He looked like he tired during that break to me, like he didnt have the legs to make it.

Could be there's an issue with his conditioning, which I believe Gatland has alluded to this week.

So are you saying he lost speed during his touchline dash? You are playing with semantics. To say he didn't have the legs to make it means he was not fast enough over the entire sprint to score. He might seem fast playing for Cardiff each week but international rugby is a step up.
As for his conditioning, Wales have stated on many occasions over the past few years that they are fitter than any team they play. Would Cement Head really pick him if he were not fit?

I'm saying he looked tired.

I'm disputing you would expect most international wings to score from 70m

[Billyfish]

"In the past they've gone out with the attitude of saying 'jouez, jouez, let's play' and for teams like us that's just happy days - we love that kind of thing, it's so easy to shut down."

Warren can speak French? Eat your heart out Butler!!

They do so well of shutting down that style of play when NZ / Aus (and even Fiji) do it…

Yeah yeah, old news. That Fiji game was over a decade ago now wasn't it?

Not sure NZ or even Oz play with the same gay abandon that the French currently do.

[Renniks]

"In the past they've gone out with the attitude of saying 'jouez, jouez, let's play' and for teams like us that's just happy days - we love that kind of thing, it's so easy to shut down."

Warren can speak French? Eat your heart out Butler!!

They do so well of shutting down that style of play when NZ / Aus (and even Fiji) do it…

Yeah yeah, old news. That Fiji game was over a decade ago now wasn't it?

Not sure NZ or even Oz play with the same gay abandon that the French currently do.

To be fair - I meant the Fiji game from the RWC, where shutting them down was far from what you did…

And I'll concede that France's “let's play” is quite different to Southern Hemisphere versions of it

[Tre]

"In the past they've gone out with the attitude of saying 'jouez, jouez, let's play' and for teams like us that's just happy days - we love that kind of thing, it's so easy to shut down."

Warren can speak French? Eat your heart out Butler!!

They do so well of shutting down that style of play when NZ / Aus (and even Fiji) do it…

Yeah yeah, old news. That Fiji game was over a decade ago now wasn't it?

Gatland trying to get them to be even more expansive?

[Numbers]

That has been discussed here already. The bloke running the angle has farther to run that the one running straight down the touchline. Draw yourself a little triangle if your are still in doubt. James just didn't have the gas to run in a try that you would expect most international wings to score. To call Taylor slow is just ridiculous. He showed a great turn of pace to run him down (and also scored a very good try himself towards the end of the game where again he showed pace as well as great footwork to leave Anscombe flat footed).

As for Friday's game - A very experienced Wales team playing at home against a fairly experimental French lot should be confident of a good win. I think you'll win by about 25-30 points.

'Most international wings'... come off it.

James is not slow, I watch him every week. He looked like he tired during that break to me, like he didnt have the legs to make it.

Could be there's an issue with his conditioning, which I believe Gatland has alluded to this week.

So are you saying he lost speed during his touchline dash? You are playing with semantics. To say he didn't have the legs to make it means he was not fast enough over the entire sprint to score. He might seem fast playing for Cardiff each week but international rugby is a step up.
As for his conditioning, Wales have stated on many occasions over the past few years that they are fitter than any team they play. Would Cement Head really pick him if he were not fit?

In defence of Tom James he is just back from an injury so he isn't going to be 70 yards flat out fit is he. Unfortunately we have a dearth of fully fit wingers at the moment.