So with a little over two weeks to go, Gatland has announced his final 31-man world cup party, and his team to face Italy on the weekend. After last weekends performance against (at the time) the 2nd best team in the world - Ireland - Wales controlled the game, and were deserving winners.
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Roberts brought attacking threat
and defence solidity |
It was a different Wales team to the one so easily beaten by the Irish at the Millennium Stadium. Showcased from the off with a ferocious blitz defence, trademark of Shaun Edwards, lead by the experienced Jamie Roberts forcing the Irish kickers into uncharacteristic mistakes. It wasn't infallible as a defensive system with Sexton on a couple of occasions able to sweep around the "outside-in" defence, but on the whole it was a defence back to Wales at their best. In attack Wales showcased a powerful driving maul, although it utilised the large bodies of North and Roberts to provide extra ballast, which could be a concern for the Australians especially at the world cup, and will have England thinking about it. The scrum which had crumbled woefully weeks previously, became stable, if not a weapon with the introduction of test newbie Tomas Francis. There was one concerning moment with the last scrum of the first half, but that is likely down to Francis lacking test match fitness and was likely extremely tired. Wales also showed some thrusts of attacking intent generally focused around Scott Williams and Justin Tipuric providing the line breaking play.
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| William's aerial ability was missed |
The Welsh kicking game lacked it's potency that it displayed in the 6 Nations, but that was partially down to the Kearney brothers having an amazing day in the air. Also Wales seemed to missing having the self made "bomb diffuser" of Liam Williams in the line up, Alex Cuthbert yet again not proving why he deserves a test starting place, although he did little wrong he did little right either. Other than that Wales' first choice team proved their effectiveness, resolving the breakdown ball retention issue from the first game with strong ball carrying and the hard work of Lydiate and Faletau.
So after Wales recorded their second win of the year against Ireland, Gatland announced his final squad to the World Cup. There were some shocks in the squad, primarily in the exclusion of Anscombe who after an assured test début (from the bench) looked close to certain to being in the squad. Apparently he picked up an ankle injury and Gatland didn't want to head into the World Cup
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| Samson Lee looks set to make the start of the tournament |
with too many injuries. Speaking of which Samson Lee and Liam Williams both made the squad, despite both having had no game time, but both seem crucial to the Wales team and made it in based on previous merit. This decision has been vindicated with news this afternoon, with news that Lee is finally taking part in full training, and Williams is expected to be fully involved next week. The other selection "shock" was Wales selecting 5 locks, plus James King offering a 6th option. The news from the coaching staff is this decision was made because a couple of the lock forwards are carrying niggles and they believe the engine room will be a crucial part of the World Cup. This has lead to Wales sacrificing the third "reserve" hooker from the squad, while statistically this seems like a good call, with most third choice hookers getting maybe 20 minutes of game time during the entire tournament, it could be a decision which bites them in the arse. If one - or both - of the selected hookers (Baldwin and Owens) were to get injured less than 48 hours before game time, Wales could face a points deduction for playing a game without a hooker. It's a big decision which could either pay off with fitness levels of locks remaining high throughout the tournament, or cost them progressing from the pool stages.
The backs selection was largely expected with those left after the initial cull. Other than Anscombe's injury loss, the only other unexpected twist was Tyler Morgan missing out to Cory Allen. The news
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| Allen (left) makes the squad over Morgan (right) |
eventually came out that Morgan had missed a week of training which had allowed his team mate to over take him in the pecking order, although at such a young age (and with a central contract) Morgan has a large future ahead of him as a back up to Jonathan Davies. I think perhaps Eli Walker was unlucky to miss out on the final squad, he did very little wrong in his first ever test and showed glimpses of his lethal attacking too, and arguably did more than Cuthbert in that game. Yet Gatland's faith in the test Lion remained, promising that Cuthbert would rediscover the form which saw him become such a prolific finisher for Wales. The most exciting selection, without a doubt, was the Bristol fly-half Matthew Morgan. Viewed as a fullback by the Welsh management, for his game breaking ability. In his brief appearances in a Wales shirt he has showed his ability to unlock defences and get the attacking going, it reminds me of the great Shane Williams.
Overall it's a very strong squad put together by Gatland, he has been helped by injuries being kept at a minimum, other than Jonathan Davies everyone was available for selection. The squad contains a core of highly experienced players who have both played in previous World Cups, won the 6 Nations and competed in a Lions Tour, while still being a young team with most players around the mid-twenties.
Wales World Cup Squad
Backs: L Halfpenny, L Williams, M Morgan, G North, H Amos, A Cuthbert, C Allen, J Roberts, S Williams, D Biggar, R Priestland, R Webb, G Davies, L Williams
Forwards: G Jenkins, P James, K Owens, S Baldwin, S Lee, T Francis, A Jarvis, AW Jones, B Davies, J Ball, L Charteris, D Day, J King, J Tipuric, S Warburton, D Lydiate, T Faletau
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| Morgan to impress from bench |
Before the World Cup starts, Wales have one more game to play, facing Italy on Saturday at the Millenium Stadium at 17:00. Gatland announced the team today, the team focused on giving the majority of the first choice players another run out, to keep them building towards their best. With Cuthbert getting another chance to find his form and Warburton getting his first run out of the season. Cory Allen gets a chance to show why he made the squad, alongside Scott Williams who starts for the third game in a row. In the engine room, Ball and Day get a chance to fight for the match day 23 come the big games, and Tomas Francis starts again probably with the idea of improving his test-match fitness. The same front row starts this week as last week, with Ken Owens getting another opportunity to show his ability as a starting hooker, and remove his "impact sub" tag.
There is a small disappointment that Matthew Morgan doesn't get the chance to impress from the
kickoff, but he makes the bench and is likely to get a good run out during the game. The bench also includes Kristian Dacey and Ross Moriarty despite neither being involved in the final party, probably so that they both remain at test match intensity in case they are needed to be called up to the World Cup.
Wales Team vs. Italy
Backs: L Halfpenny, A Cuthbert, C Allen, S Williams, G North, D Biggar, R Webb
Forwards: G Jenkins, K Owens, T Francis, J Ball, D Day, J King, S Warburton, T Faletau
Replacements: K Dacey, P James, A Jarvis, L Charteris, R Moriarty, G Davies, R Priestland, M Morgan
Prediction Wales by 15
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