Wales Outclass Again

Anybody else get de ja vu last night? Wales pushing the All Blacks all the way for 50 minutes, never quite getting the scoreboard going, and then being sucker punched in 10 minutes and watching the Kiwi's cruise to the final whistle. It's a familiar tale by now, even if the method was a little different this time around. So why did an ambitious Wales fail to defeat an under-strength New Zealand?

Rieko Ioane's second try sealed the game away.

Outside Centre Problems

Jonathan Davies was injured right at the death
against Australia.

As hard as Warren Gatland tries to say that Scott Williams knows what he is doing at outside centre, I remain skeptical, especially in defence. Scott Williams is an inside centre, as is basically every centre in the Wales squad, and the defensive requirements needed between 12 and 13 are massively different, and Scott Williams is an inside centre through and through. Jonathan Davies is the only outside centre Gatland has used in years and it is starting to bite him in the ass. Davies is undeniably world class - and his exclusion from the World Player shortlist is a travesty - especially at reading attacks and making man-and-ball tackles. That defensive reading was brutally exposed by the All Blacks and lead directly to two tries. Not only that Davies' ability to pick angles of running and punching holes in defences were lacking on Saturday, and it meant Wales really struggled to make yards out wide even with a wealth of possession. 

The lack of depth in this position is really starting to hurt Wales both as they look to spread the ball wide, and other teams are becoming more adept at attacking with width. Tyler Morgan's initial inclusion in the squad would have helped in this regard, a true outside centre to fill in for Jonathan Davies, gaining much-needed experience ahead of the World Cup. After his injury, Gatland's options are thin on the ground so you could understand the selection of Scott Williams. However Owen Watkin - despite limited experience - has the talent and knowledge to play in the 13 shirt, and is the most akin to the missing Davies in skill set and physical presence. Gatland is saying he wants to give youth a chance, well Watkin deserves a chance against South Africa, especially if Gatland wants to develop a back up to Jonathan Davies for two years time. 

Lineout Falls Apart Again

The All Blacks looked assured at the lineout,
Wales did not.

I thought we were past this with Wales, but no, the lineout continues to fall apart at crucial times in a game. We'll start positively and say that in the middle of the field the lineout operation proves productive, in fact, Wales' first-half try came directly from that set piece. However, in the red zone, it is a woefully different story. On at least two occasions Wales had a great opportunity to camp on the New Zealand line, attempt to use their driving maul and force their way over. Each time the lineout broke down, either being stolen, or ruined enough to throw the whole move off and eventually lead to New Zealand getting the ball.

The loss of Jake Ball early on can't have helped the situation, but with Alun Wyn Jones and Aaron Shingler still leading it should have been fine. Yes, New Zealand has one of the best lineouts in world rugby, but you simply have to win those 5m lineouts - and ideally score from them - if you want to win games. South Africa will provide a similarly stern test next weekend, hopefully, Robin McBride spends a lot of time on it over the week.

Wing Defence

This can be - in some part - linked to the lack of a knowledgeable outside centre to provide direction and security inside, but Wales' last man seems to have a real problem when it comes to positioning. In the past it's been Alex Cuthbert who has come into a hailstorm of flak for his defensive work,

Amos had a decent game, but the Welsh wings
were once again exposed in defence.

however, it has become apparent it is not an individual problem. Amos, Evans, and even Halfpenny were all caught out with their positioning on the weekend. Amos got caught blitzing wrong and ended up in no man's land, this lead to Lienert-Brown's try. Halfpenny was found the last man out defending the line and failed to pick up Naholo instead looking at the ruck, which allowed the powerful Kiwi to get on the outside of him. Both times tries were scored, both times it could have been prevented. To some extent, you can try to defend Amos when he spends his club time playing fullback, and maybe Halfpenny (although experience should come through there). 

The fact that this issue seems to be systematic, more than just one player, questions what Shaun Edwards is doing. Maybe some work needs to be done on wingers positioning in training, maybe it is being done and in the heat of battle, players are forgetting what they're told. Only Edwards will know, but it is beginning to be exploited with alarming regularity by teams and it is leaking easier tries.

To be fair there was little anyone could have done to stop this try, even the referee admired the finish.

Phase Play Creativity

Wales were quite succinctly summed up on the day when it came to their tries. Two tries brilliantly taken from first phase, absolutely nothing from elsewhere. Compare that to the All Blacks who scored tries from first phase, through multiple phases, and through defensive action. Watching Wales as they held onto possession they became more clueless and less inspired with every passing breakdown. There were multiple issues that lead to the eventual turnover and loss of scoring opportunity.

Gareth Davies' speed of service left something
to be desired.

The primary concern for me is Wales' ability to clear out a ruck, they are inefficient at best. It was regular to watch three Welsh forwards pile into a ruck when no black shirt was there to clear out. One player needs to go in to secure the ball fine, but the two other players piling in just leaves the scrum-half fewer options for the next phase. Which means the defence knows who is going to get the ball, can line them up, and tackle them behind the gain line with ease. Not only that but with three players getting in the way of the ball it becomes tricky for the scrum-half to clear the ball away with any sort of speed. We all know speed kills defences, if you can recycle the ball quickly you can catch the defence on the back foot. This wasn't happening on Saturday between forwards obstructing the scrum-half, to Gareth Davies waiting to pass the ball for no reason. If Wales want to look threatening with the ball, they need to up the tempo. Look at Scotland how quickly the ball gets away from the ruck each time, and you'll understand why they are capable of scoring eight tries against Australia. 

In addition to the slow recycling, Wales also really lack variety out wide. In fact, I mentioned this after the Australia game, that Wales lacked someone who could offer something different when they chose to go wide. Someone who can run a hard straight option to fix the defence - or if the defence over drifts power through a weak tackle. Options are the bane of defences, Wales, when they choose to go outside the forwards, seem to only have the long pass to the wing and hope. It's an area which needs work, one player isn't going to fix the issue, everyone else needs to understand to use it, but it's a start.

Will the return of North help the Welsh try line attack, by adding some physicality?