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Wales explain logic of picking both Reffell and Morgan to start
Warren Gatland has explained why he has opted to pick two specialist opensides to start this Saturday’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final versus Argentina rather than go with the traditional balance of a bulkier blindside along with a fetcher No7.
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The Welsh last weekend lost No8 Taulupe Faletau for the remainder of the tournament in France after he broke his arm during the 43-19 pool win over Georgia.
Gatland has now reacted by shifting blindside Aaron Wainwright to fill that positional vacancy and name with captain Morgan at blindside with Reffell retaining the No7 role he had versus the Georgians.
Morgan had worn the No7 in the opening three pool matches against Fiji, Portugal and Australia, but he will now pack down at blindside after Gatland decided that the best thing for Wales was to get their best players on the pitch to face the Pumas regardless of position.
“It was a really healthy debate with the coaches in terms of which way we went,” explained Gatland on Thursday from Toulon after naming his team for Wales’ fourth successive World Cup quarter-final appearance.
“Did we go with a traditional six – someone with a bit more size? But we felt the way Tommy played (against Georgia), with turnovers at the breakdown, it’s going to be really competitive there on the weekend. It was a matter of getting our best players on the field.
“I spoke to Jac and he was very comfortable moving to six. I did say to him, ‘I think it’s tough on you, I think you have been the best seven in this tournament so far’. I feel we have got a couple of world-class sevens at our disposal.
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“Long term, it’s not something we want to replicate on too many occasions, and if we get through this weekend, it might be a different decision made for potentially a semi-final. But it’s horses for courses, and with what we are expecting from Argentina, we have gone with that. We think they will do a great job for us.”
Updating the injury situation where Liam Williams and Dan Biggar will both start while Gareth Anscombe misses out, Gatland said: “Liam’s fine, he just took quite a severe knock on his knee last week. He was up and running on Tuesday. We kept him out of the contact stuff but he took a full part today [Thursday].
“Dan was the same. We put him on the bench last week but didn’t need to use him. His pec(toral muscle) is just a bit sore. Gareth is up and running and fingers crossed, hopefully if things goes well for us on Saturday, he is in contention for next week.
“In terms of contingency, whether that would have been Leigh Halfpenny – we are expecting Argentina to kick a lot of ball to us so that was one consideration – or whether we moved Louis (Rees-Zammit) to full-back and Rio (Dyer) started on the wing, so we had options to cover that but we didn’t really have to go through the process because from Tuesday, we were very confident Liam was going to be fit.”
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Gatland also shrugged aside the suggestion from Argentina boss Michael Cheika that Wales are quarter-final favourites. “I don’t know where Michael has got that from, he is probably trying to take some pressure off himself. If you read too much, there was plenty of speculation and people predicting we wouldn’t even get out of the group. But we embrace that.
“We can only control the things we do and we knew what we were doing with the group and if things change, you have to be comfortable with whatever is thrown at you. We haven’t spoken about underdogs or favourites’ tags, we are just going through our own processes and working as hard as we can to make sure the preparation is right for Saturday.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
6 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
6 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
6 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
6 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
6 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
238 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
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