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Will Rowlands' verdict on his defensive heroics for Wales
Will Rowlands has played down his defensive heroics in Wales’ thrilling Rugby World Cup victory over Fiji, claiming: “I just see it as me doing my job.” Wales made a World Cup record of 253 tackles in the game, which they won 32-26, and lock Rowlands was at the heart of it.
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He delivered 27 tackles and missed none as Wales held on amid intense late pressure to claim a bonus-point win in their Pool C opener. “I always find it a bit weird when the number of tackles becomes the headline because you defend in a system,” Rowlands said.
“Guys run at you and you tackle them. It’s nice people say nice things, but I just see it as me doing my job for the team. Five points against the Fijians is fantastic for us.
“We spoke about it today [Tuesday] when we reviewed it that we did lots of things we wanted to do, and in the periods we were in control we built a nice little lead on them.
“And then there were parts of the game we need to look at and focus on which allowed them back into the game and set us up for a nervy finish, but game one, five points – very happy.
“We had gone into the World Cup feeling pretty confident, we had done some good work and we are in a good place going into the games physically. It was a big first game for us to play Fiji. They are a dangerous team. To get a win is fantastic, and now we focus on the next game with Portugal this weekend.”
Wales head coach Warren Gatland is set to name his starting line-up on Wednesday for the Portugal clash at Stade de Nice on Saturday. Changes – possibly into double figures – could be made, especially considering the punishing nature of Fiji’s challenge and a six-day turnaround between games.
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Wales assistant coach Jonathan Thomas said: “You will have seen for yourselves what a physical game it was and the amount of tackles we made. There are a number of sore bodies, but there are no injury concerns.
“The team gets named tomorrow [Wednesday] but I think it is safe to say there will be changes. We have got complete and utter faith in our whole squad.
“What you will have seen from the Six Nations and then going into the three (World Cup) warm-up games, there have been opportunities for players.
“There were snapshots in those warm-up games where a number of players did particularly well and that gives you the ability to make changes and freshen things up. It is a six-day turnaround, so it makes sense to make a few changes with the nature of the game we have just played.”
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Players who could make their first starts of the tournament include full-back Leigh Halfpenny, wing Rio Dyer, centre Mason Grady, scrum-half Tomos Williams, lock Dafydd Jenkins and flanker Dan Lydiate.
Thomas added: “Are we satisfied with where we are at? There is always room for improvement for growth in our game. We are certainly not getting ahead of ourselves.
“Fiji are a team that holds possession particularly well. They are big powerful men with good ability, so they have the ability to maintain possession particularly well. We have got belief in our defensive structures. We are not afraid to play without the ball at times.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
43 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
2 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
43 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
43 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
2 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
6 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
6 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
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