Power Ranking Welsh Squad on South African Tour

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 25, 2014

commentComment        

Wales left South Africa with just a midweek win under their belts after a topsy–turvy, two–Test series.

The Springboks took them to the cleaners in the first Test before the Dragons found their roar in Nelspruit and Wales came agonisingly close to their first win on South African turf.

It leaves Warren Gatland’s men searching for consistency in performance that has eluded them since their 2012 Grand Slam season. Gatland now has to find it with a group of players that has remained largely unchanged in the period between World Cups.

One or two younger men are starting to make a case for first-choice status, but the established names are still the ones charged with the job of leading Wales into 2015, where they face a scrap to get out of a group containing England and Australia.

This power ranking takes into account the recent tour and game time accrued, plus the importance of each player to this team in terms of how they fit the Warren Gatland model and how influential they are in making that game plan successful.

Dubbed "Warrenball," in short the Gatland plan is to use big men coming hard and fast onto the ball to blow the opposition out of the way before bringing yet more big men into the game in the second wave, as Sir Clive Woodward explained in the Daily Mail:

The Wales game plan, ‘Warrenball’, is a ferociously abrasive style of rugby. Everybody knows what’s coming but stopping it is a whole other challenge...

Centre Jamie Roberts charges over the gain line off the 1st phase. The ball is then recycled as fast as possible, before a powerful forward then attacks ‘around the corner’. If fly-half Rhys Priestland is playing flat then it is almost impossible to knock Roberts back over the gainline. He weighs more than 17 stone and that impact is huge.

That plan was nonexistent in the first Test but worked well in the sec...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!