Username
Password
Zippy's Player Ratings - Wales vs Fiji
By Zippy October 2 2007
Player Ratings for Wales as they crashed out of this years rugby world cup 38 - 34 against Fiji in the Stade de Beaujoire in Nantes to finish third in the group. It will go down as one of the best games in world cup history and whilst I'll spend time below lamenting the Welsh congrats to Fiji and hope they do themselves proud in the 1/4s.

15. G Thomas (4) - Some great tackles but that was about it really and in modern rugby your full back must be a genuine attacking threat.

14. M Jones (5) - Got through his fair shair of work, outshone all tournament by Williams and needs to improve if he wants to become anything more than someone who is just known for pace.

13. T Shanklin (1) - Run over all day by Rabeni and offered nothing in attack, a day he'll want to forget.

12. J Hook (2) - Played with the weight of the world on his shoulders and couldn't do a thing right, needs some time with the Ospreys to build his confidence back up.

11. S Williams (8) - Wales player of the tournament and quickly heading towards greatness, majestic running and so hungry for work.

10. S Jones (2) - What happened to the enthusiasm and control from when he came on against Canada?? Took no responsibility and had a shocker.

9. Peel (3) - Horrible tournament for the "best scrum half in the world", should have dropped, playing with zero confidence.

8. Popham (4) - Stood up and was counted, outclassed.

7. M Williams (2) - Not in the game, looked tired all game and should have been taken off. Interception saves him from a 1.

6. Charvis (4) - Tackled all day but didn't assert himself at the breakdown to ensure good ball for Wales, another who should have gone off far earlier.

5. I Evans (2) - A return he'll want to forget to international rugby, he'll learn from this.

4. AW Jones (2) - Worst game in the red shirt for this talent, as with Ian Evans he must learn from this and become a true leader in a pack which has become rudderless.

3. Horsman (6) - Ruined the Fiji scrum but did little else.

2. Rees (4) - Set piece ok but we'd expect that against Fiji, around the park which is his usual strength he was found wanting and TRT goes into the season as no1 in my eyes.

1. G Jenkins (8) - Played like a man possessed, relished the physical challenge and raised his stock higher, MOTM for Wales.

Subs of note:

Oddly given the heat Gyppo didn't use anyone until late on, just one of many decisions he made to be questioned.

Fiji Stars:

After the best result in Fiji rugby history the whole team deserve the honour of being named "stars" and they did Fiji proud, well done.

Overall Comments:

After the game I sat outside the stadium and felt numb for a good few hours watching the thousands of dejected faces walk past, it would have been good for the Wales players to have seen this, we'd then see who the true leaders were in this team to wow "Never again".

International rugby is something Gareth Jenkins never really got to grips with, over the years he turned out hundreds of Llanelli teams who were known for playing good rugby, but when did they play good rugby? From the very start of a game? No.

They played when they either had earned the right through hard graft or when they were forced to chase a game, the Welsh way as I've said time and again is not trying to play the game like 7s from the word go, its makes us exciting but most of the time we'll come up 2nd best as we have done since 2005.

We need a coach to come in probably from overseas and tidy this mess up sharpish and plan for 2011, in that time I hope to see Wales gain back some respect which once again we've lost.

Bye bye world cup 2007.

Match Summary:

Wales (10) 34
Tries: Popham, S Williams, G Thomas, M Jones, M Williams
Cons: Hook, S Jones (2)
Pens: S Jones

Fiji (25) 38
Tries:
Qera, Delasau, Leawere, Dewes
Cons: Little (3)
Pens: Little (4)

Wales: G. Thomas, M. Jones, Shanklin, Hook, S. Williams, S. Jones, Peel, Jenkins, Rees, Horsman, A. Jones, Evans, Charvis, M. Williams, Popham.
Replacements: Phillips for Peel (57), R. Thomas for Rees (47), D. Jones for Horsman (66), Gough for Evans (66), Owen for Popham (66). Not Used: Robinson, D. James.

Fiji: Ratuvou, Delasau, Rabeni, Bai, Neivua, Little, Rauluni, Dewes, Koto, Railomo, Leawere, Rawaqa, Naevo, Qera, Koyamaibole.
Replacements: Ligairi for Rabeni (67), Bobo for Neivua (52), Daunivucu for Little (80), Sauturaga for Koto (78), Qiodravu for Railomo (54), Ratuva for Qera (74). Not Used: Lewaravu.

Sin Bin: Qera (40).

Att: 34,000

Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)

Bookmark or share this story with:

Goto Thread: PreviousNext
Goto: Message ListNew TopicSearchLog In
Re: Zippy's Player Ratings - Wales vs Fiji
Posted by: Isaac Dix (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:10:02:17:39:48

Have to agree about Fiji. They deserve loads of credit. They may now get taken more seriously by the IRB.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r314/Valleyboy_02/Warriors.jpg

Re: Zippy's Player Ratings - Wales vs Fiji
Posted by: DaveAitch (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:10:02:19:27:28

Isaac, as you say about Fiji "They may now get taken more seriously by the IRB." They may be, but they probably will not be taken more seriously. Sid Millar in charge don't forget. There have been all sorts of excuses for keeping Argentina out in the cold. I would love them to go on and win it - maybe Fiji in the final against them.

In terms of the players rankings: G. Thomas - one really great tackle, top drawer. 4 about right as a player. As a captain, minus score I'm afraid.

S. Williams: Wales loose game suits him, but also the opposition, especially when it is Fiji. I hate him. Great little player!

Re: Zippy's Player Ratings - Wales vs Fiji
Posted by: Zippy (IP Logged)
Date: 2007:10:03:17:40:58

Think I heard a Canadian player say that Italy receives 4 times the amount of money than them.

Given this how are the developing nations ever going to be able to put full teams out apart from in the world cup?

Argentina not being in a tournament is now well past a joke and MUST be rectified in the next year or so.

And the pacific islands cup where they play North Harbour U21 and Western Australia 3rds must be looked at.

http://www.mailorder2000.co.uk/prodimages/R04409-M.jpg
http://www.bredinheaven.co.uk/

Feed me till I want no more!

Goto Thread: PreviousNext
Goto: Message ListLog In

Your Name: 
Your Email: 
Subject: 
Spam prevention:
Please, enter the code that you see below in the input field. This is for blocking bots that try to post this form automatically. If the code is hard to read, then just try to guess it right. If you enter the wrong code, a new image is created and you get another chance to enter it right.
CAPTCHA
We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net