Semi Final - South Africa

[Digby]

Would you say our attack was done slowly with a degree of caution against Georgia? If you can't generate quick ruck ball then there is always going to be a struggle to get over the gainline when you have a dearth of ball carriers, ergo kick and chase, against teams where we get gainline advantage we will obviously use the backs more, the mantra is earn the right to play, we didn't do that yesterday.

I don't remember the Georgia game, it's quite possible I didn't actually see it. If the point is that Wales played better in a game where they won the collisions then yes it's certainly easier if you do that, but a better attack system should be in place imo whether you're taking advantage of quick ball or trying to generate quick ball. Gats clearly doesn't agree with my take on rugby, and clearly he's had a lot of success

[Buggaluggs]

Yup...

[Spiffy]

We looked more dangerous with Tomos Williams on the field. Davies spent a lot of time looking at the floor today. Not his fault entirely due to how slow the ball oftne was, but there were opportunities to move the ball kn a bit quicker in times and generate some momentum which were missed.

Agree with that. Davies is a great SH with a decent enough pass and a great sniping game. But he does seem slow to clear the ball. Wales' best tactic against the Boks was obviously to move the ball quickly at every opportunity and avoid a slugfest up front. This they did not do. I notice Davies cannot get rid of his old habit of trying to dummy the opposition with body movements before he has the ball in hand, at ruck and maul, to try and milk an offside penalty. Everyone is on to this. It just doesn't work anymore. The opposition has moved on but he has not. He has a lot of talent and can still revamp his game.

[Sandydragon]

So Garces has been given the whistle for the final. I wonder if Bokke fans are still upset by that idea?

[Son of Mathonwy]

I guess the beating England took from SA makes our marginal semifinal loss look a whole lot better.

[Gog]

Been watching the semi again. Just to create a bit more conversation, what are the thoughts on what would have happened if George North hadn't pulled up with his hamstring? I feel he may have got to the ball first, or if not certainly collard the defender and isolate him with a good chance of a penalty. Could have been a match changing injury.

[Buggaluggs]

I guess the beating England took from SA makes our marginal semifinal loss look a whole lot better.

Other than our inability to trouble the ABs, the top 5-6 can pretty much beat each other on any given day

[Buggaluggs]

...which is a marvelous thing

[Son of Mathonwy]

Been watching the semi again. Just to create a bit more conversation, what are the thoughts on what would have happened if George North hadn't pulled up with his hamstring? I feel he may have got to the ball first, or if not certainly collard the defender and isolate him with a good chance of a penalty. Could have been a match changing injury.

I'd have to look at that again to see where it happened, but anything going in our favour - particularly not losing North - would probably have swung that match our way.

[Sandydragon]

Agreed. It was that close, tiny margins made a big impact.