Interested to know how the Welsh No8 goes. Gareth Delve and Andy Powell are both playing well for the Rebels and Wasps.
Also Martin Johnson should also have a look at Lipman. Alot was said about the rebels recruitment drive but in these 2 and Cipriana they have found some gems.
Ryan Jones of Wales goes OK. He used to be the captain but lost a bit of form and was superseded by Powell at 8 though sometimes he played at 6. He's back in form now but comparing his form with Ospreys with that of Delve for the Rebels - there's not much in it. Powell was in poor form for Wasps in the first half of the season but has been better in recent months. I'd favour Delve's general form ahead of Powell's any day.
Lipman would be at longer odds than Delve to be a smokey for the RWC. The injured Moody will be the England starter most likely and his backup will be Wood who played 7 for most of the 6N (though he wore the 6 jersey). Moody is a leader, Wood a lineout option, and Lipman has already been discarded by England. He would have to rely on a couple of injuries because there's other fellows at home to be considered as well.
Playing away from Europe will have done these two no good as they can't be compared with their rivals.
I was confident these two would be successes in Super Rugby but Cipriani has applied himself better than I thought. Some folks said that they were surprised by his turn of pace when he scored that individual try couple of weeks ago but they had probably forgotten those couple of fast, dangerous runs he made against the Wallabies at HQ in 2008. Also, his long, flat passing has been better than I remember it for Wasps.
I can't say all my predictions about the Rebels recruits were spot on. I doubted if Saffy would be a starting player, "Huge" Pyle was from my local club and not a Super player at the minute and Campbell Light was a pussy cat.
But I'll take credit for assessing Phipps as better than Cordingley though I probably wasn't the Lone Ranger on that horse. I was appalled when Cords was picked to start in Round 1.
