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RWC 2015

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Mr Doug

Mr Doug

Dick Tooth (41)
Dewald Nel said:
We've won 3 out of our last 9 matches, and one of those was Italy. And after the Japan match, our confidence will be at an all-time low.

We're playing Scotland in Newcastle, up near the Scottish border. That match, for all intents on purposes, will be a home game for them. If we don't lose by at least 15, I'll be very surprised.

We may sneak Samoa, but we'll no doubt leave that match with a bus full of injuries, which isn't gonna help. But it's part of the tournament and one of its beauties - squad depth. And we're in a pickle in that, if we play our B team, we'll lose easily, and if we play our A team, our best players will be injured.

Luckily, it doesn't look like Meyer knows who his A team is at the moment, so who knows who will play.
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You would have to believe you can do better than the Wallabies did when they last "played Scotland in Newcastle" (NSW) [5th June 2012]!!
 
the plastic paddy

the plastic paddy

John Solomon (38)
mxyzptlk said:
How soon before Gatland has knock on Hook, Hibbard and Adam Jones' doors?
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Gatland has the look of a man who could eat quite a lot of Pie. Whether he enjoys the Humble variety I would tend to doubt. There was a suggestion that he can be a little insensitive in his dropping of players.
 
mxyzptlk

mxyzptlk

Colin Windon (37)
the plastic paddy said:
Gatland has the look of a man who could eat quite a lot of Pie. Whether he enjoys the Humble variety I would tend to doubt. There was a suggestion that he can be a little insensitive in his dropping of players.
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Judging from what Jones has said, I think it's more than a suggestion. And he seems to be really going out of his way to avoid James Hook. Don't know how sustainable that can be.

You almost need a chart for their injuries. What's causing this, just dumb luck? Was Samson Lee the only one coming in injured? Rhys Webb's seemed the most incidental and 1/2P's the most avoidable. But given their Alps-and-desert-trained fitness, I wonder if they overdid some of that and left themselves more susceptible to injuries rather than protected from them. My wife's a trainer, and she was not convinced by what she was reading about their fitness training in the build-up, the seeing gremlins and all that -- said it smacked of over-training. (Not that she's ever trained a rugby team, but she's a licensed professional, so there you go.)
 
Quick Hands

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
^^^Just to refresh my memory, was it Wales who went on a training camp to Dubai or some such place in the heat of summer?
 
mxyzptlk

mxyzptlk

Colin Windon (37)
qwerty51 said:
They went to Switzerland at high altitude and then to Doha, Qatar. Planned to do Poland again but shelved it.

IMO, there's without doubt now that these injuries are no bad luck.
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Yep, Wales went to the Swiss Alps and then the desert, while England combined the altitude/heat training by going to Colorado.

Because high-altitude and high-heat training is perfect preparation for playing at sea level in North Atlantic coastal conditions.

I get the mental aspect, maintaining form and structures under extreme fatigue. Just not sure if that couldn't have been achieved in more productive ways.
 
Quick Hands

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
mxyzptlk said:
Yep, Wales went to the Swiss Alps and then the desert, while England combined the altitude/heat training by going to Colorado.

Because high-altitude and high-heat training is perfect preparation for playing at sea level in North Atlantic coastal conditions.

I get the mental aspect, maintaining form and structures under extreme fatigue. Just not sure if that couldn't have been achieved in more productive ways.
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I remembered thinking at the time that desert training at 40 degrees plus was an odd preparation for an English autumn. I can sort of get the altitiude bit, but from what I know it needs to be regular, not just a visit 3 months before. If Scots College can afford an altitude chamber, you'd think the WRFU could.
 
mxyzptlk

mxyzptlk

Colin Windon (37)
Quick Hands said:
I remembered thinking at the time that desert training at 40 degrees plus was an odd preparation for an English autumn. I can sort of get the altitiude bit, but from what I know it needs to be regular, not just a visit 3 months before. If Scots College can afford an altitude chamber, you'd think the WRFU could.
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I think it's something like the effects of altitude training only take effect for about 72 hours after returning to sea level, unless you're living at altitude pretty much regularly. I wonder how players for the Denver Broncos do after they transfer; do they retain their excess lung power for a month? Three months? Three weeks? Not sure.

I really think it was probably more all about the mental toughness, but that's going to fade quickly if that make-you-see-gremlins training leads to make-you-see-the-game-from-the-stands results.
 
Tahtrajic

Tahtrajic

Ted Fahey (11)
I Have been thinking about this for a couple of days. The Welsh must be doing something in there train that is adding to the injury toll.
When you look at and here the stories coming out of the camp Wallabies of Check smashing them and encouraging a combative atmosphere, and we've had a few strained muscles and thats about it all from the rugby championship through to now.
 
Quick Hands

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
Tahtrajic said:
I Have been thinking about this for a couple of days. The Welsh must be doing something in there train that is adding to the injury toll.
When you look at and here the stories coming out of the camp Wallabies of Check smashing them and encouraging a combative atmosphere, and we've had a few strained muscles and thats about it all from the rugby championship through to now.
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It's about rest periods as well as intensity of workload. You need to work hard, but also have recovery time.

As Cheika showed with the Waratahs, he knows how to get teams fit and match fit without burning them out.

Injuries normally come from being unfit or being overworked in repetitive type drills.
 
Tigger

Tigger

Peter Burge (5)
Hey Guys
Sorry to change the current discussion but any chance that Matt and Mr Timms can reunite for the pre semi final GAGR podcast if we get there? Just wanted to put it out there early so it can be in the GAGR pipeline. Hopefully the semi final result is different to 4 years ago!
T
 
swingpass

swingpass

Peter Sullivan (51)
whilst it is true the so called tier 2 nations have improved ( a lot in some cases), the problem they will all still have is consistency and depth. on any given day if they play to their potential, the opposition don't, they get their share of the luck and the referring is "even and balanced", ie no preconceived assumptions on who is the dominant team and who should win; they will cause upsets: Tonga v France last RWC, Japan v Sth Africa this one. However, it is more likely than not that a top 10 team will always beat a next 6 team, which means that SA are still likely to top their pool, Wales more likely to beat Fiji than lose (although i hope not), and Namibia, Georgia, Uruguay to get thrashed each game. Some of the speculation about game outcomes on the match threads is just wishful thinking.
 
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