Warren Gatland backed Wales, one of Australia’s group stage opponents, to do something special at the Rugby World Cup in France. Wales will face England in the first warm-up game of the tournament on Saturday, having won just two of the last 10 Tests.
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A disastrous Six Nations campaign saw the team finish in fifth place, while player contracts, financial problems in Welsh professional rugby and the threat of a player strike made matters worse.
Wales also dropped to ninth in the official World Rugby rankings, with mascots such as Alan Wyn Jones, Justin Tipurik and Reece Webb having retired from international rugby since the end of last season. But head coach Gatland delivered an upbeat message ahead of Wales’ preparations against England home and away and against South Africa ahead of their tough first Rugby World Cup match against Fiji in Bordeaux on 10 September.
Asked if he liked Wales being written off, Gatland said: Yes. Keep doing it because it will only make us stronger. I am so excited. I’m telling you, this team will do something special. looking back at Six Nations and everything that happened, I probably needed to let things open up a bit and not be as direct or demanding as I might normally be.
Embracing Responsibility and Standards
“The fact that things have settled down and there are a lot of new players, that we are much more responsible for how we do things and for the requirements of the standards, was brilliant. As a group, we are in a good place. I promise you we’ll surprise someone.”
The Wales training team has endured tough training camps in Switzerland and Turkey over the past month, and Gatland will feature three news caps – Max Llewellyn, Corey Domachowski and Keiron Assiratti – among the starting lineup, captained for the first time by flanker Jake Morgan.
“I have to say that I’ve been incredibly impressed with this group of players over the last eight weeks, added Gatland. They are in excellent physical shape. I couldn’t have wished for more.”
We had hard sessions, but we came out on the other side. The most difficult thing to name is 33 (the last composition of the Rugby World Cup). There will be some really tough challenges. Gatland will face his old rival Eddie Jones and his equally underperforming Wallabies team of late on September 24 in Lyon in Group C, which also includes Fiji, Portugal and Georgia.
Gatland announces new look Wales team to face England
In preparation for the upcoming Rugby World Cup, Wales manager Warren Gatland has unveiled a youth starter XV featuring three new caps that will debut in the first warm-up against England this Saturday. Jake Morgan, the star of the Ospreys, is honored to be the team’s captain at the senior level for the first time. He previously captained the Wales under-20 team.
Morgan is joined in the back row by Krist Chiunza at wide flanker and No. 8 Aaron Wainwright. Cardiff defenders Corey Domachowski and Kieron Assiratti and Gloucester-bound center Max Llewelyn will get their first caps. In addition, two new caps were named among the replacements, with former England international Henry Thomas and the new Scarlets signing Thane Plumtree, poised to make an impact off the bench.
The coach praised the dedication of the players during the training camp, and now he is looking forward to their performance on the field of the Principality Stadium. Gatland added: There is a lot of competition across the team in all positions, and this week we chose a team with several debutants because we want to give them the opportunity to see what they can do. There is a lot to work on in the next three matches and everyone is still fighting to be in the final France squad.
A milestone will be Lee Halfpenny’s 100th cap for Wales, an impressive feat considering his debut against South Africa in 2008. Gatland chose to field young Scarlets playmaker Sam Costelow in the number 10 jersey, with veteran Gareth Davis taking over at scrum half. For more to know about Ireland Vs Tonga Tickets.
Pre-Rugby World Cup Warm-ups
Of the event, Lee Halfpenny Gatland said: I would like to give special credit to Lee Halfpenny who will win his 100th match for Wales on Saturday. Reaching this milestone is an incredible accomplishment and a testament to the kind of player and person Lee is. I know this will be a special day for him and his entire family. There are still a few tickets available for this weekend and we encourage as many fans as possible to come with us to celebrate Lee’s accomplishment and see new players make their debut in Wales.
Gatland expressed confidence in the team’s potential, stating: We named Jacques as captain for this match and it is an honor for him to lead his country. We will likely consider using a different captain for each of the matches as we give as many team members the opportunity to impress as possible, but also be mindful of possible combinations as we get closer to the Rugby World Cup roster name.
This test match against England marks the first of three test warm-ups before Wales kick off their World Cup campaign, starting with the match against Fiji on 10 September. Following this match, Wales will play England again at Twickenham on Saturday 12 August. and then host reigning World Champions South Africa in Cardiff on Saturday 19 August.
Wales Starting XV: 15. Leigh Halfpenny, 14. Louis Rees-Zammit, 13. George North, 12. Max Llewellyn, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Sam Costelow, 9. Gareth Davies, 1. Corey Domachowski, 2. Ryan Elias, 3. Keiron Assiratti, 4. Dafydd Jenkins, 5. Will Rowlands, 6. Christ Tshiunza, 7. Jac Morgan (capt), 8. Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: 16. Elliot Dee, 17. Nicky Smith, 18. Henry Thomas, 19. Ben Carter, 20. Taine Plumtree, 21. Tomos Williams, 22. Dan Biggar, 23. Mason Grady.
Where is the match being played?
Wales will host Borthwick’s team at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. England can expect a cauldron-like atmosphere if the home side decides to close the roof as they prefer.
What other warm-up matches are England playing?
- Wales vs England, Principality Stadium, Saturday, Aug 5, 5.30pm
- England vs Wales, Twickenham, Saturday, Aug 12, 5.30pm
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones ‘made a shocking confession
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has privately stated that Australia is now a Tier 2 country and has turned to religion for a quick answer ahead of the Rugby World Cup in September. And despite making many bold claims about the Wallabies’ ability to win major tournaments, he also admitted to having a picture of Jesus in his office because they need all the help they can get.
Even the most die-hard Wallabies supporters will feel a sense of dread heading into the Cup in the current record. However, Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has privately stated that Australia is now a Tier 2 country and has turned to religion for a quick answer ahead of the Rugby World Cup in September. And despite making many bold claims about the Wallabies’ ability to win major tournaments, he also admitted to having a picture of Jesus in his office because they need all the help they can get.
This means that he believes that Australia has fallen out of the group of the best countries in the world – New Zealand, England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Argentina and South Africa. Instead, Australia is battling for relevance alongside the likes of Japan, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Namibia, Romania, Georgia, Uruguay, Canada, the US, Spain and Portugal.
Jones’ Unfiltered Revelations
The publication also reported that Jones, who found God in 2013 after suffering a stroke while training in Japan, told the function he has a picture of Jesus Christ in his office because wallabies need all the help they can get to win. His candid admissions defy public comments made in recent weeks, including the claim that the Wallabies could 100 percent win the Rugby World Cup after losing to Argentina in the rugby championship.
At the moment it seems that we are far from where we should be. But all this will make us more difficult and hungry to do things right, he said. The bullish mentor also claimed that his huge underdogs could snatch the Bledisloe Cup from New Zealand, something Australia hadn’t been able to do since 2002.
There’s nothing better than beating New Zealand because you feel like the country is sinking, Jones boldly declared before the Wallabies were thrashed 38-7 in the opening game in Australia. Not only rugby is sinking, the country is sinking. The entire economy is falling.
The work ahead of the Wallabies is enormous, even though they got a break in the draw. Australia are in Group C along with Wales, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal, which means they have a path to the semi-finals without the vast majority of the tournament’s heavyweights. Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan knows the Wallabies have a very short timeline to succeed again. The national side was affected by many problems.
Strained Australian Rugby World Cup Finances
Super Rugby has been decimated by the Covid pandemic, Australia’s rugby coffers have fallen alarmingly low, and the issue has not been helped by an $8 million payment to sacked defender Israel Folau to avert an even more costly court case. Speaking to the AFR, McLennan said that Australian rugby aims to emulate Ireland, who were knocked out of the 1999 World Cup in the quarter-finals and struggled hard thereafter.
Since then, Irish rugby has re-engineered itself to not only be successful on the pitch, but also the lucrative domestic and international systems that the Wallabies are desperately trying to build. I think you need to learn from the Irish, who train with a lot of Australians. They have managed their resources very skillfully, McLennan said.
“Their system is so efficient in managing a group of players while in Australia there is a gap between Rugby Australia and our provinces. This creates inefficiencies from the grassroots to the wallabies. As we move to private equity, we need to clean it all up and restructure the whole organization.”
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