r/welshrugbyunion

15 months out, curious what people’s 23 would be for World Cup Knockouts.

I’ll give a current shot, but it’ll certainly change and I’m surely wrong at plenty.

1- Carré
2- Lake (c)
3- Francis
4- Jenkins
5- Carter
6- Botham
7- Morgan
8- Wainwright
9- Williams
10- Costelow
11- Adams
12- James
13- Hennessy
14- Mee
15- Murray

16- Elias
17- Smith
18- Warren
19- Williams
20- Faletau
21- Hardy
22- Evans
23- Bradley

Notes:

Order of Smith/Carre at LH depends on team, the former a destructive scrummager and the latter an explosive carrier.

I like Lake at Captain; exceptional rapport with the sir plus Jac still gets the final 30 as captain

Mann hard done to not get in, Botham has a bit more size and is stronger at protecting the breakdown. Faletau for the final 20.

Costelow and Edwards are both superb, and even better they’re different styles so we’re honestly blessed in the 10 department. Costy chosen because his structure may get more out of the centers, but Dan an excellent pick. Jarrod meanwhile has shown pedigree as a specialist finisher.

Hennessy not a lot of test time, but him and James in the centers is too tempting not to throw out. Same logic for Bradley at 23.

Quietly think what could benefit Wales the best is a real playmaking 15. Murray is terrific X factor, though can leave us lacking under the high ball, but also not quite the dual playmaker despite his youth as a 10. A true Jack Walsh type 15 could take loads of pressure off the 12 in Sherratt’s dual playmaker system.

Lastly, I quietly think this team has a great makeup, especially our pack which is about settled. Physicality issues are perhaps overblown from constant backfoot ball due to lack of attack cohesion (understandable, focus has been on set piece and scramble defense, still time to iron out attack). I’m cautiously quite optimistic.

Lots of doom and gloom around these parts.... let's talk about happier times of our favourite players in the red jersey.

It doesn't have to be the best players, just your favourite.

I'm 32, so can't include the 70s legends, or the great dual coders from the 80s/90s because I didn't see them in the flesh. I can just about include Jenks at 10.

Here goes.

1 Gethin Jenkins

2 Richard Hibbard

3 Adam Jones

4 Bradley Davies

5 Alun Wyn Jones

6 Justin Tipuric

7 Martyn Williams

8 Toby Faletau

9 Dwayne Peel

10 Neil Jenkins

11 Shane Williams

12 Gavin Henson

13 Jonathan Davies

14 George North

15 Lee Byrne

16 Huw Bennett

17 Paul James

18 Iestyn Thomas

19 Ian Evans (could possibly start Ian and have Bradley off the bench)

20 Sam Warburton

21 Colin Charvis

22 James Hook

23 Leigh Halfpenny

No need for a bench scrum half with Shane. Probably a quicker passer from the ruck than Mike.

Happy summer holidays lads! Things will get better.

There’s debate about Sherratt’s preferred ball-playing 12 when Eddie could play 12 to punch holes and cross the gainline.

But why can’t we design more plays for Eddie while he plays 13? England has clearly designed crash balls for Feyi-Waboso at wing (still wish Gatland gave him attention, but nonetheless).

Just because Hawkins/Thomas wears the 12 doesn’t mean Eddie can’t take a crash ball.

I’m not saying the ball-playing 12 is the answer. But if we’re keen to keep it, can we still strike with Eddie more? Or am I missing something tactically

What is the consensus here for the future of Welsh rugby ?

There is an ongoing battle between the heart and the mind in Wales.

We are prisoners of the past, historic loyalties to local clubs with long histories and deep community roots.

However the present and future of rugby as a sport is leaving us behind. Not leaving , left actually.

Professionalism has been a difficult concept for us for over 20 years . The reasons could fill this page ; this is a deep cultural issue in Wales. We have rarely been unified as a nation in history, with few national all Wales leaders, - Welsh identity and culture is often hyper-local. So the thought of one club taking priority over another is impossible to accept .

Confidence in the WRU is extremely low. What you want and need from executive leadership is decisiveness, commitment to a strategy and enough respect that even if it’s not the decision you supported you will get behind the leadership regardless. We are not getting any of this from all stakeholders in Welsh rugby.

The undisputed fact is the 4 regions/clubs are not producing enough talent to be competitive anymore with the top 8. As global entities they are mid tier at best and as with football we are now beginning to rely on the English system to nurture or produce talent.

The latter isn’t the end of the world , the French league is essentially dragging up the standards of the global game . Nations like Fiji and Argentina get very little time together before playing internationals. The latter doesn’t even have top tier clubs as far as I know. So some excuses for Welsh rugbys decline start to fall down here .

After an incredible ride in Welsh rugby starting in 2005, the drop off on these foundations in the 2020s has been nothing short of catastrophic , unusual in global sport. A six nations championship in 2021- and a victory away in South Africa and nearly drawing the series seems absolutely unreal just a few years later. Have a look at the 2019 grand slam results in today’s context and those scores seem beyond belief now.

There is a very real possibility this continues for the rest of the decade. We don’t just need to improve, we need other nations to get worse .

We are playing turgid uninspired rugby because we have no answers for the modern game. Where is the innovation? If we ever catch up to the modern game we’ll still be behind because the game will have evolved again.

So what can be done? I can’t see any path without culling at least a team.

Put your heart away and use a commercial business brain. Of the 4 clubs which ones have the highest ceiling , can bring the most money and grow the most with success? Which ones can become global brands with sold out stadiums? Which ones will never do this with all the money in the world?

Will continue to add more if this post gets any traction , this subreddit is quiet compared to the other top nations .

Hi guys, if you’re a fan of rugby and care about the welfare of professional players, please read:

A friend of mine is currently carrying out a post-graduate dissertation for law with a focus on rugby player image rights. With the rise of AI and advanced editing software, it’s critical that image rights are investigated and protected.

To do this, a survey has been created assessing recognisability of players among the four home/Lions nations. It only takes 5 minutes to do and the home page has more information about the topic as a whole.

Ideally around 400 responses is needed, having only thus far got our own rugby club to carry it out, we’re sitting at around 60 😬

If you could carry out the survey and share it far and wide it would be much appreciated.

You can find the survey here

South Africa >!43!<

Wales >!00!<

Interested for others views here

Appreciate the high profile he has... however for wales I don't see it.

Hes fast yes, but only seems to be in a straightline

And I don't see him offering himself around the park or in the air

Ellis Mee may not be perfect, but I see him trying and putting in maximum effort

Analysis of Springboks versus Wales

Kings Park Durban 18 July 2026

Didn’t even play that badly - we are just miles off the top 8 sides…

Hey guys, new to writing, I'm an aspiring sports journalist looking for feedback on something I've been working on. Any feedback would be much appreciated and if you enjoyed feel free to subscribe