Stronger than Slam squads? Why Gatland’s current crop could be best
WALES are currently on their longest winning streak under Warren Gatland after an eighth straight victory against Tonga.
There are some who are even claiming this is the best side Gatland has produced in his decade in charge of Wales.
Of course, that may seem a little premature considering they have yet to actually win any silverware.
But, we decided to compare this current crop to the two sides that won Grand Slams under Gatland, in 2008 and 2012, just to see how good the present-day team really are...
THE BACKLINES
2008: Lee Byrne; Mark Jones, Tom Shanklin, Gavin Henson, Shane Williams; Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips 2012: Leigh Halfpenny; Alex Cuthbert, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, George North, Rhys Priestland, Mike Phillips
2018: Leigh Halfpenny, George North, Jonathan Davies, Hadleigh Parkes, Liam Williams, Gareth Anscombe, Gareth Davies
Three very solid backlines to start this comparison with.
Only the 2012 side were really settled on their fly-half, with Stephen Jones and James Hook battling it out in 2008 and now Gareth Anscombe, Dan Biggar and Rhys Patchell going hammer and tongs in the present day.
The 2008 backline married the game-changing individual talents of Shane Williams, clever angles and siege-gun boot of Lee Byrne and incredible talents of Gavin Henson in an efficient system that fed off errors, allowing Williams to win matches almost single-handedly with moments of magic.
The 2012 backline was very much the same. Jamie Roberts and George North offered Wales real go-forward, while Alex Cuthbert and Leigh Halfpenny were in the form of their lives – with the former seemingly finishing everything that came his way.
For 2018, read a similar system but perhaps with a little more versatility. Hadleigh Parkes and Liam Williams offer more as all-round players than Roberts and Cuthbert, while you sense none of Anscombe, Biggar or Patchell suffer from the same fragilities that plagued Priestland’s Test career.
It’s tough to pick between them, with the 2018 side perhaps only lacking in the scrum-half department compared to previous years.
But 2018’s three-quarter line is certainly more rounded than the other two generations while the competition at fly-half continues to drive standards up in that position.
THE FORWARDS
2008: Gethin Jenkins, Huw Bennett, Adam Jones, Ian Gough, Alun Wyn Jones, Jonathan Thomas, Martyn Williams, Ryan Jones
2012: Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Adam Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, Ian Evans, Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton, Taulupe Faletau
2018: Rob Evans, Ken Owens, Samson Lee, Alun Wyn Jones, Jake Ball, Ross Moriarty, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau
Make no bones about it. The 2008 pack was strong.
The image of them pushing a French scrum back against the head in the Grand Slam decider that year is iconic.
The 2012 pack was similarly strong. The front five provided the groundwork for the back-row triumvirate of Lydiate, Warburton and Faletau to wreak havoc.
But the forwards of 2018 are no slouches, either.
The Scarlets’ front-row are being kept on their toes by their competition, while there are copious options to partner the constant among these three packs, Alun Wyn Jones. We’ve gone for Jake Ball here, although that could easily be Cory Hill or even Adam Beard.
Even in Sam Warburton’s retirement, Wales have an embarrassment of riches in the back-row and that is pushing Tipuric to produce some oh his best rugby.
It’s subjective which pack was better, but you can at least agree that the current one have a claim to be on par.
THE BENCH
2008: Matthew Rees, Rhys Thomas , Duncan Jones, Ian Evans, Gareth Delve, Dwayne Peel, James Hook, Sonny Parker 2012: Huw Bennett, Paul James, Ryan Bevington, Luke Charteris, Ryan Jones, Lloyd Williams, James Hook, Scott Williams
2018: Elliot Dee, Nicky Smith, Dillon Lewis, Cory Hill, Ellis Jenkins, Tomos Williams, Dan Biggar, Josh Adams
Just a quick note. In 2008 and 2012, there were only 22 players in the matchday squad, not 23 so there would only be one prop, not two as is the case today.
So, to be fair, we’ve thrown in an extra prop to the benches of 2008 and 2012 just to even things out.
And this is where we start to see the present-day side pull away a little.
The 2008 bench is relatively strong, particularly at half-back – although Dwayne Peel would soon lose favour with Gatland.
Again, 2012 is a solid bench – but again, arguably the best player on there, James Hook, had already lost trust with the Wales coach following the 2011 World Cup.
2018 just looks to offer a little bit more. With the other benches, there was perhaps the odd position where you felt the player coming on wouldn’t necessarily offer that much.
With the current crop, you feel ever player offers something and some, as they should do as replacements, improve the team rather than weaken it.
THE OTHERS
HERE’S where the class of 2018 really comes into its own.
The 2008 side had a young fullback called Jamie Roberts in their reserves, before he had been converted into a crash-ball centre. Else-