Next Fix the scrum Quite simply, Wales must maintain parity at scrum-time to have any chance of winning. Having struggled so far with the scrum, they face the daunting task of an Australian pack which took apart England at Twickenham. So how can they compete? First things first is a change of personnel. Out go Gethin Jenkins and Tomas Francis, in come Paul James and Samson Lee. Forget what Jenkins can do in the loose, he is going backwards in the scrum at a rate of knots with the new scrum laws having negated the effectiveness of his engagement. James and Lee are scrummager first and foremost and will have a job to contain the Australian duo of Scott Sio and Sekope Kepu. Kepu was vital at Twickenham as Australia used Joe Marler’s reputation against him to dominate. Marler had been accused of angling in against Wales and, after England won the first scrum penalty of the night, it appeared to be more of the same. England employed a tactic of a half-step to the left after setting to drive through Marler onto the hooker. But Kepu turned the tide, boring in himself which left the referee guessing and, with Marler’s reputation and an Australian scrum going forward, the decisions went against the hosts. But how do you combat Kepu. Well if he does bore in on Saturday, the best tactic would be to likely drive upwards and onto his right shoulder, putting pressure on the tight-head. Another area which could possibly be targeted is the engagement. Australia were pinged for early engagement last week and it could be exploited here. If Wales are streetwise, they could go back on any early engagement and draw attention to the referee. Whatever they try, the front row must stick together throughout, having splintered so often in this tournament, and play the referee. Craig Joubert is not the greatest officiators of the scrum, with a fairly relaxed attitude to angles, and in fact rewarded a Welsh scrum featuring Jenkins and Francis at the Aviva Stadium in a warm-up match against Ireland.

Previous Next Vary their attack For all the criticism aimed at Wales for their basic ‘Warrenball’ tactics, this is actually something they have done rather well throughout the tournament. Targeting the 10 and 12 channels with Jamie Roberts have always been a big part of Gatland’s gameplan and it is very effective. However, against England at Twickenham, they also looked to exploit the weakness in between the 12 and 13 channel as Scott Williams looked to carve through the unlink partnership of Sam Burgess and Brad Barritt. Wales’ success on Saturday will depend on how they vary this. Continually target the Bernard Foley and Australia will cope. Go straight to 13 and David Pocock will have a field day at the breakdown. Wales have to keep the Australian defence honest by getting over the gainline with Roberts down the 10 channel allowing the Welsh forward to secure quick ball and negate the threat of Pocock. Then you can attack out wide, targeting outside centre Tevita Kuridrani who will have turned in to cover either Foley or Giteau. The problem is who plays 13 to exploit this. Scott Williams was just another of a long list to pick up an injury in this tournament and as such, Wales need a new outside centre to put their hand up for selection. Tyler Morgan put in an accomplished performance against Fiji and will likely start here. Young and inexperienced at this level, he is a natural outside centre who seems most likely to expose any defensive frailties that Kuridrani may show. Another option is George North moving from wing to the centre. He has played in midfield against the Wallabies twice before and both times he has caused headaches to their defence. However, there are also questions over his own defence and Wales are very short of wingers so moving him is unlikely. But having failed to light up the tournament yet, a move to the centre could be just the thing to spark him to life.

Previous Next Watch Australia’s two playmakers Another facet of the Australian gameplan that England failed to deal with was Australia’s use of two playmakers. With Bernard Foley and Matt Giteau both pulling the strings, England were pulled apart trying to cover the expansive rugby orchestrated from midfield by Giteau, leaving the fringes exposed for Foley to score his first two tries. As the match opened up, Giteau exploited the space out wide to score the final try and put England to the sword. With such a talented backline, Foley is the sensible head that allows the creative talent to excel outside. But focus too much on the outside backs and Foley can hurt you, as he did against England. So how do you cope with the two playmakers? Wales currently use a blitz defence which could put pressure on the playmakers but they will need to be wary of the ball-playing ability of the Australian forwards or they could get caught out in the wider channels. So often against England, Australia appeared to using the short ball to a forward to get over the gainline, only for the forward to pas it out back to either Foley and Giteau to exploit the space out wide. Shaun Edwards will be wary of this tactic and will need to ensure whoever plays at outside centre is defensively sound. The seemingly hesitant delivery of scrum-half Will Genia could work either for Wales or against them. Against England, he continually crabbed as he looked for ball-runners. It appeared to be affecting the Australian attack until he pulled out something special which suggests it was a set plan with the aim of dragging English fringe defenders away. Another hesitant-looking lateral snipe by the scrum-half seemed to be resulting in nothing, but then a reverse pass out of nowhere saw Foley and Kurtley Beale break through the fringes, allowing the fly-half to score. If Wales can tackle Genia early, then they might be able to avoid having their defence dragged about by the dual threat in the Australian backline.

Previous Next Compete at the breakdown It was hardly a surprise that Australia dominated the breakdown last week as David Pocock and Michael Hooper proved too good for Chris Robshaw in the back row battle. Wales should not have such a difficult time as, unlike England, they have a specialist openside flanker to combat the threat of Pocock. Another bonus is the suspension of Michael Hooper following his no-arm clear out on Mike Brown last weekend. However, Pocock on his own is a challenge in itself. The best player over the ball in the world at the moment, the Australian will pack down at his natural openside position against Wales and will cause a threat at any ruck he is involved in. If the Welsh forwards are just a split second late in support, Pocock will have isolated the ball-carrier and earned the turnover or penalty. However, Wales will pose a threat of their own at the breakdown in Sam Warburton. The Cardiff Blues flanker has been a constant in Warren Gatland’s side in the last four years. He has captained them to a World Cup semi-final and two Six Nation titles as well as leading the Lions to success in Australia. Many had called for Warren Gatland to play Warburton and Justin Tipuric alongside one another, but the absence of Hooper will somewhat justify his likely decision to chose Dan Lydiate over Tipuric. Lydiate’s chop tackling behind the gainline will provide Warburton with the perfect opportunity to get the upper hand in the breakdown battle and it could be another tense encounter between the two opensides. If they can match or even better Australia at the breakdown, then there will be a real shift in how both teams play.