Time to look back at Welsh rugby squad for 2024 – how many players were used? Who got the most game time? Can Warren Gatland get more from his young side in 2025?
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48 Comments
wales should do what Scotland does, play some tier two nations get some confidence up0:17
Rees zammatt was a big blow but I think gatland does not have many cards to play with he needs to grandparent of Welsh 🏴 descent in nz or South Africa 🇿🇦
I can see what Gats is up to but it's hurting us in the short term, I'm pretty certain he won't be around to take us to the WC! The trouble is I'm not sure anyone of any note would want to come in atm! I wonder what Callum Sheedy needs to do to get a shot at 10!
So Gats not getting fired?
Cam Winnett has easily been our best player. Most of the mistakes he made while playing generally you can put down to inexperience and you can see him learning from them, so you can see why he's become our main player for that first name on the team sheet category.
Wales are in desperate need of a superstar player, a Welsh Lomu, someone to build a team around but in the meantime maybe Jack Morgan is that man
21 minute vid, i love the generosity of your time, but in reality, we are screwed would have covered it
Wales have been here many times before. Even under Gatland. Wales can never ever he accused of peaking too early for World Cups. The Lions will focus a lot of welsh players minds this season. They seem to care about that, much much more than they do about Wales.
Loosing
Alan wyn Jones
Taulupe Faletau
Justin Tipuric
Josh Navidi
Rhys Webb
Dan Biggar
Jonathan Davies
George North
Leigh Halfpenny
Liam Williams
LRZ
Losing that level of star power and experience in the cap space is going to mean a long and challenging reset for any team. The incoming group will need time to adjust, and they’ll need the belief that it’s possible to turn things around. The goal here is long-term success, and that takes patience and persistence.
We have absolutely zero chance under Gats. We have no option, given our lack of size, other than changing to a fast, mobile, expansive game. Gats is 100% not the coach for this, and Howley is even worse.
Appreciate your coverage on Wales and Welsh teams you're very generous with your time and analysis from the otherside of the world…. I'm looking at you Tim from EC! Haha
Because we need a mobile team:
Thomas
Lake
Thomas
Jenkins
Freddie Thomas
Wainwright
Morgan
Falatau
Tomos W
Jarrod Evans (not kicking)
Grady
Ben Thomas (kicking)
Llewellyn
Adams
Liam Williams
Parry
Smith
Botha
Rowlands
Botham
Reffell
Morgan-Williams
Rogers
Thank you. Check the player profiles in the description! The AI hasn't caught up with Gats yet,,,so there's hope))
Gatland has been the coach for a long time … just saying
Great analysis again, Walesonline need to give you a job 😀
It's pretty much inevitable that Dan Edwards will fill our 10 spot eventually. Didn't happen last year as he's very young and was finding his footing in his 1st season. This year he's a nailed on starter at the Ospreys so its not out of the question.
The word solid been used a bit ! I’ll take solid if it means getting a win , but is it the players or coaches ?
Thanks again Mark!
I feel like wales has some great players, but there’s little experience, a really brutal coaching approach which doesn’t lend to their issues, and huge problems within the WRU which makes so many things harder. I think there’s also players not selected currently which would make a huge difference, like your Rhys Carre, Aled Davis, Josh Adams, Joe Hawkins (maybe but lots of good centres coming through), Freddie Clark. I think there’s huge potential here. My XV would be:
1. Rhys Carre
2. Dewi Lake (C)
3. (Not sure, as there’s not really a standout, maybe just Kieran Asserati)
4. Daffyd Jenkins
5. Freddie Clark
6. Jack Morgan (VC)
7. Tommy Reffell
8. Talupe Faletau
9. Tomos Williams
10. Ioan Lloyd
11. Rio Dyer
12. Dan Thomas
13. Mason Grady
14. Josh Adams
15. Cameron Winnett
(Players like Adam Beard, Gareth Anscombe, Christ Tshunzia, Aled Davis, Blair Murray, Taine Basham on the bench would be fab)
Good video thanks for putting the effort in.
I don't think it's as bad as a lot of people make out, we're definitely not great but I don't agree with the Italy game being an auto win for the italians even if they are favourites at home.
Regarding 10 I'd probably go with Anscombe and start giving Dan Edwards some game time. I actually rate Costelow but i feel like he's getting so much flac he shouldn't start. Anyone who says Sheedy clearly hasn't watched the URC this season.
Ultimately I think Gatland shouldn't even still be in the job but, I'm happy to be proven wrong.
Gatland leaving wont fix all our problems, There are too many issues with welsh rugby as a whole, but i do think he has to go. We arent going to grow with him and he will not get the best out of these players.
Well, there's some hope amongst my fellow Welshmen, and that's encouraging. Honestly, I suspect it will take more than another year to turn us around, we're that bad. I can live with another wooden spoon if there's hope for 2026. But, if we're going to improve drastic change is needed, and will that happen ? I hope so. If nothing else, Gatland has a number of players who have failed to perform after a long trial period, and need to be dropped: starting with Costelow.
That ten jersey is worrying. Edward’s looking sharp but is it right to chuck him in at the deep end without a full season starting in regional rugby.
Wales need to merge Cardiff and Newport into a super team and the same for scarlets and ospreys. Similar to what Scotland did a long time. And also most of all stop the ‘journey men’ and use academy players, not good enough then try the next one. It’s sad to see the state of Welsh rugby as a Welshman it’s truly heartbreaking.
Happy 2025 Mark!
Your videos are very well researched and your presentation is great. Thank you for your good work. You are a wonderful asset to world rugby.
How Eddie James isnt starting at 12 is beyond me, playing well in every game good ball carrier which we need and great at finding gaps for others.
Ben Thomas hasnt played a decent game at 12 yet Gats keeps picking him.
I think Wales will recover by focussing on playing well in the URC. It pays the bills and exposes young players to seasoned rugby specialists. Perhaps forget about international results until the Whelsh cream rises to the top. Grass roots rugby is crucial for international success.
Dyer been dire unfortunately.
I think your point about tight head has been one of our biggest issues. Scrum is a lottery atm
Front row is a big problem for wales, along with not having a world class 10, and a seasoned, hard hitting pair of centres. The rest of team is 'ok'…
Richard Tice demonstrating his racist colours… he is so passionate about one communities grooming gangs and yet he hasn't once mentioned the Catholic Church, CoE, Schools, BBC, Andrew Windsor or Donald Trump's more than sketchy association with Jeffrey Epstein.
Ben thomas is not a 12. He hasnt played well there all season! How Eddie james is not starting boggles the mind
Nope.
Nicky Smith
Sam Parry
Henry Thomas
Rhys Davies
Dafydd Jenkins
Freddie Thomas
Toby Faletau
Jim Botham
Tomos Williams
Gareth Anscombe
Eddie James
Louis Hennesy
Tom Rodgers
Liam Williams
Angus O'Brian
Where did you get the data? Just curious
Aaron Wainwright has so many minutes as Falatau has been injured. I do trust Gatalnd to turn it around.
The narrative the game has changed since he left is nonsense.
He was Wales coach and started with a GS and also ended with a GS and got to world #1
So if Gatland has science he can change his game over 12 years, I'm fairly sure he can change it over 5 years
Costelow is very bad for an international. Solid but you need more at that level. Intercepted at key game killing moments.
Great video
Happy new year
I don't think he can. The 2008-19 version of Gatland was very confident and very consistent. The return is contradictory and inconsistent. His selection is erratic, his tactics uncertain. The 'rebuild with youth' concept has merit. France and Italy had various degrees of success with it post 2019 RWC but you have to stick with the path for that to work. He picked guys like Alex Mann who had 3 pro appearances instead of players like Thomas Young who had years of consistent performance, then dropped him, Mann is nowhere to be seen. If youth is the plan then why bring back Anscombe and Liam Williams. As a fan who appears in the 2025 6N squad is basically a lottery.
Great video mate! I have high hopes for Dan Edwards at 10. He's 21 and playing really well for the Ospreys this year. I hope he get the opportunity to see if he can step up this 6 nations. My main concern is our front row – they have a habit of folding like a hot mars bar at scrum time.
The FA have declared that from the 25/26 season, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea will become the only teams in the top division and from now on will be called "regions". The FA have divided England and Wales into four sectors, each containing one of the four "regions". All other clubs within each sector will exist to serve as a feeder club for their "region". This is what Welsh rugby did in 02/03. And it's going about as well as you'd imagine.
This left many people with a choice… support your biggest rival or lose interest in top level rugby in Wales. You can imagine what most people chose. Would Man City, Everton, Tottenham and Fulham fans immediately begin supporting Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea? Obviously not. Irreparable damage to football in England would occur and that's what happened in Welsh rugby.
The only way out is to address this act of lunacy. But nobody with power is going to acknowledge how badly they messed up
Dan Edwards will be out future 10
I like the ospreys number 10 who should start for Wales, Costello is garbage honestly ! Or Jarrod Evans would be a good shout. Josh Adams has found form again would be nice to see him back in the team! I’m very doubtful any of these on form players will be picked because I don’t know why Elias and Costello are still in the team, had a year of game time and both look worse !
Turning Welsh rugby around will take a decade if they start doing the right things now, which they won't. The under-20s average a 6/7 place finish since the inception of the under-20s WC. Our development structures are crap and have been used to give jobs to tossers leaving the pro game to help them out. No coach can change it around at the international level. Little sympathy for Gatland as he was in charge all those years ago when the problem should have been identified (although that was not his job). Welsh rugby believed they were in some way special and that the development structures would look after themselves, well they were spectacularly wrong. Wales should have the best development structure in the World as from Scarlet region to Gwent is not a long journey and the influence of structures should cover all developing players easily. Its a crock of shit.
We're not a pretty sight at the moment, and losing Lake has really hurt us. I think we'll come out swinging at the 6N and will give some teams a surprise (looking at you Italy, Scotland and England).
I think our first 15 with current injuries looks like this:
1. G. Thomas 2. E. Dee 3. H. Thomas
4. D. Jenkins 5. W. Rowlands
6. J. Botham 7. J Morgan (C) 8. A. Wainwright (tough call with Faletau back fit and looking good)
9. T. Williams 10. G. Anscombe (9-10 combo at Gloucester)
12. N. Tompkins 13. M. Llewellyn
11. R. Dyer 15. C. Winnett 14. J. Adams
Liam Williams might be a better choice to play France at the end of the month at 15 though
Welsh rugby is finished .kids dont play rugby anymore and so many teams have disappeared amd its been poorly run by the wru for so long .we are back to the 90's but with no way out anymore
Your right costello is far from international level
Thanks Mark- I am worried that Gatland is not the man for the job but hope that they go well.
"Look at that magnificent chunk of Cam Winnett" that will live in my head rent free forever ❤