Congratulations to Wales for a magnificent Six nations campaign. I was lucky enough to go to all the games and this was, in fact, my first live Grand Slam and I have lived through the tension. Make no mistake this Grand Slam was built on teamwork and an indomitable will to win. First and foremost we had an almost watertight defence with everyone contributing but with Lydiate outstanding. In each game there were flashes of individual brilliance in attack that put the points on the board - George North's off-load in Ireland, Scott William's try in Twickenham, Alex Cuthbert against France, Jamie Roberts against Italy and Leigh Halfpenny against Scotland. Yes we missed the buzz that we got whenever Shane got the ball but someone always stood up to deliver the goods. My abiding memories will be the brilliant tackles of Warburton and Halfpenny/North at Twickenham and that last minute penalty in Dublin that set us on the road. Having watched England dismantle the Irish scrum on Saturday we must also spare a thought for the Welsh front row that never took a backward step. I am particularly glad that the two unsung heroes Ian Evans and Dan Lydiate have been singled out for praise.
Whist the Welsh team flourishes, there are still major concerns about what is happening in the tiers below. I watched the Dragons v Blues game on Thursday night on the TV and the standard was truly awful. How can full time professionals play with such mediocrity. The ball handling was simply dreadful. The scrums were a disaster area with the referee unable to persuade the front rows that watching them collapse and get penalised does nothing to add to the entertainment. It seems that the rules of engagement at scrums are making the whole thing farcical. We used to laugh at the scrums in rugby league but at least they achieved the objective of getting the game going again quickly. Half the problem seems to be that the loose head props never seem to get their left foot forward to give them some kind of stability - this is a result of the so called "hit". I don't know what the answer is but can't we go back to the laws we had when the Potypool Front Row were plying their trade?
On Friday night I went to St Helens to watch Swansea play Pontypool. St Helens was a sad place and not just because one of Welsh Rugby's legends Mervyn Davies had died the previous day. Mervyn played for Swansea with distinction and I was there on the fateful day when he collapsed when playing against the Pooler in the Cup semi-final. The playing surface at St Helens is probably the best in Wales but the rest of the ground is in poor condition with crumbling terraces and bits of scaffolding and old fences scattered around. Pooler had to change in a portacabin. To think they used to play international matches there! As a Pooler fan I paid close attention to the covered standing and it was a joke - there was no terracing, no barriers and was filled with the goundsman's bits and pieces. What price the Premier League's ground criteria here? The crowd was pitifully small - I estimate 200 people max with a goodly proportion of Pooler fans who had braved the Friday evening traffic. I know Pooler are hardly box office but still you might have expected a bit more interest even if it was only to say goodbye to Merv the Swerve.
The game was entirely one-sided with Swansea on top in all aspects of the game. Their powerful forwards and fleet-footed backs soon put paid to an out of sorts Pooler who were disjointed in the three quarters when they got the ball. Pooler eventually lost 43-11 and I was glad to leave after a thoroughly miserable evening.
As expected the Wales under 20's were turned over by France to end a disappointing season. The trouncing that they had from England tells us that we do need to worry about the future no matter how young the current side are. Haven't we said that before?
Still three Grand Slams in eight years cannot be bad but let's not forget to nurture the roots of Welsh Rugby.
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