It was bitterly cold at Murrayfield on Saturday and the match did little to warm the cockles of your heart. It was a good job I had a hipflask in my pocket to stave off an icy wind. The great news is that Wales managed to win a third consecutive away match against a stubborn Scottish side that never made it easy. The bad news is that neither side played with any real ambition and some pedantic refereeing meant that it turned out to be a slugging match between the two goal kickers. Honours ended up virtually even in the kicking stakes but I think I would rather have spent the 20 minutes that it took for the penalties to be taken watching paint dry in the warmth of my home. Wales did manage a try after probably the only line break in the match by George North that led to Hibbard pigging over. This in itself meant that they probably deserved to win.
Despite the cold, there was a festive atmosphere before the match with fancy dress the order of the day. For some dressed up as furry animals this was a blessing but for others it will probably lead to pneumonia. I don't think that I have ever seen so many fastfood outlets in one place but I failed to find one selling the legendary deep fried mars bars.
After the game, I wish I had been given a pound for every Scotsman who implored us to beat the English next Saturday. It might have gone some way towards paying for the cost of the trip.Losing to Wales seemed vaguely irrelavent to the Scots in the grand scheme of things.
We watched the Ireland v France game in a bar and even managed to get home in time for the England v Italy match. I have to say that this Six Nations has been really low on entertainment value and pretty low in terms of quality. Possibly the most exciting moments of the weekend were when Italy had a real go at England and could have snatched a draw or even a win. Overall four tries in total in the three matches and three of them as a result of pigging rather than artistry. Yes defences for the main were well on top. If you add to this the time watching endless kicks at goal and scrums collapsing it really wasn't a good advertisment at all. The weather was blamed by some - perhaps we should consider moving the Six Nations to April although that is no real guarantee that it would be any better.
The pundits keep saying that winning is more important than entertaining but what do the paying public think. Already the major English hype has started up about the game against Wales next Saturday. Last year when Wales won the Grand Slam, the English press played it down saying that the standard overall was low. Well this year the standard has been even lower particularly since France have been pretty awful.
Let's hope we get a bit more enterprise from both sides on Saturday but I somehow doubt it. Come on Wales let's see what you've got.
(I've had a gutsful of everyone picking their Lions team so note I have not mentioned it.)
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