North South Divide

So here we go again, it’s the next instalment in the long running soap opera that is Wales v Australia rugby matches - Neighbours meets Pobl Y Cwm. The one thing that we can be sure of is a cliffhanging ending. The only trouble is we always seem to be able to guess what the outcome will be no matter how they get to the edge of the cliff.

In truth, for most of this match, the two teams were poles apart with Australia decidedly superior. Fortunately Wales had the North Star to guide them and that kept them in the game. North’s long range try and a Halfpenny penalty gave them an unlikely lead in the opening exchanges even though they barely had the ball.

For the next hour it was all Australia as they turned a 10 point deficit to a 14 point lead. Sitting behind the posts, it was alarming to see how Cooper managed to orchestrate overlaps with ease. The Australians were certainly helped by some indifferent kicking from Wales plus a pretty ropey Welsh line out but they have classy backs who are always looking to offload. A combination of, at times, inspirational defence plus a few missed chances kept the deficit to 14 points. In truth it could have been a lot more although some would argue that it should actually have been less as the referee awarded Australia a try from what looked like a clear forward pass.

In the nature of this fixture, Wales were bound to come back and come back they did. Cue George North and he didn’t disappoint slicing through to score under the posts. The converted try and a penalty closed the gap to just 4 points and the momentum swung to Wales. Australia were reduced to 14 men by a yellow card and Wales pressed hard. Could Wales do a Southern Hemisphere and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? You guessed the answer. Wales are not the All Blacks and lacked the precision and patience to set up a winning score and the score remained 26-30.

So yet another failure against one of the big three Southern Hemisphere teams. More hard luck stories and all those injuries too. It's the same old story when it comes down to it we are just not good enough.

Perhaps we just need a new script writer.

PS

Last week I was moaning about the scrums, well wasn’t it refreshing to watch a game with so few scrums. It’s almost like a different game.

No, I’m still not going to comment on the Heineken Cup debacle - at least not until I understand it (and that might take a while!)