Welsh Willpower Wins It

At last Wales can celebrate a victory against one of the top three rugby teams from the Southern Hemisphere. They lowered the South African colours with a hard fought 12-6 victory which yet again left the result in doubt in the nerve-jangling last few minutes. A Welsh defensive lapse left the South Africans with a five metre scrum but this time Wales stood firm and the relief from all was palpable.

This was not a classic match by any means with defences well on top and not a great deal of attacking creativity from either side. Right from the off, Wales signalled their intent with crunching tackles that knocked the burly Boks backwards. They managed to keep the intensity of their defence up right to the last minute this time and despite the nerves clung on for a well deserved victory. Wales deserved to win because they took advantage of the goal kicking opportunities from the penalties that will always occur in a titanic defensive struggle such as this.

The South Africans for their part seemed to be unsettled by the ferocity of the Welsh tackling and made a lot of uncharacteristic errors. It seemed that the Welsh were more desperate to win despite the pre-match talk from the South Africans that this was their most important match of the year.

This was Wales winning ugly and we can perhaps overlook their inability to turn great field position into a try or two on this occasion. It is something that needs to be addressed for the future as opposition defences seem to have got our current attacking approach taped in more ways than one.

Reflection on the Autumn Series can be more positive with a decent win under your belt. There are quite a few positives:

Samson Lee and Scott Baldwin have come of age in the front row.

We have a decent depth in the second row.

Warburton managed to complete the Series without injury. Lydiate worked his way back to fitness. We still look a bit thin at No8 and it is fortunate that Faletau is durable as he has had a heavy workload.

Rhys Webb has settled into the scrum half role but there are others snapping at his heels.

Dan Biggar must surely start at outside half. It will be interesting to watch the progress of Anscombe at the Blues.

Jamie Roberts still has plenty of life left in him. Davies and Williams are working their way back to match fitness after injury. George North did well in his brief appearance at centre.

On the wings, North and Cuthbert will score tries if given space. Unfortunately this didn’t happen often enough.

At fullback Halfpenny is solid and brave but his lack of stature means he is likely to get injured. Fortunately Liam Williams is available as a more than able deputy.

Defensively, apart from the nightmare ten minutes against the All Blacks and a couple of lapses against Australia, we have looked solid.

The Six Nations promises to be pretty competitive tournament this year with all the sides taking some positives from the recent matches. The Irish have the most to be positive about and look to have few weaknesses and so, along with England, must start as favourites. The Scots could be dark horses and will be difficult to beat especially at Murrayfield. The French could be brilliant but on the other hand….. Wales have England and Ireland at home and the results of these fixtures could well determine the overall winners. Then there is Italy who can upset the best teams in Rome. I can’t wait!

I also can’t wait for next Saturday when Pontypool return to Championship action with a home match against their old rivals Newbridge. It’s been so long I’m not sure whether I can remember the way to the Park.