White Friday

Well against my better judgement I almost started to believe all the hype in the Welsh Media that was telling us how we were going to beat England comfortably. England seemed reticent to take the field at the start although I don’t really blame them as they were going to be greeted by a weird fusion between a 70’s disco and a scene from Star Wars (what were the WRU thinking of?). This was followed by Wales scoring 10 points in as many minutes. What could go wrong?

The answer is plenty. In that first scrum Wales were pushed back yards and it was really only down to some expert play from Faletau that they scored a try rather than ended up conceding a penalty. From then on England got stronger and stronger and slowly but surely took a stranglehold on the game. The Welsh set-piece creaked and groaned and Wales never looked like scoring a try as the England defence snuffed out all their attacking intentions. The only bright spot in the remainder of the first half was a well-taken drop goal by Biggar that opened up a useful 8 point lead for the home side at 16-8 on the stroke of half time.

We felt confident that the Welsh coaching team would put things right at half time and Wales would come out firing. Instead a poor clearance kick from Webb instantly gave England an excellent attacking position and they never looked back. It was not a matter of if but rather when the away side would reel in the Welsh lead. We didn’t have to wait long as poor tackling let in Joseph for a try and with the conversion England were back within a point.

Wales seemed to lack energy and ideas while England were abrasive and purposeful. Two more penalties from England and they were home and dry at 16-21. If the winning margin had been twice that it would not have been flattering as Wales floundered.

As the game slipped inexorably away, you have to wonder why our two flair players Liam Williams and Justin Tuperic remained on the bench. Surely it was worth trying to change something.

I am sure I read somewhere that the season was all about preparing for the World Cup for Wales and the players were being worked excessively hard to build up their stamina for the autumn. I have to say that the Six Nations does matter to some of us who have stumped our hard earned cash to watch Wales play England. Losing to England upsets me for weeks. I don’t dare to open the sports section of the newspaper now as it will be full of how England will win the World Cup on the back of a Grand Slam.

At this stage I have to make a confession. Not that I am superstitious but Wales have never won when I have bought Warburton’s bread on match day. It was a genuine mistake honest - I had forgotten my glasses. Sorry boys!

The one good thing about the Friday kick off is that Pooler are playing on the Saturday. Let’s hope that they can account for Glynneath to start the healing process before the long trek to Edinburgh next weekend.