It was a glorious spring-like afternoon in Port
Talbot and perfect conditions for running rugby. Tata Steel, the
home side, took full advantage of this but for the first half an hour it looked
like Pontypool were still in hibernation. They were quite simply blown away by
the power and commitment of the home side who were certainly very impressive.
Tata swiftly built up a 22-0 lead that included three well worked tries and
Pooler were staring down the barrel of an embarrassing defeat. Tata were on top
in all aspects of the game and the Pontypool
tackling was fragile to say the least.
A rally towards the end of the first half saw Pooler score
what was almost a consolation try from a driving lineout and then they somehow managed
to prevent Tata from scoring again before half time. With the score at 22-5, Pontypool stayed on the pitch for the half time break
trying to gather their thoughts on how to haul themselves back into the game.
On the evidence of the first half, it would need the escape committee from
Colditz to mastermind such a turnaround.
In the second half Pooler had the assistance of the referee
who showed no less than three yellow cards to Tata and this helped the away
side to become more competitive. Fourteen man Tata, however, quickly put paid
to any forlorn hopes of a Pooler comeback by scoring the first try of the half
after Pooler turned over possession in the home 22.
The lead at 29-5 was surely unassailable. The away side had
different ideas and began to make their numerical advantage pay. Tries by
Prosser and Norton, one of which was converted by Mills, closed the gap to
29-17 and a bonus point or two seemed to be within Pooler’s grasp. This turned
out to be a pipedream as normal service was resumed when Pooler lost Blackmore
to the sin bin. Tata staged a really strong finish to score two more tries by brushing
aside some pretty weak tackling. The final score was 41-17 which is an accurate
reflection of the disparity between the two sides on the day.
This is surely one of the low points of the season for Pontypool who were soundly beaten. It is hard to find any
redeeming features from this defeat - the pack were overpowered and the backs
made too many mistakes. There is certainly plenty for the coaches to work on -
it is perhaps fortunate that there is a three week gap before the next league
game.
Our thoughts return to the Six Nations for the next couple
of weekends. Wales take on Ireland
in Cardiff on Saturday and will bid to halt Ireland ’s
march towards a Grand Slam. This will not be easy on the evidence of the games
so far as we can be sure that Ireland
will have done their homework and will have a plan specifically designed to beat
Wales .
I still shudder when I think of the match in Dublin
last year when they did to us exactly what they did to England last Sunday.
The downside of beating Ireland
of course is that it will most probably mean that England will be Six Nations
champions and their RWC bandwagon/chariot will be back on the road for the next
six months. With that and the General Election, I would have to consider
selling the TV and not buying any newspapers.
Of course I still want Wales
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