Up And Under Here We Go

In the immortal words of Max Boyce, “Are you ready yes or no?” Wales had better be ready as there will be something only marginally less ferocious than the Pontypool Front Row heading their way in the Millennium Stadium in a week or so. Yes the Irish Air Force will be in town and Wales can expect an aerial bombardment rather like the one that we observed at the Aviva Stadium yesterday. It certainly isn’t pretty to watch but it is rather effective if you have the right man to make the ball land in the right place and chasers who arrive with the ball. Ask England, who found it difficult to cope with I think something like 44 such kicks. Of course Ireland are not alone in employing the tactic but they seem to have perfected it. Competing for the ball has become something of a lottery with yellow and red cards waiting for those who mistime their challenge for the ball. Let us hope that we will not be treated to a RWC where all the teams use the high ball tactic as we will be waiting for a TMO decision every couple of minutes.

By the way, I was mighty glad that Ireland beat England as it lets Wales back into the race for the 6 Nations title. I have just come back from an excellent weekend in Paris and was delighted to watch the thoroughly professional way that Wales disposed of France. It didn’t take very long before the French fans were making their displeasure with their team very apparent. I hadn’t been to a match in Paris for some years and I had forgotten how enjoyable it is especially if you are supporting the winning side. The only frustration was getting back to the centre of Paris after the match - it was almost as bad as trying to get a train back to Newport from Cardiff.

Wales can make things difficult for Ireland if they can up their performance another couple of notches. The teams would seem to quite evenly matched on paper although Ireland on the back of ten straight victories must start as favourites. The battle between the half backs will be crucial. If you were picking a Lions pairing today you would certainly go for Murray and Sexton so the Welsh boys will have it all to do.

Before the Six Nations started, I wondered whether Scotland could be more of a force than in recent years. Well the answer is clearly not as they seemed to be heading towards the wooden spoon after their calamitous home defeat to Italy. I certainly didn’t see that coming after the Scots performance against Wales.

The real low point of the weekend came by text from Pontypool Park and the news that Pontypool had lost to Swansea. It quite put me off my pastisse. It sounded a pretty scrappy game and I am sure Pooler will be anxious to put it right in Port Talbot next week. I also noted that our friend Roger Lewis is standing down from The WRU. Let’s hope that his successor cares about valley’s rugby.

Come on Pooler and come on Wales!