Yesterday I had my first live experience of the Rugby World
Cup 2015 when I went to Cardiff to watch Fiji play Wales. The Millennium
Stadium was packed to the rafters but it was an atmosphere unlike any that I
have experienced in the fifty or so years I have been watching Wales
international matches in Cardiff. There seemed to be little of the raucous
Welsh support that I have come to expect. Virtually everyone who was sitting
around me was English and supporting Fiji in an almost self-conscious way. Unsurprisingly
I seemed to be the only one who sang the Welsh National Anthem in the vicinity. Where was the goat?
To make matters worse, Wales had chosen to wear absurdly dull
dark grey shirts. This did nothing to breathe fire into the Welsh dragon.
Imagine if all the Welsh supporters decided to wear dark grey – it would be
like going to a business meeting or something. I can’t think of any sport’s
team that has been successful playing in such a drab colour – black would have
been better. On the other hand, I suppose grey whales are eschrichtius robustus
and Wales were certainly going to need to be pretty robust against the powerful
South Sea Islanders
Wales had a job to do. They had to back up that epic win
against England with another victory. Would the short turnaround time between
matches claim another victim? Well to start with things looked fine, Wales
started with energy and purpose and soon had a try on the board. It was clear
that Fiji were going to run the ball at every opportunity and sap the Welsh
reserves of energy. This was a high risk policy but great entertainment. Wales
stuck to their guns and built up a 17-6 lead at half time with a further try
and penalty. The Welsh scrum was under pressure and they had turned over too
much ball but they were still in a good position.
As the second half progressed, Wales started to flag as the gargantuan
effort they had made at the weekend took its toll. Fiji scored a brilliant try
when Wales lost possession in the Fiji 22 and we were no longer thinking about
a winning bonus point but just hanging on to win. I was sitting behind the
posts and I have to say the Welsh defensive system was awesome. Yes they missed
the occasional tackle against their strong running opponents, but there was
always someone there to cover up. The exemplary goalkicking of Biggar coupled
with the brave and resolute defence eventually saw Wales home 13-23 with the
players looking absolutely drained at the final whistle.
I think the sad thing about the RWC is that it has quickly
become a war of attrition. Far too many players are getting injured and a
recovery time of less than a week is proving to be too short for such a
physical sport. If the game continues to become more and more a slug fest,
there will need to be some careful thought about how to structure the next RWC
in four years’ time. The way it is going it will start as fifteen a side and
finish as a sevens tournament!
At least Wales now have a decent rest period before the next
match against Australia in Twickenham. It would certainly make things much
simpler of Australia could prevail over England tomorrow. If that were the case
Wales and Australia would just be playing for first and second place in the
group and we could enjoy the game. Things rarely work out that simply but we
can hope.
Hearty congratulations to Warren and the boys you have done
us proud. Three wins out of three is just brilliant.
PS I am not going to moan about the fact that there was only
one train to Newport an hour after the game.
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