Irish Eyes Are Smiling

We took our place in the ubiquitous Irish bar in the Costa del Sol with some trepidation as Wales and Ireland were about to lock horns in Dublin. We formed a Welsh enclave of two in the crowded bar.
Our trepidation proved well-founded as the Irish looked determined to grind the Welsh into the dust with their brand of power rugby. Wales barely touched the ball in the first half which was accurately reflected in all the statistics but the score. Wales seemed to be able to glean points whenever they ventured into Irish territory while Ireland with the boot of Sexton strangely errant let a lot of points go begging. Wales even managed to build a bit of lead at 8-13 but that was wiped out by an Irish try just before half a time which gave the home side the edge at 15-13.
Wales were still in it and surely had to give a better account of themselves in the second half did not they? Sadly the second half started with more of the same with the Irish driving into Wales as if their lives depended on it. They were irrepressible and before we knew it Wales had conceded another two tries and were fourteen points in arrears. 
An Irish bar was not the ideal place to be at this point. We shrank into our corner shaking our heads sadly and taking solace in another pint. Only two attempts to draw, I thought optimistically, as the alcohol coursed through my veins.
Substitutions were made by both teams and things began to change. Wales finally got some ball and began to show just how dangerous they could be. Shingler scored in the corner and with Halfpenny's conversion it was 27-20 and game on. Momentum was suddenly with Wales and a remarkable turnaround was still possible. 
The Irish contingent in the bar went silent and there was a mass crossing of fingers and gulping of Guinness. Then disaster for Wales as they conceded to penalty at a scrum. Murray's drunken looking kick hit a post and went over 30-20.
The Irish were cock-a-hoop and smiling again. Wales were not finished, however, and fractured the Irish defense for Evans to score a great try. Halfpenny duly converted and Wales were within three at 30-27 and still a couple of minutes left. 
It was still on for Wales with the home side looking jittery. Wales attacked strongly and created the overlap they craved. Stockdale the Irish wing gambled on the intercept and his gamble paid off as Anscombe's pass went straight into his arms with two Welshmen waiting for the ball outside him. The rest is history as they say. Stockdale galloped in for try and the gallant Welsh bid for victory was foiled by the narrowest of margins. Cue for more drink! 
The rugby was not over though. The English arrived in the bar in droves and the Celts combined behind Scotland. The atmosphere became more raucous as there were fairly equal numbers of supporters for each team and the effect of alcohol weaved its magic. Scotland were brilliant and made England look slow of thought and deed in recording to deserved victory. It did not make up for the Welsh defeat but it certainly cheered us up. The Irish were happy, as if they can pull off a decent victory against Scoltland, the championship is virtually theirs. They need to be wary of the Scots though!
After every Welsh defeat there is a post mortem and in the cold light of day we know that Wales were distinctly second best for virtually the whole game. We simply could not contain the Irish power game. Although our set piece was generally sound the Irish ball carriers made big inroads into our defence. The Irish dominated possession and even though our attack looked pretty potent they simply did not get enough ball until it was almost too late. There must be a case for Faletau to return if fit. Liam Williams did not have the expected impact and North did enough to warrant inclusion against Italy.
Next week is the big one! Pooler make the trip to Merthyr. I guess they will be the underdogs but can certainly cause a major upset if they play their best rugby. I am certainly looking forward to a close encounter of the hard kind.
Come on Pooler!

Pooler Take Their Chances

This was a rare event indeed – an opportunity to watch Pontypool play a match in the Championship in 2018. “Gather ye rosebuds” and all that and so we trundled down to Beddau to see the action. Beddau invariably give a warm welcome to their visitors both on and off the field and this was no exception. The weather was mercifully dry and the pitch although a little muddy was in good condition for an open game. The game that followed was quite strange in the way that the final score did not really reflect the balance of play on the field at all.

In the first half Beddau dominated possession and to a large extent territory but could not breach the strong Pontypool defence. What little possession Pooler had they either conceded an early penalty for being off their feet at the ruck or were content to kick downfield to the home back three. But Pontypool knew how to take their chances and this was where the big difference between the two sides lay.

The first score of the match came after about ten minutes when the Beddau defence made a horrendous hash of fielding a speculative kick down field by Pontypool. The ball went loose and Mahoney gratefully grabbed it to score near the posts. Meek converted and Pooler had established a 0-7 lead against the run of play.

Beddau continued to be the aggressor and, after half an hour or so, looked to be about to score as they pressed strongly near the Pontypool line. Owen Williams made a timely interception and just about had the legs to run virtually the length of the pitch and win the race to the Beddau line. The try was again converted by Meek and Pooler had doubled their lead to 0-14.

To make matters worse for Beddau, a tremendous long distance driving maul by the Pontypool pack led to a penalty try being awarded in injury time. This left Pontypool with a 0-21 lead at the interval and Beddau short of a prop due to a yellow card.

After about five minutes of the second half, Pontypool finally put together an excellent piece of sustained attack. Forwards and backs combined well to put Owen Williams in for his second try in the corner. The try was unconverted but Pooler had built a formidable lead at 0-26 and had gained the try bonus point.

Beddau continued to attack at every opportunity but their moves seemed to break down at the critical moment as they foundered on the rock of the Pooler defence. Half way through the second half, there was another interception, this time by Sparks, that put paid to another promising attack. The Pooler number eight showed a clean pair of heels to the home backs and scored in the corner (0-31).

There followed the usual raft of substitutions and, despite a yellow card for Ball, Pontypool finished the stronger. With the final play of the game, the Pontypool pack drove hard at the Beddau line and Atwell scored their sixth try of the afternoon. Matthew Jones, who had come on a substitute, added a fine conversion lo make the final score 0-38.

As I wrote earlier, the score line really was rather flattering for Pontypool and Beddau certainly did not deserve to leave the field scoreless. The game is about taking your chances though and that was Pontypool did and the home team failed to do. So Pontypool’s unbeaten league record remains intact and now stands at fifteen out of fifteen this season. They are now seventeen points clear at the top with games in hand on the pursuing pack led by Tata Steel.

 

In two weeks’ time, Pontypool face by far their biggest challenge of the season when they travel to Merthyr to take on the Premiership league leaders in the National Cup quarter final. I am sure Pooler will give a good account of themselves and no doubt the Pooler Army will be out in force for what promises to be a great occasion.

Next week, Wales cross the Irish Sea to take on the Irish in Dublin. This will be no place for the faint hearted and Wales will need to be at their very best to withstand a very confident and powerful Irish outfit. They certainly need to have the resources to cope with a barrage of pinpoint kicks from Murray and Sexton. With this in mind, I would like to see Halfpenny, Liam Williams and North restored to the side to make a solid back three. I also think I would start with Patchell at outside half even though Anscombe performed pretty impressively at Twickenham.

Come on Pooler and come on Wales!

The Chariot Limps Home

The Six Nations Championship moved on to “le crunch” for Wales as the French would have it. A trip to HQ at Twickenham is never easy but with the rain coming down it was going to be doubly difficult for Wales to derail the English chariot.

I took my place on the couch and was soon squirming as England’s kicking game combined with some ferocious forward drives made it look like they were going to dispatch the Welsh quite comfortably. How we missed Halfpenny’s defensive nous as a brilliant kick from Farrell found acres of space and allowed May to cross virtually unopposed. I had turned the sound down and was heading behind the couch as May scored his second after a powerful set of phases from the English pack. It was 12-0 and, even though I am not a lip reader, I could tell that “Swing Low” was blaring out. Oh dear, oh dear. To make matters worse Wales were making Mike Brown look a world beater with their ineffective kicking.

It had to get better for Wales and it did. A few kickable (for a Halfpenny) penalty chances went begging and then Wales seemed to have scored a try when Anscombe won the race to touch down a loose ball over the English line. Sadly the TMO was the only person who thought it wasn’t a try and his was the opinion that counted – bah! Wales did however gather three points from the original penalty. Wales kept England out for the rest of the half and at 12-3 were still in touch at the interval.

Wales did play much better in the second half and as they exerted pressure England began to look more and more fallible. Wales did everything they could to close the gap. Scott Williams was stopped in the act of scoring by a brilliant tackle by Underhill and the support did not quite arrive in time to turn Shingler’s stunning break into a try. As it turned out, the only points scored in the second half were from an Anscombe penalty which made the final score 12-6 to England. Sadly for the Welsh there had been no Wembley moment. The combined English sigh of relief could be heard in Pontypool.

I thought the Welsh pack went very well looking comfortable in the set piece and even managing to snaffle the ball in an English lineout or two. The English forwards did look powerful in their driving play but the Welsh defended stoutly. A couple of dropped balls apart, the Welsh pack carried strongly particularly in the second half as the English began to wilt. The Welsh half backs were put under a lot of pressure and found it tough going especially in the first half. Maybe those nasty comments from Uncle Eddie did have an effect. When Anscombe moved to outside half things improved and he had his most influential spell for Wales. In the backs, defences were on top with few opportunities created by either side as the conditions were far from ideal for attacking rugby. Farrell looked the class act on the field with his tactical awareness shining out in the gloom. Wales did look vulnerable under the high ball and missed the expertise of Halfpenny, Liam Williams and Biggar in this crucial area. They can expect many more high balls from Murray and Sexton in Dublin in a couple of weeks’ time.

If this had been a Champions Cup match, Wales would have been delighted to come away from Twickenham with a losing bonus point. They would have felt that they would be able to catch up in the corresponding home fixture. It is, however, one of the quirks of the Six Nations that the teams only play once and the split of home and away fixtures often determines the champions. Perhaps they should tot up the points after two seasons.

The Irish were far too strong for the Italians in Dublin and looked far more like their formidable selves than they had in Paris last weekend. Wales can expect another torrid encounter when they cross the Irish Sea.

Sadly Pontypool’s friendly against Maesteg Celtic had to be called off yesterday due to the weather but hopefully they will be in action next weekend when they are due to visit Beddau. This has always proved to be a tough fixture and Pooler will have to be on their mettle.

Hard luck Wales and come on Pooler!

Wales Catch Scarlet Fever

Wow - now that’s a couple of great Saturdays for rugby! Last week saw Pooler account for Carmarthen Quins and this week I was treated to an exceptional performance from Wales at the Principality Stadium where they swept Scotland aside in the opening game of the Six Nations Championship.

It was certainly not plain sailing for Wales in the opening ten minutes or so when Scotland started up like a highly tuned sports car looking every inch like the team that drubbed Australia and ran the All Blacks close in the autumn. The Gareth Davies interception try thankfully took the wind out of their sails. I still worried for Wales as they seemed to enter too readily into the frenetic running rugby festival. I can’t help being a pessimist but the willingness to run the ball from everywhere seemed suicidal at times – I guess it is all those years watching Ray Prosser’s Pontypool that have left their imprint on my brain.

I needn’t have worried Wales quickly doubled their lead when Halfpenny scored and from then on looked clear winners. The Welsh defence was brilliant and the Scottish team found it difficult to make much ground with ball in hand. They were either forced to kick the ball away or made handling errors and Wales gleefully took advantage in true Scarlets’ style.

The second half performance from Wales was much more measured with a good mix of tactics which gradually built up an unassailable lead and left the much heralded Scots floundering. I was delighted for Halfpenny who amassed twenty four points with his two well taken tries and flawless goal kicking which answered his many critics in the best way possible. The final score at 34-7 was far more convincing than anyone expected and sent the Scots “hamewart tae think again”. I am sure Sean Edwards will have something to say about the seven points conceded next week though.

Everyone in the Welsh team played their part in the victory and Wales should be in good heart for the prospect of meeting the formidable challenge of England at Twickenham. I suspect that injuries permitting Gatland will pick the same squad – why wouldn’t you?

We got home in time to watch the France v Ireland game which was a much dourer affair with defences well on top. The only real excitement came right at the end when France seemed to have snatched an improbable victory through a brilliant try from Teddy Thomas. The missed conversion proved very costly, however, as Ireland wrested victory from France with Sexton’s brilliant last gasp dropped goal.

Today will see England take on Italy in Rome. It looks a foregone conclusion that England will win but we can live in hope of an upset. My fingers will be crossed that is for sure.

On the domestic front, Pontypool’s reward for beating Carmarthen Quins last week is a National Cup quarter final tie at Merthyr in early March. That is just about as difficult a draw as they could have had and will certainly give the squad to measure themselves against really strong opposition on a plastic pitch. It should be a great occasion.

Next week it is Twickenham for Wales. I shall be watching from the comfort of the couch I think and hopefully not having to hide behind same. On a fine day high octane rugby like Wales played on Saturday could well trouble England. Let’s hope so anyway.

Come on Wales!