Hard Times at HQ

I had taken the precaution of moving the couch forward on Saturday evening. I had to make sure there was room behind it if the going in the England v Wales game got tough. Strong drink was also near at hand. Yes, I feared that things could go badly for Wales. In the sweep I had Wales to lose by ten points. Of course, we Welsh do tend towards pessimism – it is a national pastime. It is only a two horse race and in sport anything can happen. If we can but only stay in touch, we can sneak it at the end as we have done before. Here was a welcome ripple of optimism from the room as I settled down.

From the first whistle, it was clear that England were going to bring brutality to the game. Dan Biggar was public enemy number one and the kick off was perfectly judged for him to receive the ball along with a posse of fired-up large men in white. The video ref probably hadn’t had time to take his seat and get the TV warmed up as it looked mightily like a few no hands tackles were involved.

This set the tone for the first half with the fearsome English defence rocking the Welsh players back at every opportunity. This coupled with expert box kicking from Youngs which meant that the Welsh catchers were receiving man and ball was making me wince. England got the early try they wanted when Watson jinked his way over and I was all but heading for my haven behind the couch. England’s try meister May had to leave the field with a head injury. Rather cynically, England kept the clearly injured May on the field while they got Slade ready to come on as a replacement.

Wales to their great credit stuck to their task manfully and kicked a couple of penalties to stay in the game. England continued to dominate the collisions though and it was no great surprise when they scored their second try when Daly outflanked the Welsh defence. Fortunately for Wales while England have a potent back division, they seem reluctant to use it unless they have a penalty advantage.

A 40^th minute penalty from Biggar meant that at half time Wales were 20-9 behind but still in touch. It could have been a lot worse! In fact, if North had held on to a ball on the English line it could even have been better.

Wales needed a fast start after the interval and by George they got it. Straight from the kick-off some lovely running from Tompkins, scrum half Williams and Tipuric saw Tipuric score under the posts within thirty seconds of the restart. 20-16 and Wales were flying.

Pragmatic England used their forward power to gain a couple of penalties that were duly converted and soon Wales were back to square one at 26-16 with a mountain to climb. Worse was to come as the substitutes’ benches were emptied and England added fresh beef. A powerful surge from England saw Tuilagi score unopposed and England were well clear at 33-16 with twenty minutes to go.

From then on, it was mostly Wales on the offensive with the England defence looking to negate their frenzied attacks. Time was running out as England gave away a raft of penalties with Wales hammering away at their line. The referee lost patience and a yellow card was shown to Genge. Worse still for England, moments later, Tuilagi was shown a red card for a dangerous tackle on North. England were down to thirteen men with five minutes or so left. Too little time for a miraculous win but Wales seized the opportunity to run in two tries from Biggar and Tipuric and gain the losing bonus point with the final score 33-30.

In truth, England were the dominant force and, while Wales played some great rugby at times, English power and pragmatism won the day. They win the Triple Crown so congratulations to them. After a brutal encounter, Wales will be battered and bruised and with the Scotland game only a week away there will be some enforced changes that is for sure. The coaching team will have a busy week but I must say there are some encouraging signs that their approach is beginning to look effective.

The two main topics of conversation after the game seemed to be the Marler “bag snatching” incident on Alun Wyn Jones and Eddie’s rant about the red card. True to form, Marler and Eddie are never far from controversy.

Well done to the Wales Under 20’s on their fine victory over their English counterparts. Wales outside half Costelow certainly looks a great prospect.

I was really sad to hear of the passing of Matthew J Watkins. My condolences to his family and friends.

As for Pontypool, my withdrawal symptoms are getting worse. The next match is not until the 21^st March when we take on Tata Steel. With the Six Nations over it will be back down to the important stuff and the battle for promotion with Bargoed. Bargoed’s bonus point victory at Neath in the week leaves then just five points behind Pooler with both having played sixteen games. There is still a lot of rugby to be played with ten games left including “le Crunch” -the Bargoed v Pontypool match. Hold on to your hats it’s going to be some ride!  

Come on Pooler!

Come on Wales!