More Rain and More Pain

Pontypool’s planned cup match against Carmarthen Quins was rained off. I really can’t remember a season when there has been so much rain. Even a lot of the games that have gone ahead have done so in heavy rain. Still the postponement meant a full afternoon of Six Nations’ rugby.

The first game saw Scotland playing Italy in Rome. It was raining there too! Even heavier rain than in Pontypool and at times you wondered whether the game would be abandoned. Italy looked a strong and thoroughly competent side and took the spoils. I have to say they deserved to win with Scotland a bit of a damp squib. It was not really until the end when Scotland had the ghost of a chance of snatching a victory that they put any meaningful phase rugby together. Even then they found that the Italian defence was not about to let victory slip away. So, on the scoreboard a narrow 18-15 Italian victory but really that flatters Scotland.

Then came the match Welsh fans have been dreading the Wales team taking on England at Twickenham. Given the current status of the two teams, nobody gave Wales a chance with a cricket score a distinct possibility.

The start of the match did nothing to allay that possibility as Wales conceded penalty after penalty and made far too many errors. England had registered nineteen points in the first twenty minutes or so and Wales had been reduced to thirteen men by yellow cards. Arundell had scored a couple of tries and Earl a try with simple run-ins - it was embarrassing to watch. Wales were outmuscled and the rather pedantic referee seemed to be forever raising his arm in the air to signify yet another penalty against Wales. The sofa had been pulled away from the wall and I was crouched behind it.

One more English try was to follow before half time. This one when Wales were actually on the attack and a pass from Thomas went yards behind the intended recipient. Another simple try for Arundel was the result. The score at half time was 29-0 and as someone one said Wales were lucky to have the nil.

The second half had to be better for Wales didn’t it? Well, I suppose it was but nevertheless Wales found themselves down to thirteen men again due to poor discipline. England squandered a number of good chances to pile on the agony and kicked a lot of ball away. England did, however, manage to score a further three tries while, wonder of wonders, Wales scored a try of their own when Adams fielded a crosskick. England’s final try came right at the death and we all heaved a sigh of relief as the game ended with a missed conversion. Wales had managed to keep the England tally to less than fifty points at 48-7.

Wales were thrashed as I am sure the media will have it and that is, putting it bluntly, the truth. Were there any redeeming features for Wales? Well, they did keep trying to the very end and discipline apart did not make it easy for England. A strong performance from Wainwright who was one of the few Welsh players to carry the ball over the gain line. The occasional flash of inspiration from Rees-Zammit but really little else to cheer.

On the negative side, there were far too many silly errors and far too many penalties conceded. You cannot hope to trouble a powerful side like England with thirteen players on the field. Will changes be made? Probably not that many as the options are extremely limited – it’s going to be a long tournament and another wooden spoon for Wales is a strong possibility.

The next opponents for Wales will be France next Sunday in Cardiff. France looked very good as they disposed of a rather tame Irish side and will be licking their lips as they look forward to feasting on Welsh profligacy.

So, not a good weekend for the Celtic nations although all were playing away from home. The set up of the Six Nations with three matches in three weeks really favours the teams with the strongest squads which are England and France. The Wales squad is paper thin at the best of times and a few injuries will exact a heavy toll. It really does make me feel depressed!

A shout out for an encouraging performance for the Wales Under 20 team who were pipped by their English counterparts right at the death after building a 0-16 lead. They showed tremendous spirit against the big English forwards.

I believe Pooler’s next match is Cardiff away in the SRC cup on the 19^th February. A fair while to wait for the chance to forget about the travails of Welsh rugby. It’s Cardiff for me next Sunday for the French game – let’s hope for a miracle.

Come on Wales!

Come on Pooler!

Pooler Earn a Draw at Newport

Pontypool’s latest SRC Cup match was against old rivals Newport. It is difficult to remember the last time Pooler won in Newport but it must be a significant time ago. As always, the Pooler Army travel in hope.

Newport Stadium is a little soulless at the best of times but it was pretty bleak for this encounter with a bitingly cold wind blowing down the ground with rain never far away. A decent crowd huddled together in the stand to try and keep warm.

Newport kicked off with the wind at their backs and proceeded to dominate the opening ten minutes. Despite the conditions they were clearly intent on playing fast and open rugby and it was all that the Pooler defence could do to keep them from scoring the opening try. Keep them out they did and then completely against the run of play Pooler worked their way up field for the first time. The attacking play gave them a scrum close to the line and scrum half Morgan Lloyd spotted a gap and touched down for a try. The difficult conversion failed but Pooler had stolen a march on Newport and led 0-5.

Newport went back on the attack but a few minutes later Pooler ran out of defence and after a couple of penalties were camped on the Newport line. Unfortunately for Pooler they were held up over the line and a good chance was lost.

Newport dominated the second quarter in terms of territory and possession and early in the quarter their forwards drove several times but it was Palmer who touched down for the try after obdurate Pooler defence was eventually overcome. With the successful conversion Newport took the lead at 7-5.

There was a lot of kicking with the swirling wind making things difficult for the would-be catchers.  The lineouts were also proving difficult but, overall, the packs seemed evenly matched in scrum and loose.

Again, rather against the run of play, Pooler found a foothold in the Newport half and Ford kicked a penalty for them to retake the lead (7-8). Newport then totally dominated the last ten minutes of the half and worked their way up to the Pooler line. Pooler defended stoutly but did leak a series of penalties. The penalty count became a too high for the referee’s liking and Pooler hooker Scarfe was shown a yellow card. This tipped the balance sufficiently for the Newport forwards to drive and create an opportunity for Palmer for their second try. Lloyd converted and Newport were back in the lead at 14-8. This remained the score until the half time whistle was blown.

Pooler could look forward to the help of the wind in the second half and a six point gap was far from being insurmountable. They would need to start well but would be playing with fourteen men for the first few minutes.

The half started badly when Pooler made a hash of the kick-off. Fortunately for them it was not costly and a tremendous relieving kick was deemed a 50-22 which gave Pooler a lineout inside the home twenty-two. The lineout went wrong but Pooler were able to keep Newport penned in their own half. This led to Pooler being awarded a penalty that Ford converted and closed the gap to 14-11 with half an hour left to play.

Pooler again made a mess of the kick-off reception although they were back to fifteen men. The referee decided that he had seen enough problems in the scrum and a yellow card was shown to Kelleher-Griffiths at the subsequent scrum so Pooler were back to fourteen men again. Newport seized the opportunity and five minutes or so later a flat pass saw Westwood fly through the Pooler defence to touch down under the posts for a try that Lloyd converted (21-11).

We had now reached the fourth quarter of the game and it was imperative that Pooler scored next. Despite still playing with fourteen men, Pooler forced a penalty or two out of the home side and after strong work by the forwards had a scrum five metres out.  It was skipper Morgan Allan who picked up from the back of the scrum and stormed for a try under the posts. The gap had been trimmed to just three point at 21-18.

The game was still anyone’s and Pooler had built momentum and were soon back to a full complement. The game was full of mistakes but was enthralling. With around ten minutes remaining, Newport prop Devine received a yellow card after Newport had given away too many penalties in defence. Ford kicked the penalty and the teams were tied at 21-21.

A few minutes later Ford had another penalty attempt and this time it hit a post and agonisingly bounced back into play. Newport then went on the attack and after what seemed like an endless set of phases finally made a mistake. The Pooler defence and discipline during this period was absolutely exemplary. Pooler had one last possession but sadly it came to nought and the game ended as a draw, Final score Newport 21 : Pontypool 21.

A performance full of character by Pooler against a good team in difficult conditions. There were opportunities to win lost by both sides and I guess that a draw is a fair result. The last two games have shown that Pooler are back in much better shape after their run of defeats. Pooler’s next game in the Cup is Saturday 7^th Feb against Carmarthen Quins at Pontypool Park. A win would put Pooler in a strong position.

That Saturday will also Wales kick off their Six Nations Championship with a rather daunting trip to Twickenham. I think I will need to hide behind the couch for that one. In the current circumstances, I can’t see anything but a convincing English victory but you can always hope.

Come on Pooler!

Come on Wales! 

At Last Pooler End Their Dismal Run

The end of January was fast approaching and at last Pontypool were going to play some rugby in 2026. The weather hasn’t been kind so far and it was little better at a rain-soaked Pontypool Park where Pooler were due to take on RGC in a SRC Cup match. We had feared that the heavy rain of the last few days would have made this game another casualty but mercifully the pitch was playable. The rain was still sweeping up the ground and it would surely mean that running rugby would not be the order of the day.

Pooler played up the slope but with the wind in the first half and started the stronger. The applied early pressure through their kicking game and established a position in the RGC twenty-two. After just three minutes they opted to take a shot at goal from a penalty in front of the posts and Ford did the necessary to give Pooler an early lead in what was likely to be a low scoring match (3-0)

RGC almost immediately replied with a penalty goal from Dion Jones after Pooler transgressed in front of their posts (3-3). This was going to be a real dogfight with the awful conditions making the kicking games of the two sides prominent. In the set piece battles Pooler had the edge in the scrums and in the lineout neither side looked particularly secure on their own ball. For Pooler, Antrobus was looking a key figure in the lineout as he successfully challenged the RGC throw-in. Most of the play for the first quarter was in the middle third of the pitch as the two packs battled it out. One or two incursions into the opposition twenty-two rather frustrating led to a turnover against the would-be attackers.

The second quarter belonged to Pooler with Morgan Allan playing a key part. The first try of the game came when Allan followed up a kick ahead and played football down the left touchline. Remarkably although the ball was perilously close to going into touch it stayed in play and dribbled up to the RGC goal line where Allan was there to touch down. The conversion failed but Pooler were leading 8-3.

A few minutes later, Allan charged up the field brushing defenders aside after receiving a RGC kick in his own half. This time he was hauled down but, after a few more carries from the forwards, Scarfe charged over the line near the posts for Pooler’s second try. Ford converted and Pooler were building a substantial lead at 15-3.

Pooler were now well on top but frustratingly, despite coming close on a couple of occasions, they could not take advantage of a yellow card for RGC’s Tudor Jones and add to their score before the half time whistle. Still Pooler had managed to build a decent lead and despite playing against the wind would be playing down the slope in the second half.

Pooler continued to be on top in the second half and kept RGC in their own half for an extended period. Despite the pressure, the tricky conditions contrived to make moving the ball difficult and the RGC defence remained strong against the forward surges. Pragmatically, Pooler eventually decided to kick for goal and Ford’s successful kick put them more than two scores clear at 18-3.

The fourth quarter became much more even with a yellow card for Morgan Allan giving RGC numerical supremacy at least. A long clearance kick from Dion Jones with the benefit of the wind bounced and bounced and eventually stopped in the Pooler in-goal area where Pooler touched down. There followed a period of strong RGC pressure on the Pooler line and eventually the Pooler defence cracked with Parry scoring a try. MacBride converted and RGC were back in the game at 18-10 with fifteen minutes remaining.

RGC sensed that a comeback was on the cards and momentum shifted. Pooler’s cause was certainly not helped by a red card for Matthews after a fracas near halfway which meant Pooler were down to thirteen men. RGC attacked and the Pooler defence was at full stretch to keep them out but keep them out they did as the minutes ticked away. The Pooler faithful were getting a bit anxious as they had lost from winning positions a few times this season already.

Ieuan Jones joined the fray at the end of Allan’s sin-binning which brought much needed solidity to the Pooler scrum. Indeed, the Pooler scrum was so dominant with Marcus Jones on the flank that it earned a couple of penalties to get Pooler back into RGC territory. In the final minute Ford kicked a penalty to give Pooler a hard-earned 21-10 victory at full time.

After a run of defeats, it was really important for Pooler to get a win and although it wasn’t pretty they got the job done. With the return of Kelleher Griffiths and Scarfe the scrum looked a lot more solid and Antrobus had an excellent match in the lineout. The forwards edged the contest with Allan prominent on his 50^th appearance. It wasn’t a day for the backs but when the chips were down towards the end they defended well. Well done to everyone!

Next up is the small matter of a visit to Newport for another cup match on Thursday evening. Pooler will need to build on this performance to tackle an in-form Newport outfit.

Welsh rugby continues to astound us with crisis after crisis mostly of our own making.  The fans are protesting, the players are protesting and the media are scathing. When will it all end? It is hard to see how this will come to a satisfactory outcome. I certainly do not have the answers but neither seemingly do the WRU. I don’t think we can just go back to how we were as that clearly was not working so something had to change as Welsh rugby was in danger of a downward spiral to oblivion. The Six Nations is just around the corner and the awful prospect of a heavy defeat at Twickenham looming amidst talk of a players’ strike. What a mess!

It makes my head hurt and my heart bleed so I will just look forward to our local derby against Newport on Thursday.

Come on Pooler!