Good News and Bad News

Yesterday afternoon started very well when the news came through that Pontypool had won their first league game of the season at Narberth. I had been squirming and fretting on the couch for the news as Narberth is certainly not the first choice venue for the season’s opener.  Not many sides manage to lower Narberth’s colours at the Lewis Lloyd ground so this really is an encouraging start to what is likely to be a very competitive league.

Reading the match report, and talking with Pooler fans who had made the trip it was a typical early season game with plenty of errors from both sides as they got back to business. The cutting edge provided by Nathan Brookes and the sheer determination of the side to win proved to be decisive in the end with Pooler deserving their 18-26 victory.

It doesn’t get any easier as next week’s match is against Swansea at Pontypool Park. Swansea are sure to be strong contenders for the league title so it is a great chance for Pooler to test their mettle.

Back on the couch, I was watching England and Ireland battling it out. From a Welsh perspective the news started off badly as England looked really good with the backs looking particularly sharp. The news improved as the Irish began to get into the game. The English scrum looked surprisingly vulnerable and the backs didn’t look so clever when the pressure came on. In the end England won but you were not left feeling that they were invincible. If England had a constructive open side flanker in the Neil Back mould who acted as a link between backs and forwards they could be far more dangerous.

The worst news of the day was to come as I settled down to watch Wales play Italy. I think everyone including the Welsh team expected wales to just turn up and have a comfortable victory. Complacency is a dangerous thing and of course Parisse and the Italian team had an entirely different view of what was going to happen. Wales were pretty poor and a pale shadow of the team that had won in Dublin the previous week. The Italians were powerful in the scrums and a handful in the loose. They took every opportunity to slow the game down and prevented Wales getting into any kind of rhythm. If they had won it would have been no more than they deserved.

Wales played in fits and starts and conceded possession for long periods of the game. When they got the ball they far too often kicked it away. They were penalised heavily at the scrum and the lineout did not function smoothly. It was woeful at times.

Not only did Wales fail to fire but they were also badly hit by injuries. Two of the key players for the imminent RWC: Webb and Halfpenny were stretchered off with serious looking injuries. There is no doubt the seriousness of the Webb injury affected the Welsh players’ performance and seemed to make them much more tentative. If Webb and Halfpenny are out of action for an extended period it really is a body blow to the Welsh hopes going forward.

For the record Wales clung on to win 23-19 and only managed one try to Italy’s two. For Wales, only two players did themselves justice – Scott Williams gave a good all-round performance at centre and Sam Warburton was effective at the breakdown and also carried the ball strongly at times. There was a powerful brief cameo from Moriarty when he came on as a substitute but far too many Welsh players under-performed. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes on Monday!  

So there will be an anxious time for Wales as they regroup to lick their wounds. Let us hope that Webb and Halfpennny are not too badly hurt and I wish both a speedy recovery. Realistically though it did not look good so let us hope Liam Williams is fit. Will we see Mike Phillips return to the squad I wonder?

The good news is that I have prised myself off the couch and will be fit and ready for Pooler’s first home game against Swansea.

Come on Pooler!