Doddie, we salute you

Still wiping the sleep out of my eyes, I headed for Cardiff and the Wales v. Scotland rugby international. The teams were playing for the Doddie Weir Cup and that brave warrior was there to oversee proceedings. He really is an inspirational figure as he battles against the debilitating effects of motor neurone disease. I was glad to see that the Welsh and Scottish Rugby Unions, albeit after a bit of public prodding, decided that they should make a donation to Doddie’s very worthy cause.

The match itself was a fine spectacle with both sides trying to play open rugby in perfect conditions before a large crowd. Wales dominated territorially in the first half while Scotland had the upper hand in the second half. As luck would have it, I was sitting at the opposite end of the ground to where most of the action took place although two of the three tries were scored in front of me.

For the most part, defences were on top with the teams seeming to cancel each other out.  It seemed that one side would attack for a while and having failed to create an opening kicked the ball to the other side for them to have go. Wales were slightly better at it in the first half as they built up a lead through three penalties from Halfpenny with one by Hastings in reply. The rejuvenated North nearly scored in the right corner before a few minutes later appearing on the left to power through some weak Scottish tackling to score the opening try. Wales were leading 14-3 and looking comfortable.

This all changed towards the end of the first half when a driving lineout by Scotland close to the Welsh line resulted in a try for McInally that was converted and the score at half time was tight at 14-10.

Scotland dominated possession and territory in the second half but it was Wales who scored the only points. In a rare foray into the Scottish half, a perfectly executed backs move by Wales saw Jon Davies power over for a try. Halfpenny converted which gave Wales a significant lead at 21-10. Scotland pounded away at the Welsh line and, with Wales down to fourteen men following a yellow card for Dee, did everything but score. A driving lineout went perilously close and Horne should have touched down when he was first to the ball following a kick through. Wales held out though and kept up their formidable record of wins against Scotland in Cardiff. The result is not that important as this was really all about Doddie and raising public awareness of motor neurone disease.

A solid win for Wales- they are pretty rare in the autumn that is for sure. The Welsh defence for the most part looked pretty watertight with Tipuric and Lydiate getting through a load of work. In attack it was difficult for Wales to find a way through an aggressive Scottish defence. Two rare defensive lapses by the Scots led to the two tries. The creative spark for Wales still seems to be missing – perhaps it is like the Holy Grail and will take some finding.

 Next week Wales take on Australia - our nemesis. Even though Australia are not in the best of form, if Wales are to win they will need to go up a gear. I guess we can expect a few changes – Liam Williams into the back three, maybe a change or two at prop and possibly Dan Biggar. There are four tough games in four weeks and a bit of judicious rotation of players is surely necessary.

My measure of inflation is the cost of a pint at the Principality Stadium and I can report that the price of a pint has now reached a dizzy £5. I make that an inflation rate of 6.38% as I think it was a mere £4.70 last season. The price of tickets is also becoming monumental with the £100 barrier being breached for the England and Ireland games in the Six Nations Championship. I may be imagining it but there seemed to be far fewer trays of pints of beer passing me by yesterday. If that is the case then some good has come from the rising prices. I suppose a splash of beer is now a pound wasted.

While we are on financial matters, the current trials and tribulations faced by Neath RFC seem all too common at the moment. It really brings it home how lucky we are at Pontypool to have the solid backing of Peter and Ben Jeffreys. Without it we would surely have been in dire straits. 

Next week Pontypool are back in action with a visit to Trebanos. I am back in action with another visit to Cardiff for the Australia game.

Come on Wales and come on Pooler!