Ireland Lift the Triple Crown but Wales Far from Down

This was a big weekend for Welsh rugby. Wales under a new coaching regime would be taking on Ireland the current Six Nations Champions in Cardiff. Not many people in Wales were expecting Wales to beat Ireland but they were desperate to see some signs of a renaissance after an absolutely abysmal year or so. Matt Sherratt the new head coach is not a miracle worker but hopefully he could instill some belief and organisation in the short time he had been with the squad. The changes to personnel that he had made promised to bring a different approach.

The weekend started with disappointment as Pontypool’s fixture against Aberavon had to be postponed as the pitch at Pontypool Park was waterlogged after heavy rainfall. There were no such problems in Cardiff with the match played in the Principality Stadium with the roof firmly closed. I had decided not to go to Cardiff as it would surely be too much of a test for my new hip at this early stage.

Ireland quite quickly demonstrated why they are favourites for the Six Nations Championship with an all action first quarter. They dominated territory with strong carries and astute kicking and it came as no surprise when they opened the scoring with a try from Conan. You feared for Wales at this stage but gradually you started to see flashes of what the new team ethos was in attack and there was a solid Welsh scrum that was a welcome source of penalties.

Ireland added another penalty but Wales countered with two of their own. Wales were giving as good as they got at this stage. A high tackle and subsequent yellow card for Ringrose helped the Welsh cause and they deservedly took a 13-10 lead when Jac Morgan touched down after a period of concerted Welsh pressure. At half time, the Ringrose yellow card became a twenty minute red card.

Wales took advantage of their numerical superiority with a brilliant finish by Rogers who squeezed in at the corner. Wales were in dreamland at 18-10 with the crowd right behind them.

Ireland are not champions for nothing and they used their bench to inject energy. The gap was closed to 18-13 by a Pendergrast penalty and not long after Bundee Aki came on to bring Ireland back to full strength. The Irish kicking game was pinning Wales back and a pinpoint crosskick from Gibson-Park was tapped back by Lowe to Osborne who touched down in the corner. The conversion failed but it was 18-18 with the momentum with Ireland.

Wales were beginning to leak penalties as the Irish pressure told as they battled to protect their try line. Two more successful penalties from Prendergast saw Ireland take a 18-24 lead. Full credit to Wales as they threw everything at Ireland and Mee came within an ace of scoring a dramatic try in the left corner after great combined play. Unfortunately, it was chalked off and Ireland secured victory with yet another penalty from Prendergast. Final score Wales 18 : Ireland 27.

This was much, much better from Wales who pushed their illustrious opponents all the way. There were plenty of encouraging signs with both young and old members of the team stepping up a few levels from the previous matches. There were many more signs of organisation and cohesion in the backs and the whole team played with pride and commitment. In the end, it was the unity of purpose of the Irish that comes from playing together for so long backed up by an excellent kicking game that won the day. Congratulations to Ireland on winning the Triple Crown and a Grand Slam beckons if they can defeat the French in Dublin. Congratulations too to the Wales Under 20s who beat their Irish counterparts to increase the sense of optimism in the gloom of Welsh rugby.

Wales play Scotland next in Murrayfield in a couple of weeks which will be a tough challenge. The Scots were desperately unlucky not to beat England in Twickenham. They played the better rugby and in the end they lost be a single point and will rue the missed conversions.

No match for Pooler until March 14^th when they visit perennial rivals Newport in the Super Rugby Wales Cup. It looks like a blank Saturday next week on the rugby front .

Come on Wales!

Come on Pooler!

Pooler Go Down Fighting

It was a dull and dank day at Pontypool Park but that didn’t matter a jot. What mattered was that I had recovered sufficiently from my hip operation to be there. The match I had come to see was Pontypool v Ebbw vale in their third contest of the season with the tally 1-1 so far. This match was in the Super Rugby Wales Cup which is not really a cup at this stage but a league to decide who plays for the cup. This is different from Super Rugby Wales Trophy where the teams play in a league to decide who gets in a play off to play for the trophy. That sounds simple enough doesn’t it?

So, to the match. Pooler were playing down the slope in the first half and there was precious little wind to worry about. Pooler started brightly enough and spent most of the opening ten minutes or so in the Ebbw vale half but found the Ebbw Vale defence in a stingy mood. In the end they had to settle for a penalty from Meek (3-0).

For the next twenty minutes, it was the away side that dominated playing some smart rugby at times. Maybe it was the conditions or maybe it was the competiveness of the match but the error count was high for both sides. The Pooler defence worked overtime and rebuffed a series of Ebbw Vale attacks but could not seem to get out of their own half. In conditions like this a team’s kicking game and set piece need to be on point. While Pooler’s scrum looked solid their lineout misfired far too often and their relieving kicks were generally badly directed and lacking in length. Ebbw Vale were better served in their kicking game which helped to keep the pressure on Pooler.

Ebbw Vale were eventually rewarded for their dominance when a big gap opened up for Rough their scrum half at the tail end of a lineout. He needed no second invitation and scooted around twenty metres virtually unopposed to score near the posts. Lloyd converted and the visitors held a deserved 3-7 lead.

Pooler made a rare foray into the Ebbw Vale half towards the end of the first period and were rewarded with another penalty that Meek converted (6-7). This was the score at half time with all very much still to play for.

The Pooler faithful hoped for a better start to the second half but were treated to the exact opposite. Ebbw Vale put together the best piece of combined play in the match thus far. They moved the ball first to the left and then to the right and created an overlap for flanker Rees stationed on the right touch line. He bustled over the line to touch down in the corner. The conversion failed but the away side had opened up a six point lead at 6-12.

Pooler continued to struggle with their lineout and their kicking game and could not really create any real pressure on Ebbw Vale who soaked any attacking intent. Similarly, the Pooler defence stood firm in what was a tough and at times tetchy encounter. No quarter asked for or given - you would expect nothing less of a local derby.

A rather bizarre incident saw Pooler make a mess of a lineout near half way. They knocked the ball on a couple of times and Rough the Ebbw Vale scrum half latched on to the loose ball. He had a clear path to the line with no opposition in touching distance. As the line approached, he somehow managed to let the ball slip through his fingers and the chance of scoring what would probably have been a match-winning try was lost

Finally, Pooler broke the shackles with a lung bursting dash up the right touchline by Rosser from inside his own twenty two. He couldn’t quite make it to the try line before the cover defence got to him. A handling error resulted and the opportunity was lost. At least Pooler had worked themselves into an attacking position. A few minutes later Pooler were rewarded when a typical bullocking carry by Morgan Allen saw him touch down near the Ebbw vale posts. Meek converted and Pooler had taken a narrow 12-13 lead.

There was hardly time to celebrate before Pooler gave away a kickable penalty. This time Lloyd’s kick went wide but it was a warning that the away side were not about to let this match slip. As Pooler struggled to get out of their half, they conceded yet another penalty and this time Lloyd did not miss. Ebbw Vale were back in front at 13-15. Ebbw Vale continued to keep Pooler penned in their own half and the final nail in the coffin was another successful penalty from Lloyd. Final score Pontypool 13 : Ebbw Vale 18.

This was a typically tough local derby in trying conditions. Ebbw Vale ran out deserved winners but Pooler made sure that they had to earn their victory the hard way. The lineout proved to be Pooler’s Achilles’ heel in this match and cost them a lot of possession that they could ill-afford to lose. Ebbw Vale’s kicking game was also superior which helped them to apply pressure at critical times. It was a gripping if a disappointing return to the fold for me.

Next up for Pooler is a match against Aberavon at the Park on Friday evening. As always Aberavon are sure to be tough opponents so Pooler will need to front up.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the parting of the ways for Warren Gatland and the Welsh Squad. In Gatland 1 we had plenty of Welsh success and plenty of good memories were created. In retrospect Gatland 2 probably should not have happened. He didn’t have the wealth of talent to work with but for whatever reason the whole show never got back on the road. Could anyone else have done any better? We will never know. So, it is thanks to Gatland for the good times and hearty good luck to Sherratt in the short term and whoever else is brave (or foolish) enough to take up the reins in the longer term. Welsh rugby sure is in the doldrums and it is by no means all down to the coaches and players. But please let’s do something rather than have yet another review.

Wales will play Ireland on Saturday in Cardiff and, while a victory seems unlikely, we will be hoping for a lot more sparkle and signs of improved organisation from Wales.

Come on Wales!

Come on Pooler!  

Wales Botch Their Italian Job

I guess everyone in Wales knows that Wales lost yet another rugby match – that is fourteen in a row now. This time it was in a rainy Rome where the Italians proved too strong and streetwise for a Wales team that seemed bereft of any attacking ideas until it was too late.

The heavy rain meant this was hardly going to be a festival of running rugby and the tactical kicking of the teams was going to be the critical factor. In this facet, the Italians proved to be vastly superior where they applied tremendous pressure on Wales with their box kicking backed up by a ferocious kick-chase. Indeed, for most of the match the Italians proved superior in every aspect with Wales coming a poor second.

The rain meant that scoring tries was not going to be easy with neither side creating many chances in a low quality game. In the first half, Italy created one chance and took it while Wales had two chances for Adams to score in the corner after shrewd kicks by Tomos Williams but the left wing was unable to take either. Italy, however, built up a healthy 16-3 lead through converting penalty kicks at goal gifted by Welsh indiscipline. Wales basically kicked virtually all their possession away without creating any pressure while the Italians kicked virtually all their possession away but did create pressure that they converted into points.

It never really looked like Wales were going to close the 16-3 half time gap as they stumbled on lamely in the second half. The forwards couldn’t make any headway against heavy Italian tackling and the backs looked like they had never played together before. It was dire stuff.  Wales used up their substitutes and the introduction of Dee, Smith and Wainwright in particular did provide some go-forward for the pack as the match limped into the final stages. Italy kicked another penalty and late on Wainwright forced his way over in a driving maul. There was just a glimmer of hope at 19-8 but Wales almost immediately conceded yet another kickable penalty and it was 22-8 with little time remaining. Again, the Welsh forwards exerted pressure from a lineout and were awarded a penalty try and it was 22-15. This meant an unlikely draw was possible with a minute or so remaining and Italy by this time down to thirteen men due to yellow cards. Wales did manage to gather the kick off but the last play really summed up the Welsh attacking impotence when even with a two man advantage they could not find away out of their own twenty-two. They eventually conceded a penalty at a breakdown and the Italians chose to end the match when they could surely have taken away Wales’ losing bonus point with a kick at goal.

So, plenty of minuses for Wales who, in truth, put up an abysmal showing albeit with late changes causing disruption and awful weather conditions. If there was any positive to be gained, it came in the performance of Faletau who really put himself about and backed up Morgan. Surely Dee and Wainwright must start for the next match and we do need a genuine outside half to start which probably means the inexperienced Dan Edwards. There will be calls for changes in the management team of course as this level of performance is totally unacceptable. Is this genuinely a runner at such short notice in the middle of tournament? There certainly do need to be changes before the end of the season.

Next up for Wales is a home game against Ireland who now must take on the mantle of favourites for the title with France having lost narrowly to England at Twickers.  To paraphrase the soothsayer, Wales will then need to “beware the sides of March” as they have Scotland away and England at home. The wooden spoon looms large and looks odds on unless something miraculous happens.

The only good news of the weekend came with the Wales Under 20s gaining a very narrow victory over their Italian counterparts. This could have gone either way in a tight finish but any sort of win is more than welcome these days.

Next weekend, we are back to club rugby with Pooler taking on Ebbw Vale at home in the SRC Cup. This should be a local derby that is well worth watching with the teams getting a win apiece in the league matches. I am gradually recovering from my hip replacement operation three weeks ago and will face a late fitness test to see if I can attend.

Come on Pooler!

Please give us something to cheer about Wales!

French Polish Off Wales

It was never going to be an easy start for Wales in the Six Nations Championship. Short on confidence from a long losing streak, Wales were facing France in Paris with the French team packed with players from the French clubs that are looking so unstoppable in the European Champions Cup. Most people expected a comfortable French victory with the bookies giving Wales a twenty five points start to gain parity.

Well, most of the predictions came true as Wales failed to trouble the scorers in a 43-0 rout conceding seven tries. Quite simply Wales were second best in virtually all aspects of the game. While the French were innovative and full of verve Wales looked pedestrian and underpowered.

The Welsh set piece held up better than expected and indeed Wales had plenty of possession. The big difference up front was the heavyweight French ball carriers made ground consistently while Wales never really got much go forward at all. In mitigation, losing a key ball carrier in Wainwright through injury early on was a big blow to the Welsh forward effort.

Behind the scrum, with the mercurial Dupont pulling the strings, the French always looked threatening with bags of pace and guile. The Welsh backs, on the other hand, were ponderous and lacking in any sort of spark and were comfortably contained by the French defensive system.

The French discipline, up until the Ntamack red card near the end, was excellent probably because they were never really put under much pressure. Wales, who were under pressure, gave away too many penalties and were shown two yellow cards.

Wales, as you would expect, never gave up and put in plenty of effort with captain Morgan to the fore but the gulf in class between was far too wide for them to make a dent in what is a really good French team.

Where do Wales go now? The next match is away in Italy and the Italians will surely be favourites to win. There will probably be enforced changes for Wales due to injuries sustained in the French match. There is also an urgent need to introduce some zest in midfield – maybe the injury to Watkins will bring Llewellyn into the squad to press for selection. The forwards will largely remain the same, I guess, with the injury to Wainwright the main issue. If Faletau is fit then he would be the ideal replacement.

It is not a great time to be a Wales supporter that is for sure. It has to get better some time doesn’t it?

I am still in rehab after my hip replacement so will not be travelling to Carmarthen to support Pontypool in their latest cup tie. I’ll be thinking of them as I take station on the couch for Scotland v Italy and Ireland v France.

Come on Pooler!

Come on Wales!  

PS Pooler Win at Carmarthen Quins

Some good news anyway - Pooler won 29-35 at Carmarthen in the cup match and have now won two from two in their pool. Next up Ebbw Vale at home in a couple of weeks.

In the Six Nations, home wins for Scotland and Ireland against Italy and England respectively . Italy did enough to show that they will be a real handful against Wales next weekend - it is La Sgranocchio or The Crunch for Wales.

Hip, Hip, Hooray

Last Saturday as Pontypool were playing at Llandovery I was having a total hip replacement operation in hospital. One minute I was wondering how the Pooler were getting on and the next I was out for the count. When I finally came around I learned that Pooler had lost 38-27 in what was described as an exhilarating exhibition of rugby to which Pooler fully contributed. Two days later I was back home a little worse for wear but mobile with the use of crutches. It says much for the advances in medicine that this can be the case.

The following days have seen a mixture of pain and frustration as I adapt to my circumstances. I have started my rehab with the physio and feel like I am making progress. There may have been progress but nothing like enough to enable me to go to Pontypool Park to watch Pontypool play Swansea in a cup match. This of course adds to the frustration.

As always, I am thankful for the updates that we get via social media but nothing beats actually being there. My spies tell me that Pooler were not at their best and were perhaps fortunate to come away with a narrow 32-31 victory. It sounds like a real nailbiter with Pooler not actually clinching victory until the fat lady had opened up her music and was about to sing. You really do get the feeling that Pooler are strong finishers these days. Well done to all concerned and it did put a smile on my face.

I, of course, was on the couch watching rugby and I have to say I was captivated by the Gloucester v Leicester match. There was a fair sprinkling of Welsh players on view some in the squad for the Six Nations and some not. I am sure Warren Gatland was hoping that there were no injuries picked up by those likely to be on duty next weekend. The most prominent Welsh players were Tomas Williams and Max Llewellyn who played a large part in Gloucester’s victory. Anscombe and Freddie Thomas also showed up well. For the record Gloucester won 38-31 in a pulsating match. The previous evening Harlequins v Northampton was of a similar calibre even though the England squad players were missing. English club rugby seems particularly vibrant these days with much more of a will to play open rugby.

The Six Nations Championship starts next Friday with Wales away in France. I have watched Wales for sixty years or so and I have to say this is the most pessimistic I have ever felt at the start of the championship. I am not alone I am sure and it seems our best hope of a victory is in Italy on the second weekend. Just watching Benetton play it is clear that Wales will have to put in a special performance against the team who were normally the Wooden Spoon favourites if they are to pinch a win.

In France on Friday evening, it feels like damage limitation as it is hard to imagine any of the Welsh players getting into a combined Wales and France team. I well remember the match when Graham Price scored a try when Wales won an unexpected victory so the unlikely can happen. I won’t be putting any money on Wales for the Six Nations even at 66 to 1. The heavyweight clash of the weekend will be England against Ireland in Dublin which should be a close one.

Next Saturday Pontypool travel to Carmarthen Quins for another cup match. Hopefully they can avenge their defeat in the league earlier in the season.

Come on Wales!

Come on Pooler!

Too Cool for Pool

One of the advantages of artificial pitches is that they are not subjected to the foibles of the British weather. Pooler play on good old grass which I still think is the appropriate surface for rugby . It did mean that yesterday the weather won and Pooler’s match against Carmarthen Quins had to be postponed due to a frozen pitch. So it was back to the couch for me.

There was plenty of rugby to watch on the TV and I did enjoy the match between Gloucester and Sale. Gloucester set off at a great pace and quickly opened up a big lead. The more pragmatic Sale with their forward power gradually closed the gap so it became quite close at the end but Gloucester held on despite a few yellow cards. The Gloucester back division contained no fewer than four Welsh internationals and could make an excellent backbone for the Six Nations Championship. Tomas Williams, Anscombe, Llewelyn and Hathaway all played pivotal roles in the Gloucester victory. If you added Tompkins and Liam Williams from Saracens and Halfpenny from Harlequins you could end up with a complete back division that plays in England. It set me thinking about the forwards and there are some strong candidates there too. In the front row Carre, Wyn Jones, Griffin and Lewis at prop although no obvious candidate at hooker although they do say that the young Kepu Tuipulotu who was born in Pontypool is a great prospect. In the second row there are Jenkins and Freddie Thomas and in the back row Refell and Tshiunza. You could add Rowlands who is playing in France  to make up an eight with Jenkins in the back row. You can tell I was missing my Pooler fix!

The two Welsh regional derbies in midweek were a little underwhelming in terms of quality although showing the usual level of commitment. The Scarlets overcame the Dragons while Cardiff and the Ospreys fought out a low scoring draw . They are all certainly way off the standards of the matches I watched from England and France yesterday.

The next match for Pooler is two weeks away when they are away to Llandovery who are climbing up the league table rapidly after an indifferent start to the season. This is the day that I am due to have my hip replacement operation but I will be with the Pooler in spirit.

Come on Pooler!