Victories for the Welsh rugby team are as rare as hen’s
teeth these days so the last gasp win for Wales over Japan was wildly
celebrated by the management squad if not be the rest of the country. I watched
the heavy loss to Argentina the previous week huddled in the corner of an Irish
bar in Madeira and that puts the victory over Japan in perspective. The gulf
between the countries in the top ten in the rankings and those in the teens is
considerable. Watching Italy, who are ranked ten, beat Australia and then give
world number one South Africa plenty to think about yesterday brings this home.
We shouldn’t be churlish and any win for Wales at the
moment is a good win and the new coaching team are just bedding in. They are bereft
of confidence and anything that promotes a measure of self-belief should be
welcomed. In truth, Wales were outplayed by Japan for most of the match who
played at a pace and at a skill level that had Wales struggling to contain them.
It was Japanese ill-discipline which cost them the match with three yellow
cards but the foolish twenty minute red card that Josh Adams was given did not
help Wales. With Japan in the driving seat in the first half, two bad tackles
left them down to thirteen men which rather limited their attacking ambitions.
Wales, however, could not take advantage of this situation which is certainly
troubling.
Wales still do not look like they are playing as a team
and there were far too many handling errors. Things had started brightly with
an early try from Edwards but it did not take long for the Japanese to respond
in kind. From then on, it was Japan that did most of the attacking with the Welsh
defence working overtime to keep them out. It was Tomas Williams’ ability to
pick a runner out on the rare occasions when Wales got close to the Japanese
line that kept them in the game with tries for Rees-Zammit and Tompkins.
Wales were trailing by two points at 21-23 with precious
little time left. The Japanese seemed to have things well in control as Wales
attacked desperately. A moment of madness saw Hockings of Japan guilty of a dangerous
tackle on Mann for which he received a yellow card. Wales kicked for the corner
and Japan were penalised from the lineout. This time Wales opted to go for goal
and Jarrod Evans stepped up to convert to give Wales a rather fortunate 24-23
win.
Wales now face New Zealand next weekend and can expect
no mercy as the All Blacks will be smarting from their defeat at Twickenham. As
if that is not challenging enough, Wales will then face the World Champions
South Africa the following weekend. This match is outside the international
window so they will probably not be able to field their English and French
based players or the injured Jac Morgan. Talk about mountains to climb this is
Everest times ten. I shall watch with trepidation.
This victory against Japan could quite probably be the
only time Wales win this season as the other teams in the Six nations’
Championship look significantly stronger than Japan. I fervently hope that this
is not the case and that the team use this win against Japan as a stepping stone
to better days.
Meanwhile Pooler have their own mountain to climb when
they return to action next Friday with a visit to Llandovery where they lost
twice last season. I am hoping that the break will have rejuvenated Pooler and
that they can come away with a win.
Come on Wales!
Come on Pooler!
