Woeful Wales Walloped

I guess we all expected it. Wales were on the end of a thorough thrashing against South Africa in Cardiff yesterday. To lose at home by 0-73 is a massive defeat in anyone’s book. As someone once said, “Wales were lucky to get the nil”.

It was, quite frankly, horrible to sit in the stand with the other muted Welsh supporters as Wales were dismantled by fitter, stronger and better players. Admittedly Wales were well below full strength and this really was a mismatch right from the outset. South Africa were missing some front-line players as well but such is their current strength in depth it doesn’t really make that much of a difference. It is quite clear that the step up between playing for a Welsh Region and playing test rugby is huge.

The Springboks started by totally dominating the Welsh scrum as they had done in their match against Ireland. From there the penalties galore gave them all the possession and territory they could need. It was then down to the powerful running of forwards and backs alike which Wales just couldn’t contain. It was men against boys and one way traffic. Wales tried their utmost but just could not compete.

If I look back on the four Autumn internationals, which resulted in three heavy defeats and a rather fortunate win against Japan, the enormity of the job facing the new coaching team becomes very clear. The Six Nations is just around the corner and they will be without the inspiration of Jac Morgan for at least some of them. At this moment, it is hard to see where a Welsh victory is going to come from. I will be there to watch the home games and I will travel in hope rather than the expectation of positive results. The visits to Ireland and England are very tough nuts to crack I fear and will be watched from behind the sofa.

All this with a background of nothing short of chaos as the WRU endeavour to find a way forward for Welsh rugby. Although watching Pontypool is a little disappointing at the moment, it is a good way of getting my rugby fix as cleverer people than I try and sort out the mess that is regional rugby. Good luck to them!

Even More Pain in the Rain for Pooler

Pontypool were looking to bounce back after last week’s 44-24 defeat at Llandovery. The challenge they faced was a visit by arch-rivals Newport to Pontypool Park on a damp Friday evening.

The size of the crowd was disappointing when compared to the fierce encounters for these two sides over the years but perhaps the miserable weather had kept people away. Pooler had recently revealed the news that Dale “the Chief” Mackintosh had joined the coaching team to try and reverse the indifferent form that Pooler have shown so far this season.

Pooler played down the slope in the first half and started in grand style. An impressive first scrum found them applying early pressure. A lineout drive from inside the Newport twenty-two saw a powerful surge towards the line and when the backs added their weight Matthews crashed over for a try with just 7 minutes on the clock. Meek converted and Pooler had first blood at 7-0.

A few minutes later the boot was on the other foot as some powerful running from Newport took them deep inside the Pooler twenty-two. Pooler’s defence was hard pressed and in the end it gave out as Ward forced his way over for a try that Lloyd converted to bring the scores level (7-7) with 13 minutes played.

 

Back came Pooler and, as the first quarter ended, Meek danced over the line and touched down under the posts after concerted Pooler pressure in the Newport twenty-two. Meek converted his try and Pooler were back in the lead (14-7).

As the second quarter proceeded, the rain began to fall and handling became more difficult. The Pontypool lineout was misfiring too often and meant loss of possession at critical times. Newport posed Pooler with plenty of problems with their strong running. The match was evenly poised and the only score of the quarter came from a Lloyd penalty for the visitors. This gave Pooler a narrow 14-10 lead as the players trooped off for the half time break.

With Newport playing down the slope and with some help from the wind, Pooler’s lead looked precarious. It was going to take a big effort to stay in front.

Pooler started the second half well and looked full of determination. A penalty from Meek took them seven points clear at 17-10 after five minutes. The amount of rain falling increased as the half proceeded and on the Bank we were getting soaked. It brought to mind those recent defeats by RGC and Aberavon from seemingly winning positions in similar conditions.

As the strength of the rain increased, so did Newport’s control over the game. Lloyd at outside half controlled the game well with some astute kicking. Newport were soon camped in Pooler’s twenty-two and the pressure told as the home side conceded a number of penalties as they desperately defended their line. With a penalty advantage in his pocket, Lloyd fired a cross kick to Newport wing Morgan who touched down in the right corner. Lloyd converted expertly and the match was level again at 17-17 with 52 minutes played. To make matters worse Pooler lost flanker Davies to a yellow card at the same time.

Momentum was now very much with Newport. The usual raft of substitutions took place but it did not bring about the shift in momentum that Pooler craved. The Pooler lineout was still unreliable and they were conceding rather too many penalties to apply their own pressure on the visitors.

To their credit, Pooler’s defence worked overtime to keep Newport out but after 65 minutes the inevitable happened and Newport took the lead. This time it was Langley who scored a try after a long period of Newport pressure. Lloyd again converted and Newport had taken the lead for the first time at 17-24.

Pontypool were still within a converted try but, try as they may, they could not maintain any foothold in the Newport half. Newport, for their part, spurned a number of chances to kick for goal as they went in search of the try bonus point. Pooler’s defence effort was tremendous and the managed to repel all Newport’s attacking thrusts. In the end, pragmatism won for Newport and Lloyd kicked a simple penalty to put the away side two scores clear at 17-27 with a couple of minutes remaining.

The match ended with a tremendous attack from Pooler as they ran the ball from under their own posts. Jones took the ball into the Newport half with a mazy run. He found support but a kick ahead did not reap the rewards that Pooler deserved but did result in a penalty to Pooler. The penalty was quickly taken and led to nothing when perhaps a kick at goal might have been a better option. As it was, Pooler left the game with nothing which seemed a little hard after all the effort that they had expended. Final score Pontypool 17: Newport 27.

On the balance of play, Newport deserved to win as they managed the tricky conditions better and came on strong in the second half. Pooler never gave up and their defence was remarkable at times. The lineout would seem to be a key area for the Chief to start work on. I think Pooler lost 7 or 8 lineouts on their own throw in albeit in treacherous conditions.  This result now sees Pontypool back at the bottom of the league which does make disappointing reading, Let us hope the Chief can restore some confidence in the squad and that it would stop raining when Pooler play at home.

I am expecting more pain this afternoon as I travel to Cardiff to watch an understrength Wales take on an “understrength” South Africa. South Africa have so much strength in depth they will probably hardly notice the difference. I suppose the best we can hope for is something to show some promising signs in a heavy defeat rather like last Saturday against New Zealand. Playing tests outside the international window is not a great idea for Wales apart from the financial side perhaps.

Come on Wales!

Come on Pooler!

Wobbly Wales Win – Just

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!