No regions to be cheerful

I didn't make the long trek to Narbeth to watch Pontypool. As it turned out the Pooler lost 27-6 which was probably about as I would have expected. We remain rooted to the bottom of the Championship with only Whitalnd beneath us but I hope a few more wins are just around the corner
Instead of watching Pontypool I flicked between the Ospreys playing at Toulouse and the Scarlets hosting Exeter. A glutton for punshment I even watched a bit of the Blues against Montpelier the following day. All three games ended in defeats for the Welsh regions and in truth they never looked like winning any of them. My first observation was just how sparsely attended the two Welsh grounds were while the Toulouse ground was buzzing. Thankfully the Blues were not playing at the Cardiff City Stadium but at the more compact Arms Park and even then there were large empty spaces. What next I wonder? - downsize to Glamorgan Wanderers' ground perhaps. The Heineken Cup is meant to be the pinnacle of professional club rugby and it is a tragedy that home support is not more forthcoming . I am sure it didn't help that all three games were scheduled to be played at lunchtime and all were live on the TV. Remember that there were also empty seats at the Wales v Australia game and even at the Wales v All Blacks game. The marketing men need to take a good look at themselves. As I remember it, when formulating your market strategy you needed to consider a lot of things starting with P:

• Product - losing rugby never helps but the game seems to have lost its ability to entertain, Too many collpased scrums and musclular collisions instead of artistry. Too few genuinely exciting players - hardly any genuinely world class players ply their trade in Wales these days. The regional product is clearly failing in comparison to club soccer in Wales.
• Price - falling attendances are a sure sign that the price is too high particulary when the games are virtually all on the TV. It's surely better to have a full stadium at a lower price than swathes of empty seats. The Irish seem to be able to fill their grounds in a country that is even more affected by austerity.
• Place - regional rugby seems to be restricted to the M4 and has forgotten about the Welsh valleys. Perhaps if a region fails to achieve a set attendance target the franchise should be offered out to tenders. I would also add kick off times to place as they are not exactly user friendly.
• Promotion - I have to say I don't really come across much promotional activity for regional rugby. I hear that now and then tickets are given away in supermarkets. The stuff on the TV and radio for Wales games is irritating to say the least. No one has yet persuaded me to go and watch the Dragons.

I hope that the new board or whatever it is going to be called will not just argue about money but will try and fertilise the dying grass roots of the game in Wales. The feelgood factor from last season is rapidly disappearing. The statistics speak for themselves - Wales have lost seven games in a row and there has only been one Welsh regional victory in the Heineken Cup. If I add to this Pontypool have only managed to win once it's looking like a long hard season!

Wales need to persuade the fat lady to sing earlier

You could almost hear Victor Meldrew saying' 'I don't believe it,' when the Aussies snatched victory against Wales in the last seconds yet again.
I felt a bit like dear old Victor as I sat through the pre-match "entertainment". You used to be uplifted by Welsh coral singing but this eeems to have become increasingly marginalised in favour of loud and discordant fanfares from the p.a. system interspersed with even louder advetrs on the big screen. The loudness of the p.a. system means that wehn they actually allow the choir to sing your hearing cannot take in the harmonies. Nevertheless the National Anthem was belted out with all its usual fervour and still makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I hope that they will never decide to slip an advert in between the first and second verses although I'm sure that someone has thought about it..
I suppose we had better get back to the match. These are two evenly matched teams who try and play a similar style of rugby. Suffice it to say that two very strong defences were on top with line breaks few and far between. Wales had two chances to score from breaks from their own 22 but didn't take them and Australia with the last move of the game took their chance at the death. It was exciting stuff with the lead changing hands through penalties throughout the game. Wales really wanted this victory and carried on in a similar vein to the second half against the All Blacks . At 12-9 up, with under two minutes left and with a lineout right on the Aussie line you almost felt convinced that Wales could win. Memories of the matches in Australia this summer came flooding back and it somehow seemed inevitable that Australia would find a way to come back. The nervousness of the crowd was palpable and must surely have been felt by the players. The rest as they say is history.
Maybe those wizards who operate that fantastic p.a. system could blast out some music by a fat lady with a minute or so to go. Maybe we could have a choir of fat ladies in the stand ready for these kind of eventualities.
I still don't believe it.

Pontypool Met Their Match

Pontypool took on Cardiff Metropolitan University on a bitterly cold November night at Pontypool Park. For Pontypool the only thing that shone brightly was the floodlights as they suffered yet another defeat.
Pooler played down the slope in the first half and after their usual lively start surrendered territory to the visitors who spent long periods in the home 22.The Pooler defence held firm, however, and the students failed to capitalise on two kickable penalties. Pontypool did manage a penalty in a rare sortie into Cardiff Met territory to lead 3-0 at half time.
The second half started in a similar vein with the visitors quickly gaining territorial advantage and testing the resolute Pooler defence with their pacy backs. The students hit the post twice with two further penalty attempts and must have started to feel it wasn't going to be thier night.The turning point of the match was when Faletau was sin binned following a fracas. Shortly afterwards the students were awarded a penalty try following repeated Pooler infringements close to their line to lead 3-7. This was followed by an unconverted try in the corner when the home defence was outflanked. Pooler closed the gap with another penalty and with the score 6-12 were still in touch. The home side then enjoyed a long period of possession but too often went across the field without going forward. On the rare occasions that they manged a line break there was nobody in support to take an offload. In truth, Pooler never looked like scoring a try against a well-organised Cardiff Met defence. To make matters worse the students scored another try when their scrum half crossed from short range and with the conversion this gave them an unassailable lead of 6-19. Pooler huffed and puffed for the remainder of the game but never really threatened so that was the final score.
Pontypool may now be in a much stronger position financially but there is a long way to go if they are to strengthen their position in the league.

Wales Sink in Black Sea

I went to Cardiff to watch Wales take on the All Blacks. All the talk before the game was hoping that we could hold them to 30 point victory - no talk of us beating them. Some pessimistic forecasts even suggested losing by 50+ points.  In the end a 10-33 result seems OK on paper then.
It was a strange game because we have grown used to holding the All Blacks for an hour or so and then being overwhelmed in the last quarter. In this game the All Blacks stormed to an unassailable lead of 0-33 in the first hour with Wales nowhere. True were not helped by early injuries - the one to Bradley Davies leaving a particularly bitter taste in the mouth. We all feared the worst but fortunately the All Blacks coasted a bit and let us back into the game. Their minds were probably on the England game next week. This gave Wales the chance to sieze the intiative and score a couple of tries - one from a rather bizarre 15 man lineout.
I have to say the All Blacks despite their unquestionable talent are a ruthless and cynical team who would probably stop at nothing to win. You can admire their skill but it is difficult to like them.
Wales now have to beat Australia next week to stay in the top eight seeds for the World Cup. I wonder which Autralia will turn up? Knowing our luck it will be the A team.
Good news for Pooler with our benefactor Peter Jeffries making a huge contribution to settling our debts. A big thank you must go to him. Let's hope we can now put the issues of the last year or so behind us and move forward.

Glam rock Pontypool

An encounter between two teams locked together towards the bottom of the Championship was never likely to be a high quality affair. Glamorgan Wanderers were the visitors to Pontypool Park - two teams that had known better days but both struggling to find something to lift the gloom.
The match was a very even but scrappy affair. Pooler had the stronger ball carriers with Adam Brake particularly prominent but Wanderers had the pacier backs and looked dangerous on the counter attack. In the end it was the opportunism of the Wanderers backs that won the day.
Pooler scored first as has become normal and built up a 10 point lead with a converted try from a 5 metre scrum and a penalty. Wanderers hit back with their own converted try folllowing loose play from Pooler. The score of 10-7 at half time meant that it was anyone's game with the Pooler Park slope favouring the visitors in the second half.
The second half was as scrappy as the first with both sides making far too many errors. The Wanderers, however, looked the most likely to score as the Pooler players seemed to tire. There was an exchange of penalty goals to make the score 13-10 - could Pooler hang on?. After squandering a number of chances the visitors eventually scored the only try of the half with Griffiths crossing in the corner after brushing aside the Pooler defence. Try as they might Pooler could not respond leaving the final score 13-17 and another narrow home defeat.
After the abject performance by Wales the previous evening, the weekend was going from bad to worse for Pooler fans. The only bit of cheer was the news that Australia had beaten England - clutching at straws or what!

Are Wales becoming the new England?

Watching Wales play rugby over the last week or so, I was struck by the similarity of the level of performance to that of the English team at the Rugby World Cup. There is a lack of the teamwork and passion that were the hallmarks of the successful Welsh sides. Fortunately we have not yet had the off the field indiscipline that followed for England in New Zealand.

Do these observations look familiar?:

·         Professional teams and the Rugby Union at loggerheads.

·         Professional teams underperforming in the Heineken Cup

·         Senior players taking the money to play in France.

·         Players more worried about their wallets than taking care of business on the field.

·         An ex-player as head coach.

·         Loyalty to players who are obviously out of form.

·         The guys at the top seemingly out of touch with what is really going on.

I think you would agree that these points ring true in Wales. We could also add that we have the problem of low attendances at Regional level leading to lack of money.

At the same time England could be the new Wales with new found passion, belief and confidence after shedding a lot of dead wood. Is there a lesson in that?

Always remember to defrost thoroughly

One of the first things you learn about using a deep freeze is that you should defrost the meat thoroughly before you use it. I have just watched the Welsh team play Argentina and they certainly looked stiff and slow. By coincidence they have just spent some time in cryogenic chambers in Poland. It's just a thought!

I must admit that I felt quite annoyed when I heard the pundits telling us that Wales would win at least three of the Autumn internationals. Having had the misfortune of watching a fair bit of regional rugby on the TV, it was clear that most of the team hadn't been playing well on an individual basis. Even most of the French exports had been struggling to hold down a first team place. What made anyone think that they would come togther as a team and recapture some of the magic that we saw last season? Of course we still could win three of the autumn internationals but I wouldn't stake much of personal wealth on that.

There was a lot of hot air about the Price Waterhouse Cooper report on the state of Welsh rugby. I don't know how much the WRU paid for it but it was hardly earth shattering. In true consultant style they had basically rehashed what everyone already knew - the regions have not got enough cash to compete with the money men in France. Answer - persuade some kind fellows to give them more money. This is hardly a sustainable business model. I did notice that there was even a suggestion to go back to club rugby. That would possibly increase the overall numbers watching but it wouldn't lift the Heineken Cup if that is the measure of success.

So the  issues with Welsh rugby could be summarised as: a shortage of money, players leaving to go where they can earn more money and last year's coach absent. Does this sound familiar? It should do as this is where Pontypool were left by the WRU. At least Wales haven't been demoted  - yet.

Congratulations to Mako Vunipola for playing for England. Those years growing up in Pontypool must have done him good.