It Ain’t Half Hot Mun

I have to admit I didn’t make the trip to Llandovery for Pooler’s latest warm up game. By all accounts, it was a real gutsy performance from Pontypool to come from behind and snatch a 14-19 win against Premiership opposition in very hot weather. Preparations for the new season are clearly going well. I am really looking forward to some stern tests against Championship opposition in the months to come.

This hot weather has meant that I have not been sleeping too well. Last night was no exception and I had a terrible nightmare. I dreamt that the WRU had decided to reduce the Premiership to just ten clubs for the 2023-24 season and that it would be ringfenced until eternity.

If this was not bad enough, in the next part of the dream someone from the WRU was saying, “Congratulations Mr. Jones we have decided to give you the job of sorting out Welsh rugby. There is just one proviso Pontypool must never play in the Premiership.”

As you can imagine, I awoke in a cold sweat. Fortunately, the second part of the dream will never come true but as to the first part???

Well done Pooler. We shall prevail!

Pooler Warm Up in Style

 Pontypool’s first warm up game before the start of what should be a really competitive new season was at Bristol based Dings Crusaders. The Crusaders have a magnificent set up with large modern clubhouse and three rugby pitches on the outskirts of Bristol. It was a really warm summer afternoon and the match was played on an artificial pitch so all was set for an entertaining encounter. The game was played as three periods with copious substitutions which were quite difficult to keep track of.

The first twenty minutes were scrappy as both sides found their feet. Pontypool took time to acclimatize to the conditions and the foibles of the referee and gave away too many penalties. Dings were probably looking the more likely to score but the Pontypool defence was strong and rebuffed all their efforts.

All this changed when Pooler scored a brilliant try from their own twenty two when good passing gave the threequarters a chance to run. After some excellent support play, it was Garin Price who got the touch down for a try that was converted by Jarvis (0-7). A few minutes later the Pooler backs again found the left edge and this time it was Lewis who scored after a dummy following excellent running (0-12).

The forwards were also beginning to get the upper hand and the first period ended with two tries from the pack with Scarfe and Matthews touching down. Neither try was converted but Pooler were well on top at 0-22.

The second period saw much of the same from a now completely dominant Pontypool side. Both sides made substitutions but the outcome remained the same. Pooler continued to rack up the points as the home side struggled to contain their all-action style. It really was brilliant stuff at times from Pooler as they hit their straps after the long lay off. Forward power led to tries by Sweet and Price. Excellent offloading and linking between forwards and backs led to tries for Davies, Stratton and Thomas. Jarvis found his kicking boots and converted four of the five tries and the score had sped to 0-55.

Understandably in the third period on such a hot day Pooler’s performance fell away a bit and let the home side back into the game. Substitutes came and went and the game became much more of a contest. Dings scored two converted tries as their pack gained a foothold in the Pooler twenty two and closed the gap to 14-55.

This stung Pooler into action and they responded with tries from Babos and a second for Davies both converted by Jarvis to stretch the lead to 14-69. It was left to the home side to bring the curtain down on proceedings with a try from a driving maul. Final score Dings Crusaders 21 Pontypool 69.

This really was a fantastic opening salvo from Pontypool with new and existing squad members joining together to play rugby that was breathtaking at times. Yes, there are far tougher encounters coming up down the line when conditions will be far more difficult but this was a great start.

The next test will be a friendly at Llandovery next Saturday who will surely prove to be much stiffer opposition.

It’s great to be back!

Come on Pooler!

 

Decision Day Down South

 Super Saturday cum Decision Day has come and gone and another marathon on the couch. Rugby overload combined with golf and cycling – Duw it’s hard!

At the end of it all, Ireland and England grabbed series wins against New Zealand and Australia respectively so well done to them. Sadly Wales and Scotland came off second best In South Africa and Argentina respectively.

Even though I have a new slimline plaster on my broken wrist, it is still hard work to type so I will revert to my doggerel.

Decision Day

The Irish started in irresistible form

Then they weathered the All Blacks’ storm

Irish power has been much too much

The All Blacks sadly out of touch

 

Eddie’s men hung in there in tough

Aussie flair was just not enough

There’s now no point in turning up

England already won the next World Cup

 

Well done Wales, you did your best

But it’s Springbok power that won the test

Too many penalties, not enough ball

The Boks on top in scrum and maul

Any win for Wales seemed pie in the sky

So they come back home with heads held high

 

Scotland built a substantial lead

But the Pumas are a feisty breed

Their attitude is, “never say die”

And they took the spoils with a last ditch try

 

Wales made South Africa work really hard with the 30-14 win perhaps a little flattering to the Boks. The late withdrawal of Faletau and Anscombe were big blows it’s true but the forward power of the Boks was the deciding factor. The Welsh backs looked threatening when they had the ball but possession and territory were in short supply. Wales looked tired after three tests in a row while most of the South Africa team had been rested the previous week.

No one gave Wales a ghost of a chance in South Africa so to win one test is a positive outcome. The team selection seems to be settling down and Tommy Reffell looks to have cemented his place.

Well done Wales you are not as bad as the doubters thought you were.

Northern Delights

I am still afflicted by that pesky broken wrist so another shortish blog. The broken wrist is a decent excuse for spending quality time on the couch however. This means I watched all four rugby matches from the Southern Hemisphere. In stark contrast to last Saturday, our boys done good. It was a clean sweep of victories for North over South. Most notable were first ever victories for Ireland in New Zealand and, yes, Wales in South Africa.

As last week, to cut the blog short I am turning to doggerel with some indulgence for Wales. So here we go:

Northern Delights

All Black discipline is not the best,

A rampant Ireland storm the test.

 

England start well, like a runaway train,

Back come Oz but there’s penalty pain.

 

The Boks and Wales are firing blanks,

The viewers are thinking “Rugby no thanks”

With kicks the Boks gain a slender lead.

Minutes left, “Go Wales” the faithful plead.

At last Wales awakens, it’s not all done,

A try and conversion, by jingo they’ve won.

 

A scrappy first half under Argentine skies,

Then Scotland pull clear with some excellent tries.

 

Well Wales pulled off a last ditch 12-13 victory with a try by Adams converted from the touchline by Anscombe. It was a low quality, scrappy test match but who cares Wales have at last won in South Africa. A great defensive performance against what was a bit of a makeshift Springboks outfit with the back row outstanding.

That has levelled up the series but Wales can expect a really tough match next weekend when the World Champions will surely be at full strength. We’ve done it once so why not repeat it.

Come on Wales

A Bard Day for the North

I have rather unfortunately broken my left wrist so typing is very laborious. I sat through four games of international rugby yesterday as the pride of the Northern Hemisphere took on the strength of the Southern Hemisphere. As you will all know by now, it was four defeats out of four for the home nations.

As it is difficult to type I will make this short using (bad) rhyme.

 

Summer Internationals Week 1

 

Ireland start well and think they’re in clover,

But all too soon the All Blacks take over.

 

It should be England’s as the Aussies see red,

But it’s still the home side that leaves them for dead.

 

Yellow card fever and a kick that fails,

The Boks sneak home but well played Wales.

 

Argentinian beef is exceedingly tough,

Scotland try hard but it isn’t enough.

 

For the record Wales, lost 32-29 to South Africa with a last-minute penalty from the Springboks costing a draw. Wales exceeded all expectations and confounded the critics but in the end it was their discipline that tipped the scales against them. A whole lot of positives though after the Italian disaster. I hope Thomas Francis recovers quickly as he took a nasty looking bump.

Hard luck Wales but well done. Let’s go one better next weekend.

Rugby Blues

The rugby season just seems to go on and on although for us Pooler fans it has been over for some time. It was very stop start but I did enjoy the paltry amount of rugby played. Once again congratulations to Bargoed for winning the Championship and we look forward to locking horns next season. From an overall a Welsh perspective though, things seem to go from bad to worse.

At international level Wales had a very poor 6 Nations which ended in the ignominy of a home defeat by Italy. They now face the daunting prospect of a summer tour to South Africa. I hear that Wayne Pivac & co have “lost the dressing room”. It is just as well that he has used up enough players to fill three dressing rooms then. The Welsh public certainly seem completely baffled by his selection policy where one minute a player is deemed world class only for a few days later to be discarded. A tour to the home of the current world champions does seem rather foolhardy at the moment. Only on Saturday evening I saw the potential Wales starting front five shunted back in the scrum while playing for the Ospreys against the Bulls. I can only hope that the Wales management team know what they are doing as it is not very obvious to this observer. There was little encouragement at under 20 level either where the team performed equally poorly.

At regional level it has been a very barren season for all the Welsh regions. They just don’t seem to be competitive any more despite the WRU “encouraging” most of the Welsh test players to play in Wales. On Friday there was a home defeat for the Ospreys by the Bulls coupled with a really embarrassing bollocking for Cardiff in Treviso. This was followed up by home defeats for the Scarlets and Dragons by South African opposition on Saturday. This means that none of the regions have finished in the top half of the URC table something that would be unheard of only a few years ago. “Not enough cash,” comes the bleat but this no excuse for poor attitude on the field.

So what are we going to do? Reducing the number of regions to three has of course come back on the agenda. As I have said in a previous post, in my experience (best part of 40 years in the steel industry) cutbacks only lead to more cutbacks and never to future growth. Without question it will reduce the number of players and spectators. Bringing back Welsh players playing outside Wales to Wales is hardly going to help as they turn out for their region infrequently while commanding a hefty wage.  There surely has to be a way of organising and marketing the game so that it better includes the whole swathes of Wales north of the M4 – how do the Irish manage it, how do they do it in New Zealand? I like to believe that the Welsh nation is still passionately interested in rugby but I fear that the love affair is waning fast. It is far easier to half watch the games on telly while playing with the i pad than to head off for an inconvenient journey for a late kick off to watch a disappointing outcome. The current cost of living pressures are hardly going to help the situation. Somehow we must make four regions/clubs work financially otherwise the game at pro level will shrivel on the vine.

The game at community level is also in disarray with the constant tinkering with the league structure. The season has been disrupted by Covid it is true but the number of unfulfilled fixtures for other reasons has become a worrying trend. I may be biased but I find that rugby at Premiership and Championship level has been competitive and most enjoyable to watch. While the skill levels are not the highest, there are no enormous egos and the players give their all and they do kick off at 2.30 on a Saturday afternoon for the most part. There is also the jeopardy of promotion and relegation (sometimes!) which adds interest. Again, there is talk of reducing the size of the Premiership to improve the standard – yet more negativity.

Can we please put the future of Welsh rugby in the hands of someone with a positive outlook who is likely to stay until things get better before it is too late. Wales is synonymous with rugby to the rest of the world yet we cannot seem to capitalise on the strength of our brand. 

The Season Limps to a Close

 

The Championship season has limped to a conclusion amidst a flurry of cancelled fixtures. The WRU has decided that no points will be awarded if fixtures are not fulfilled as is normal practice. This means that Bargoed are crowned champions and congratulations to them. What should have been a closely fought battle at the end of the season has turned into a damp squib. I think that the defeat that Pontypool suffered at the hands of Bargoed makes them deserved champions. It is just a real shame that we could not have rounded off the season with the matches against Ystalyfera (original match abandoned due to a serious injury) and Beddau ( not prepared to play).

 

 

Bargoed                                  13        12        0          1          56

Neath                                      13        11        0          2          53

Pontypool                                11        9          0          2          46

Bedwas                                   12        9          0          3          41

Narberth                                  12        7          0          5          35

Cardiff Met                               13        7          0          6          34

Cross Keys                              11        5          0          6          26

Maesteg Quins                        12        5          0          7          25

Ystrad Rhondda                      10        4          0          6          19

Glamorgan Wanderers            12        4          0          8          18

Trebanos                                 10        3          0          7          13

Tata Steel                                12        1          0          11        8

Ystalyfera                                 8          1          0          7          7

Beddau                                     9          1          0          8          5  

 

There is much turmoil in Welsh rugby with the suggestion that the number of regions should be reduced from four to three. Having worked in the steel industry and watched the decline of it in Wales, it seems to me that if we are not careful rugby will follow in its footsteps. I know rugby is not exactly an industry but we seem to be treating it as such. Rugby is much more about emotion as it is actually a game. Professionalism has done it few favours.

.I wrote this piece almost exactly ten years ago. I reread it to check what I had written and what had changed since. Sadly it seems not a lot has changed!

 

So the WRU are worried about falling attendances at Rugby matches. It should come as no surprise to them because no thought has been given to the person who braves the elements and actually wants to watch a game in the flesh.

At the international level, admission prices have soared and the average rugby fan does not think it is a bargain to have to travel on overcrowded trains or pay exorbitant car parking fees to mix with the drunken hordes that gather in Cardiff. As a debenture holder, I still attend every home match but, rugby apart, the enjoyment is waning. It is evident to me that the people who actually watch rugby at club level and have attempted to understand the ever more complicated laws of the game are in the minority. This is evidenced by the shouting and bawling of absurd comments often using foul language. On top of this a large proportion of the match is taken up either letting people pass with trays of drink or inevitably making a trip to empty overflowing bladders. The WRU would argue that they still manage to fill the ground for most matches so why worry.

            At the regional level, attendances are generally lower than English Premiership and in Irish Provinces and the majority of games take place in cavernous stadia with little atmosphere. It is a wonder that the TV companies do not feel the need to dub on canned crowd noise. We have ended up with four regional franchises that are divided into two pairs with stadia that are only separated by about ten miles. The games are played on an ever-changing mixture of days and kick off times to suit the TV and of course virtually all are televised live. Most fans I talk to would prefer to plan their lives around attending a rugby match on a Saturday afternoon. The concentrated nature of the locations of the regional teams and their reluctance to travel to play in other parts of their region means that the regional teams are restricting their fan-base. With games televised, high admission prices, rising fuel costs and limited parking it is no wonder that fans are quite content to watch at home or in the local pub. If this was not bad enough, two of the regions are based in soccer dominated cities where they will always come a poor second in terms of attendances. One of the joys of attending rugby matches was the chance to mingle with opposition fans but away attendance has also dwindled with the RaboDirect Pro League.