Tuesday 22 January 2013

The brutiful game

The recent snow meant that I was confined to barracks over the weekend for long periods. No worries, It thought, there is always the Heineken Cup rugby on the TV.
I watched a lot of rugby over the weekend  and was struck how lacking in charm and guile it all was. Yes of course the weather was not very good, but it all seemed to consist of oversize brutes clattering into each other. Whilst rugby has always been like this to some extent (and being from Pontypool I know that more than most) the Heineken Cup seems to bring out more of these tactics than any other rugby that you care to watch. This style of rugby is ideally suited to big thick-set specimens and the winners seem to be the teams who can invest in the biggest and best South Sea Islanders, South Africans or Argentinians. Once you have got a pile of these guys on the field and almost as importantly on the bench you can hold your own against anybody. Don't think that these guys are just the forwards but they can be found in the backs as well. Tactically you just batter away with these juggernauts until the other side gives away a penalty. This can be achieved at scrum, line out ruck and maul or even when the other side is attacking. It is attritional to the extreme and not at all entertaining to watch unless you happen to support either of the sides that are playing. As you might expect, injuries abound and and you really need a large squad to be competitive.
In addition to this, the game is littered with professional fouls, off the ball incidents and baffling refereeing decisions. Why would anyone other than a hardened rugby fan want to watch it?
The Heineken Cup is played at a time of year when the weather is often poor and pitches are often sodden. This means that trying to outwit the juggernauts with speed and guile is not an option. By the time the final comes around and the weather has improved the running sides have been steamrollered so the final is rarely the rugby showpiece it could be.
You might say this is all sour grapes as the Welsh Regions have clearly not been very good at this type of rugby. Shortage of funds has meant that they can no longer afford to recruit hired muscle. From a Welsh team perspective it is good that the regions are all eliminated from Eurpoean competition as any more injuries and we will need to get the Pontypool Front Row out of retirement.

Saturday 12 January 2013

Ebbw Vale in the pink


Pontypool welcomed high-flying Ebbw vale to a dank and cold Pontypool Park yesterday. I think most of the Pooler supporters saw this as a damage limitation exercise but also a good chance to measure the progress that the team had made over the season so far. Unfortunately the match demonstrated the considerable gulf between the two sides as Ebbw Vale stormed to a comprehensive 6-44 victory.
Ebbw Vale started the brighter and not just because of their strip that was vivid pink with light blue trimmings. For the first ten minutes or so, Pooler could not get their hands on their ball as Vale played powerful phase rugby. Pooler defended well and managed to protect their try line but conceded two penalties and were behind 0-6. These looked decidedly bleak for the home team but they found inspiration and for the next 20 minutes gave as good as they got and managed to draw level with two penalty goals. Was an upset on the cards? Not in Ebbw Vale's eyes and their powerful forwards began to turn the screw particularly in the scrum. Pooler were back on the defensive and the vistors' stronger and more cohesisve play led to two tries the second on the stroke of half time. The score at the interval stood at 6-18 which was perhaps a little flattering to the away side.
The second half proved to be very much one way traffic as Pooler wilted under the incessant pressure from Ebbw Vale. The end could not come quickly enough for the home supporters as the vistors seemed to score at will and racked up 26 points with no reply from Pooler. Tyler and Dyckoff tried hard for Pooler but there was no stemming the pink tide.
Ebbw Vale were stronger in all departments than Pontypool and the home side were left with no illusions about the gulf between them. As they say the league table never lies.

Ebbv Vale v Pontypool


Monday 7 January 2013

It could have been Pooler

I have just come back from a holiday and I was amazed to see Bedwas at the top of the Welsh Premiership. I seem to remember that we did the double over them last season and finished above them in the league table. It only goes to show what could have been possible had we not been demoted as we were clearly a better side than them at the end of last season.
Oh dear, I seem to have forgotten my new year resolution about not whinging about the injustice of 2012. Good luck to Bedwas, I hope they go on to win the league. What are all the Ospreys region clubs doing at the bottom of the table if that is the only true region?
Didn't manage to see Pontypool at Bargoed but the score seems to suggest a reasonable effort against the league leaders. Now looking forward to the visit of Ebbw vale on Saturday