The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The good news is that Pontypool recorded a hard fought victory over Tata Steel on a cold, grey and windy afternoon at Pontypool Park.

Pooler got off to a fast start playing down the slope when lock Jones crossed after some good interplay by the backs and forwards. There was a strong cross wind that made kicking difficult to judge and the try went unconverted. The home team continued to press and increased their lead when, following a lineout on the visitor’s 22 metre line, Norton took a well-timed pass by Mills at pace to slice through and score without a hand being laid on him. The successful conversion gave Pooler a handy 12-0 lead. Tata stormed back and showed that they had plenty of pace in their back line but it was the power of their pack that paved the way for an unconverted try. Pooler almost immediately responded when loose head prop Prosser scored a try after an attempted relieving kick was charged down near the away team’s line. The successful conversion increased the lead to 19-5. The last score of an entertaining first half was a penalty for Tata that closed the gap to 19-8.

In the second half, Tata emerged with real purpose and began to dominate possession and territory with their scrum getting on top. They hammered away at the Pooler line for about 15 minutes but the home defence somehow managed to keep them out. Very much against the run of play, Pooler managed to escape from their 22 for Mills to kick a penalty and increase the lead to 22-8. The play returned to the Pooler 22 but Tata still couldn’t manage to cross the line despite their best efforts. It was left to Taylor to hammer the final nail in the coffin when he scored Pooler’s bonus point try after a kick and chase.

This was another gutsy performance from Pontypool who once again took their chances and scrambled well in defence. Hopefully the team will continue to develop and we can look forward to a successful new year and a top three finish in the Championship.

So on to the bad and the ugly but I will let you choose whether it is the WRU or the Welsh regional rugby teams that are bad and ugly.

So the Welsh regions have finally realised that Welsh rugby needs to be saved. They didn’t seem to be the least bothered when the WRU funding of the smaller clubs spiralled downwards as they frittered away money on second rate overseas players rather than helping the clubs any distance away from the M4 to develop their own. A lot of people warned that the roots of the game in Wales were being irreparably damaged in large swathes of the country as they were starved of funds. Small wonder that, after a while, the other parts of the tree are feeling the effect. If we are not careful the whole lot will collapse and have a major negative impact on the national team.

We currently seem to have just enough high class players to be competitive at test level in Europe but it wouldn’t take too many injuries before we would start to struggle. The exodus of our top players to France and England will surely lead to more injuries as they are forced to play week in week out in a far tougher league than they are used to.

The regions have recently launched a Protect Our Game campaign but perhaps it should be Develop Our Game. This not only sounds more forward-looking but the acronym also sums up the performance of the regions as businesses.

The regional product has never really worked in Wales as the results in the Heineken Cup and the poor attendances at home games clearly seem to indicate. The Welsh are a parochial race and we like local derbys and the only time the regions get decent crowds is when the play other Welsh regions - perhaps there is clue there.

In order to be competitive we hear, the regions need even more money to spend on players’ wages. This of course will just serve to fuel the upward spiral of player wages in Europe and we will inevitably end up in the same position as we are now but paying higher wages to even more mediocre overseas players as we can surely not compete with the deep pockets in England and France for the best players. Since there is no extra money available something else would have to suffer and I don’t suppose it would be the wages of the WRU staff but more likely the clubs again.

So what can we do?

The regions answer seems to be to bully the WRU into submission by getting popular support for their demands and threatening to go and play in England. They even talk about getting politicians involved but this is surely the kiss of death for any campaign. Could the WRU just cast the regions adrift and let them play in England like our major soccer teams? If they did that what would be the impact on the national team? This of course means that the WRU relinquishes control of the top players but at least they wouldn’t have to subsidise their wages.

From the WRU perspective, there is talk of central contracts for a small number of key players to keep them in Wales but they will need to pay big bucks to be competitive - even Ireland could not persuade Sexton to stay when the French came calling. There therefore doesn’t seem to be any point in wasting even more money in this way particularly when the regions may not even give these players a game. Then there was the empty WRU threat to players that they would not be picked for Wales if they played outside Wales. It soon became clear that this was not practical as the exodus of players gathered pace.

If you add to this standoff the uncertainty surrounding the Heineken Cup then you indeed have a recipe for disaster. I think it was Richard Burton who said that if you put a Welshman in a room with a hundred doors he would leave through the only one marked self-destruct and he should know. So it is no surprise that it seems to be the way that Welsh rugby is heading.

What would I do? I think that I would bring in the highly developed interpersonal skills of Vincent Tan to sort things out

Wind of Change

A visit to local rivals Newbridge is a good way to measure the progress that Pontypool have made this season. It has never been an easy place to get a positive result as Pooler found out last season when they were roundly trounced. We anticipated a fiercely contested local derby and were not disappointed.

Pontypool won the toss and elected to play with the strong breeze that was blowing up the valley. They started in a similar vein to the way that they played against Tondu with the backs looking sharp and wing James soon crossed in the corner for an excellent try. Mills converted expertly from the touch line and the away team took a 0-7 lead. As you would expect, Newbridge were stung into action and although they had plenty of possession the Pontypool defence looked strong and they were able to win turnovers and use the wind to send the home team back into their half. In the set pieces the Pooler scrum seemed to have the edge although the wind made the lineouts a bit of a lottery. From a scrum won against the head, Pontypool attacked at pace and after some incisive back play Thorley scored a try that was converted by Mills. Newbridge continued to have the lion’s share of possession but the away defence stood firm even when they were reduced to 14 men following the sin-binning of Organ. With the last play of the first half, the Pontypool backs had another chance to show what they could do and James crossed after some strong running from full back Taylor. The conversion failed but at half time Pontypool held a useful 0-19 lead. The first half had been an object lesson in clinical finishing.

The second half was a bad tempered affair and was dominated both in terms of territory and possession by Newbridge. The strong breeze of the first half increased in ferocity and the away side were pinned for long periods in their own half. Frustration frequently boiled over and the two scrum halves were yellow-carded for fighting before Pooler lock Davies was red-carded for rashly kicking out at an opponent. Newbridge turned their domination into points and scored three good tries but only converted one of them. This left the score at 17-19 and it looked more than likely that the rampant home side would take the spoils in the closing minutes. The weather had deteriorated with torrential rain in addition to the gale force wind blowing into the away team’s faces making it even more difficult for Pontypool to clear their lines. Somehow Pooler managed to hold on against all the odds in a desperate finish.

This was character-building stuff for Pontypool and no one can doubt their commitment and will to win but ill-discipline could so easily have cost them the match. A top three finish in the league would be an excellent outcome for the season and it should be possible if they can keep playing with this amount of heart and get the backs running at the opposition. Pooler have two home games coming up against Tata Steel and Beddau. Let’s hope we can finish 2013 in style.

There is a wind of change blowing through Welsh rugby but I am none the wiser of where it will take us. Part of me just wishes that the regions would go and play in England and let the WRU concentrate their efforts and money on the development of players through the traditional club structure in Wales. This would leave something like the situation with football but you really wouldn’t want the national rugby team to follow the path of the national football team. I just hope someone manages to sort something out soon as the Heineken Cup has again produced some great matches this weekend. 

Unfortunately unless the Blues can produce a minor miracle at Toulon, I fear the only Welsh interest in the latter stages of this season’s competition will be whether Nigel Owens referees the final and how many pints they sell in the Millennium Stadium in May.

On a positive note, there does still seem to be plenty of young talent playing for the regions and they are certainly being blooded as the established players emigrate. If only there was an under-21 Heineken Cup (perhaps the Shandy Cup!) we might have a chance of winning something.

Does anyone know if there is a rugby equivalent of ACAS or do we need to ask Tony Blair to sort it out?

  

Normal Service Is Resumed

It was a joy to get away from the angst and over-analysis that characterises the Autumn internationals and return to normality. Normality in this case is watching Pontypool locking horns with Tondu at Pontypool Park. We didn’t have to worry whether our defence was blitz, drift, or scramble and fret about gain line success and tackle counts. Here we just had two sides going at each other with all out attacking intent and it was all the more enjoyable for that. The quality of the game was certainly improved by an excellent referee on an exchange visit from England who helped the game to flow. All too often in rugby these days the referee has the ability to kill a game as a spectacle.

Pooler playing up the slope started the match with attacking verve and looked set to blow Tondu away. They quickly established a 13 point lead through a well executed converted try and two penalties. The home half backs were controlling the game skilfully and it looked ominous for the visitors. As often happens though, Pooler relaxed and Tondu seized the opportunity to show what they could do. Whilst Pooler’s attacking threat came from the backs, for Tondu it was a strong driving maul. The second 20 minutes really belonged to the away side and they dominated territory and possession. It was no more than they deserved that they closed the gap to 3 points with a converted try and a penalty. With the score 13-10 at the end of an enjoyable first half, the result seemed to be very much in the balance.

The second half, however, turned out to be a pretty one-sided affair with Pontypool firmly in control. At times they played some scintillating rugby with Mills, having one of his best games for Pontypool, at the heart of things. Their most potent attacking weapon was the strong attacking thrusts by Taylor from full back who really was too hot for Tondu to handle. An early yellow card for Tondu seemed to give Pooler all the impetus they needed and they ran in three more converted tries and a penalty to run out convincing victors 40-10. Tondu never gave up and deserved something for their efforts but the home defence held firm despite some late pressure.

It was good to see Pontypool back to their best after a shaky period and let’s hope that they can carry it forward to next week when they take on the “Blue Pigs” of Newbridge in what is sure to be a tough local derby.

The Heineken Cup saga goes on and on and it now seems inevitable that it will be Welsh rugby that will suffer most. I cannot think for one moment that a court case will help anyone except perhaps the lawyers. It is almost unbelievable that the most successful club rugby tournament ever is likely to be grossly devalued next year by greed and pig-headedness. It’s a wonder that anyone would want to sponsor a rugby tournament going forward.

I haven’t seen much of the current round of Heineken Cup matches but I did catch a bit of Northampton v Leinster and it now seems quite obvious why the English teams want to avoid the Irish next year. The Irish players certainly look strong this season and I think I might put a few quid on them to win the Six Nations.

They say that Heineken reaches the parts that others don’t - what price Pooler representing Wales in the Heineken Cup next season? 

North South Divide

So here we go again, it’s the next instalment in the long running soap opera that is Wales v Australia rugby matches - Neighbours meets Pobl Y Cwm. The one thing that we can be sure of is a cliffhanging ending. The only trouble is we always seem to be able to guess what the outcome will be no matter how they get to the edge of the cliff.

In truth, for most of this match, the two teams were poles apart with Australia decidedly superior. Fortunately Wales had the North Star to guide them and that kept them in the game. North’s long range try and a Halfpenny penalty gave them an unlikely lead in the opening exchanges even though they barely had the ball.

For the next hour it was all Australia as they turned a 10 point deficit to a 14 point lead. Sitting behind the posts, it was alarming to see how Cooper managed to orchestrate overlaps with ease. The Australians were certainly helped by some indifferent kicking from Wales plus a pretty ropey Welsh line out but they have classy backs who are always looking to offload. A combination of, at times, inspirational defence plus a few missed chances kept the deficit to 14 points. In truth it could have been a lot more although some would argue that it should actually have been less as the referee awarded Australia a try from what looked like a clear forward pass.

In the nature of this fixture, Wales were bound to come back and come back they did. Cue George North and he didn’t disappoint slicing through to score under the posts. The converted try and a penalty closed the gap to just 4 points and the momentum swung to Wales. Australia were reduced to 14 men by a yellow card and Wales pressed hard. Could Wales do a Southern Hemisphere and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? You guessed the answer. Wales are not the All Blacks and lacked the precision and patience to set up a winning score and the score remained 26-30.

So yet another failure against one of the big three Southern Hemisphere teams. More hard luck stories and all those injuries too. It's the same old story when it comes down to it we are just not good enough.

Perhaps we just need a new script writer.

PS

Last week I was moaning about the scrums, well wasn’t it refreshing to watch a game with so few scrums. It’s almost like a different game.

No, I’m still not going to comment on the Heineken Cup debacle - at least not until I understand it (and that might take a while!)