Wales Wails Yet Again

So more heartbreak for Wales against a Southern Hemisphere giant. Wales played very well but still contrived to lose narrowly to the Springboks in the second test in South Africa. It was a far better performance than in the first test with Wales on top and leading for the vast majority of the time. They leaked 14 points in the last ten minutes of each half which pegged back substantial leads and in the end cost them the game.

It’s funny how things change. JPR Williams became a hero for doing precisely the same last ditch bit of defensive work against France to secure the Grand Slam all those years ago as his namesake Liam Williams did yesterday. JPR was feted while Liam Williams will be remembered as the man who gave away the penalty try that lost the match. Wales actually conceded two penalty tries, one in each half and in both cases we would have been better off just letting the Boks score. In the first case we wouldn’t have been down to thirteen men and in the second Steyn might just have missed that conversion from the touchline. Was I alone in thinking that we should have used our replacements far earlier in an energy-sapping and ferocious encounter? Anyway, well done lads it was an excellent effort shame we couldn’t hang on.

I was amazed to learn that we have so much confidence in Messrs Lewis and Pickering. I suppose it depends on what you mean in confidence. I, for one, am quite confident that they will very soon be back to their old autocratic ways and not taking on board other interested parties’ views. Did I hear that the WRU were actually going to consult with the clubs about changes to the league structure as a thank you for sticking with them? Maybe, just maybe they have turned, over a new leaf. We’ll see!

The EGM was held on the 15th of June and it is interesting to note that this was the same date that the Magna Carta was signed in 1215. The aim of the Magna Carta was to limit the powers of King John by law and to protect the citizens’ rights. I was somehow hoping for a Magna Carta moment for Welsh rugby where we clipped the wings of Lewis and Pickering. I guess David Moffett was not the right guy to choose as our white knight. It sounds as if Gerald Davies was the only man who spoke any sense at the meeting although Roger Lewis didn’t seem to think so.

Talking of Carta, I was delighted to hear that Alun Carter will be Pontypool’s new Director of Rugby. Good luck to him and his team for the forthcoming season whatever the league structure. I would also like to thank Mike Hook for his efforts and wish him all the best for his next challenge. 

The ref used to be decisive but now he’s not so sure

I have just returned from a Mediterranean cruise which meant that I missed the last Pontypool game of the season. I was delighted to see that Pooler recorded a convincing victory in pretty poor weather conditions. Share a thought for us poor dabs who were battling a force nine gale in the English Channel/Bay of Biscay. It was really difficult to stop our drinks sloshing everywhere! Anyway the upshot of the win is that Pontypool finished a creditable fourth in the league and created a firm foundation for a tilt at the league title next season.

I only saw flashes of the Welsh trial match but the bits I did see involved the Probables running in tries against pretty limited defence. I still find it hard to believe that we need to go and get ourselves beaten up down in South Africa instead of giving the boys the summer off. Good luck to Jordan Williams and Matthew Morgan - there could be a new Shane in one of them.

The English Premiership final was an entirely different kettle of fish. A full house at Twickenham watched a fiercely contested battle. In the old days we used to have a decent crowd for the Welsh cup final I seem to remember . There wasn’t much attractive rugby to watch at Twickers but for crunching impacts it was quite remarkable. You do wonder where it all ends as it seems to be heading back to the gladiators in Roman times. Let’s hope we don’t get to the stage when someone gets the thumbs down signal when they lose and has to be put out of their misery.

One of the big concerns that I have is the burgeoning role of the fourth official. This means increasing delays in the game and making it more and more like American football. We are all for the correct refereeing decisions being made but there has to be a limit. Perhaps it will have to go the way of tennis and cricket where each team has a limited number of referrals that they can use. The Saracens try that was disallowed was allegedly reviewed due to crowd pressure. This can’t be right. If we had such a system in Pontypool every try by the opposition would have to be reviewed as some eagle-eyed fan will have always spotted something wrong with it. And what about the Pooler tries that were disallowed most of those were tries really!

Good luck to Wales in South Africa. I hope that the WRU committee men don’t get eaten by lions or crocodiles as they still need to sort out the mess in Welsh rugby when they get back - in case they had forgotten.