Pontypool Steel It

A dank October afternoon and the memory of the previous week’s agonising defeat at Swansea did nothing to instil a feeling of optimism for the Pontypool faithful as we took our places on the Bank for our weekly fix. The visitors were Tata Steel who were a place above us in the league and were enjoying a winning streak and would surely prove a tough nut to crack. The match exceeded all expectations, however, and turned out to be a real roller coaster ride with the final outcome in doubt until the final whistle.

Pontypool played down the slope in the first half and immediately went on the offensive. The backs looked dangerous and a simple passing move put Norton over in the corner to open up a 5-0 lead. If the Pontypool backs looked the more potent, the Tata Steel forwards seemed to have the edge and were particularly effective at the breakdown where their greater bulk was difficult for the home side to handle. The away forwards worked their way into the Pontypool 22 and were rewarded with a penalty goal. Pooler countered with a splendid try by Norton after a brilliant break by Brooks from broken play. A successful conversion made the score 12-3.

Back came the Tata forwards who hammered away against a stubborn goal line defence from Pooler. Something had to give and it was Pooler with Edbrook scoring near the posts to close the gap once more to 2 points at 12-10.

Shortly before half time the visitors were reduced to 14 men following a yellow card for one of their props. Pooler gratefully seized the opportunity with Hailes crossing for a try virtually unopposed as a huge gap in the Tata defence opened up in front of him. This left the score at 19-10 with Pontypool having all the momentum. Unfortunately they failed to capitalise on some excellent field position and couldn’t open up what could have been a winning lead before the half time whistle blew.

Tata Steel had clearly had a good mentoring during the half time break and came out bristling with aggression and for the next 15 minutes or so they simple blew Pontypool away. The home side looked shell-shocked as the visitors racked up three tries in quick succession leaving the score at 19-29.

It looked all up for Pooler but the introduction of three fresh forwards from the bench gave impetus to the pack and they started to win some good possession for the backs. A successful penalty and a good try by Hurley, who picked a lovely running line, to score near the posts were the reward and the score was tied up at 29-29. It was anyone’s game with ten minutes or so remaining.

The ball squirted out of the side of a maul on the Tata 10 metre line and the away side reacted quicker and broke down the touch line. Evans, their left wing, kicked ahead and won the chase to score a try in the corner. Crucially the conversion went wide but still Tata now led 29-34 with little time remaining.

Pooler showed their resolve and worked their way up deep into the Tata 22. An offence at a ruck left Tata reduced to 14 men when a yellow card was shown to their hooker. This was Pooler’s chance for glory and they took full advantage with Norton crossing for his third try and importantly managing to run around under the posts to make the vital conversion as easy as possible. Hancock obliged and Pontypool were leading 36-34 with very little time remaining. There was still enough time for one last desperate foray from Tata that frayed the nerves but it came to nothing, Pontypool had come out victors in an exhilarating game.

This match showed that Pontypool are still a force to be reckoned with and have three-quarters that are a potent threat if they are given quick ball. The forwards have plenty of spirit but due to an unfortunate spate of injuries we miss the ball carriers to give that go-forward that we need. This match was yet another great advertisement for the Championship and Tata can consider themselves a little unlucky to be the losing side but then Pooler had that feeling the previous week.

I managed to squeeze in a few moments of TV watching and was impressed by the Scarlets victory over Leicester. The Ospreys were simply overpowered with George putting the North in Northampton. Toulon look like they will be mighty difficult to knock off their pedestal and must be clear favourites.

By all accounts the Dragons let a win slip through their fingers against Newcastle in the Challenge Cup and so the gloss has been rather taken off their win in France last week.

The Welsh squad contained few surprises but if this is to be the end for Adam Jones I would like to salute his contribution to the Welsh team and the three Grand Slam teams he was part of. As for James Hook, I continue to wonder how we can have a player of his undoubted talent not fully involved.

As I reported last week, my boycott of the World Cup over ticket prices didn’t really have the desired effect at all. I actually know someone who is excited to have got tickets for Tonga v Namibia in Exeter for only £60. Is it just me?

Well it’s been a stressful few weeks for Pontypool fans. Let’s hope we can secure a victory down in Bridgend next week before the ridiculous break for the autumn internationals. But don’t get me started on that….

So near and yet so far

Pontypool RFC visited Swansea RFC for a Championship match that kicked off at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon. This rather unusual kick off time was to accommodate S4C who wanted to televise the match live. It did seem a strange choice with Stoke City playing Swansea City and Toulon playing the Scarlets live on TV at the same time.

The weather at St Helens was unsettled to say the least with a strong breeze off the sea and heavy rain at times. Pooler needed to put the traumatic loss to Cardiff Met the previous weekend behind them and put up a strong showing against one of the favourites for promotion.

Swansea enjoyed the benefit of the wind in the first half but it was Pooler who started the stronger with some impressive driving play. This eventually led to the opening score of the match when Thorley scored after some powerful work by the pack. The conversion attempt by Hancock failed but vividly demonstrated the strength of the wind. Swansea were stung into action and the game was fiercely contested with the away side giving as good as they got. A Pontypool lineout close to the halfway line went astray and Swansea seized the loose ball. Some excellent combined play from the turnover saw hooker Guest score and with successful conversion the home side led 7-5. A successful penalty by Thomas opened up the lead to 10-5. Pooler failed to capitalise on a yellow card for Swansea’s lock Scanlon just before halftime but were still well in contention. A 5 point deficit with the wind favouring them in the second half was certainly not too much to overcome.

Pontypool pressed hard in the second half and were eventually rewarded with a successful penalty from Hancock that closed the gap to 10-8 and Pontypool looked the stronger team. The Pontypool forwards were rampaging and with Swansea again down to 14 men following a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on looked bound to score. They actually got over the Swansea line but Parry lost the ball in the act of scoring. The away side unfortunately lost the influential Sparks to an ankle injury but they still kept up their momentum. Pooler were presented with a try when the Swansea full back slipped in the act of making a clearance kick from behind his own try line. The ball fell kindly for the away side with Haile scoring wide out. The conversion attempt missed narrowly but Pooler now deservedly held the lead at 10-13. Pooler seemed the more likely side to win when Swansea received yet another yellow card following a brilliant driving maul from the away side that must have travelled at least 30m down field.

Swansea had other ideas and came storming back and Pontypool wing Laing was driven back by their forwards after making a good catch from a high kick. A penalty resulted from the ensuing ruck and Swansea kicked the ball deep into the Pontypool 22. Pooler held the initial Swansea thrusts but then lost Edwards to a yellow card for an offence at a ruck. This was just the opportunity the Whites needed and Fox forced his way over for a try and with the successful conversion led 17-13.

Pontypool were not content with a losing bonus point and tried to run out of their 22 but an ambitious looped pass from Hancock was intercepted by the Swansea wing Thomas who raced over to score. The conversion was unsuccessful which left the final score at 22-13 which was rather flattering for the home side.

Of course Pontypool have every reason to be disappointed by losing a game that arguably they deserved to win. For long stretches of the match they were the dominant force but somehow they didn’t manage to close it out. Swansea are a good team and showed their strength of character in coming back so strongly at the end. This was an excellent advertisement for the Championship and Pontypool shouldn’t be too downhearted as I am sure that they will play worse than this and win.

I have watched a good deal of rugby from the couch this weekend with the opening round of the new European competitions the focus. The Welsh regions acquitted themselves pretty well with only the Scarlets losing and that away at Champions Cup favourites Toulon. It was particularly pleasing to see the Dragons record an excellent victory in Stade Francais. The other notable victory was the thumping that Glasgow gave Bath. In fact the Pro 12 clubs did not suffer badly in comparison to the moneybags of France and England but of course, as the injury lists mount, the overall squad strength will be the telling factor.

The scrum remains an issue in professional rugby with an inordinate amount of time lost for collapsing and resetting. The trouble is that games are often won and lost by the referee’s interpretation of what is happening in the scrum. I, for one, hate to see all the backs running over to a scrum for a back-slapping session when their team wins a penalty.

Well done Pooler for running Swansea so close - now let’s get back on the winning trail against Tata Steel next week.

The late, late show

Pontypool travelled to Glynneath on sunny but breezy October’s day. Last week they had shown their best form of the season with a convincing win over Narberth so we were hoping for more of the same. An entertaining encounter was overshadowed by a delay of an hour or so towards the end of the game waiting for an ambulance to tend to a suspected neck injury to Pooler wing Rhodri Usher. I was delighted to hear that Rhodri was discharged from hospital later that evening.

As seems to be the pattern in most of the games this season, the opening exchanges were scrappy as the two sides assessed each other. It was clear right from the start that Glynneath were going to be lively and committed opponents and had every intention of sending Pooler home with their tails between their legs. Even Max Boyce on the touchline harboured no fear of the erstwhile Viet Gwent.

There was an exchange of penalties before the home side struck the first meaningful blow. Pontypool were reduced to 14 men after the sin-binning of Edwards and Glynneath scored from a lineout drive close to the Pooler line. The successful conversion gave them a 10-3 lead that they were good value for. The home side’s numerical advantage was lost when Pike, one of their centres, was given a yellow card for punching. Pontypool capitalised on this with some excellent passing that led to Hurley scoring a try that was converted by Hancock. Shortly afterwards Quick scored a fine individual try following a chip ahead and the successful conversion gave Pooler a rather flattering 10-17 lead at the interval.

Glynneath exerted tremendous pressure in the second half and certainly looked the more likely to score. The Pooler defence held firm and restricted the home side to just one penalty but it was tense stuff as the game went into the last quarter with the score at 13-17.

Pontypool had looked quite dangerous when they ran the ball from their own half following Glynneath turnovers. It was from such a situation that Pooler scored the game clinching score following good work by Blackmore and Haile. Usher was also involved and he was injured giving the scoring pass to Haile who scored in the corner. Usher was clearly badly hurt and the game was suspended for about an hour waiting for the ambulance with Pooler ahead 13-23.

The game eventually restarted and Pontypool seized the opportunity for a bonus point with a try from Guy converted by Hancock to give a final score of 13-29. The score line does not really reflect the effort and skill of a Glynneath side that pushed Pontypool all the way.

Rather like the win at Tondu, this was hard work for Pontypool but a combination of dogged defence and opportunism got them through in the end. It leaves them third in the table behind the pacesetters Bargoed and Swansea with all to play for.

On Friday evening I started to watch the Zebre v Ospreys game but soon turned over to watch the Bath v Saracens match. There was a quite astonishing contrast between the two matches. The match at Bath was a pulsating affair played with pace and power in front of a sell-out crowd whilst the match in Italy seemed low key in comparison with a pretty sparse attendance. It was good to see Paul James playing well for Bath and even Gavin Henson looking sharp and solid at fullback.

My boycotting of the Rugby World Cup due to the extortionate ticket prices does not seem to have had much effect. By all accounts most matches are oversubscribed but at least they haven’t got my money!

Next match for the Pooler is against the students of Cardiff Met. It is sure to be an entertaining spectacle as both sides like to run the ball. Come on Pooler!