All’s Well That Ends Well

Spring had finally sprung at Pontypool Park. It was shirt sleeve order and there was even the occasional pair of white legs on view as we enjoyed the sunshine on the Bank. Pontypool were entertaining local rivals Blackwood who were languishing at the bottom of the league so a home win was very much on the cards.

Blackwood had not read the script, however, and for the first half an hour proceeded to totally dominate territory and possession. True Pontypool scored first with a penalty in the first couple of minutes but, from then on, play was concentrated in the home 22. Fortunately for Pooler, Blackwood didn’t take full toll of their ascendancy and blew several golden point scoring opportunities. Nevertheless they did manage to score a couple of unconverted tries and kicked a penalty to build up a 3-13 lead. The home side looked out of sorts and just couldn’t get a foothold in the game. They needed to find some inspiration from somewhere or a shock home defeat was very much on the cards.

The spark was provided by a break from fullback, Hancock, and Pooler finally broke the shackles and managed to work their way into the Blackwood 22.  Even more importantly, they managed to hang on to the ball for several phases and eventually the pressure told for Quick to score a short range try. The successful conversion brought the score to 10-13 and Pooler were back in the game. A bout of fisticuffs just before half time led to a yellow card for Pontypool’s Powell but the referee blew up for halftime before Blackwood could capitalise on it. The 3 point margin in the scores was very flattering for Pontypool. In truth, it was a half that they would really want to forget.

It was likely that the first ten minutes of the second half was going to be crucial in determining the course of the game. In fact, the game hinged on a single incident. A defenceless Mills was taken out at a ruck by the Blackwood number eight, Brake. As a consequence, Mills was stretchered off and Brake received a straight red card.  A further consequence was that Gullis brought the scores level from the ensuing penalty.

Pooler seemed to gain some momentum and, following a searing break by Hancock, who had moved to outside half, Williams scored from a ruck close to the Blackwood line. The successful conversion gave Pooler the lead at 20-13. We expected that Pooler would pull clear as they returned to their full complement after the sin binning, but Blackwood had other ideas and pressed strongly and the home side again struggled to get out of their 22. Blackwood failed to capitalise on their good field position and Pooler eventually broke out for Goodman to score a try near the posts following another break by Hancock. This seemed to be the last straw for Blackwood whose resolve crumbled. In the last few minutes it was all Pontypool and they ran in two further converted tries by Norton and Thomas to leave the final score at 41-13.

The final score was probably what you might have expected before the game on the basis of the two teams’ respective league positions but it doesn’t really reflect Blackwood’s contribution. For long periods of the game, Pontypool struggled and with better finishing by the away side the result might have been very different. Pooler will really need to perform at a higher level for the full 80 minutes next week if they are to get anything from their tough away fixture at Bargoed.

So Edward Griffiths, the Chief Executive of Saracens, found the WRU representatives “erratic” at the discussions about the new European competitions. Why don’t I find that surprising?  With Neath and Swansea stuck at the bottom of the Premiership and Ebbw Vale and RGC1404 at the top of the Championship, I am full expecting the WRU to suddenly change back to a 14 team Premiership with no relegation this season.

Students Teach the Lessons

After the highs and lows of the Six Nations, it was back to the nitty gritty of rugby in the Welsh Championship. On a blustery afternoon Pontypool visited Cardiff Metropolitan University who were only one place below them in the table with games in hand. We expected a close encounter between two teams playing in contrasting styles with the students playing with pace and guile and Pontypool relying more on a power game. In the end we had exactly that but it was certainly not that simple.

Things started badly for the away side when they failed to gather the kick off and in a twinkling of an eye the Cardiffmet left wing was over in the corner and the students led 5-0. The game settled down and Pontypool as expected had a dominant scrum that was going to be a real pressure point for the students. The loose ball was fiercely contested with the home side giving as good as they got with their superior speed to the breakdown. But it was in back play where there was the biggest disparity. The ponderous Pooler passing was in sharp contrast to the slick passing at pace and the challenging running lines of the Cardiffmet backs. Whenever and wherever the students got the ball they were dangerous and, as the half wore on, more and more frequently cut the Pontypool defence. By half time, Pontypool were looking totally bemused and had conceded three more tries. Fortunately all the conversions were missed but the home side’s 20-0 advantage had begun to look unassailable. Still we had the advantage of the wind in the second half so anything was possible.

After some soul searching in the huddle during half time, Pooler started the second half with more purpose and quickly grabbed their first points with a penalty. A few minutes later the game erupted into a disgraceful protracted brawl with virtually all thirty players involved and the referee looking on as a horrified but powerless spectator. Eventually things calmed down with the two yellow cards that resulted seeming far too lenient for the level of violence displayed.

The bout of fisticuffs seemed to galvanise Pooler into action and at last they started to play with real conviction. Quick burst through to score near the posts from a rather scrappy lineout and with the successful conversion the gap closed to 20-10 and the come back had started in earnest. Momentum was lost momentarily soon after, however, when with some weak defence Pooler let Cardiffmet in for yet another unconverted try that opened the gap up to 25-10. Pooler came storming back with Taylor frequently making good ground in the centre. They were rewarded with a good try by substitute Dyckhoff near the posts to bring the score to 25-17.

Pooler could smell blood and ramped up the pressure through their dominant pack. The students began to concede penalties and the away side capitalised on this with some accurate goal kicking. Three successful penalties actually gave Pontypool a narrow lead at 25-26 with only a few minutes remaining. This had seemed an impossible dream half an hour earlier. Now all they had to do was to control the ball and an unlikely victory was theirs. The kick off was gathered successfully but disaster struck when an attempted clearance kick by Mills was charged down and the home side gleefully accepted the gift of their sixth try. At last they managed a successful conversion to go back into the lead at 32-26. There were still a couple of minutes left and Pooler actually got into the home 22 with a series of pick and drives and victory was still possible. The referee put an end to that when he penalised Pontypool at a ruck and the game was over.

In the final analysis, Pontypool conceded six tries and it is pretty unlikely that you are going to win if you do that. It was really only the home side’s poor goal kicking that left Pontypool in with a chance of victory. The fight back was tremendous but my abiding memory of the game was the way that the Cardiffmet backs moved the ball and left us floundering at times. I hope that we have learned some valuable lessons - the hard way!

Talking of contrasts, you couldn’t really have a bigger contrast than the one between the two matches I saw on the TV. On the one hand, you had a dismal affair at the Liberty Stadium where, what was a pretty good crowd for Welsh rugby (7000-8000 I think), watched the Ospreys trounce a hapless Blues side. On the other hand, you had 80,000 plus watching the Saracens play the Harlequins at Wembley in a high octane encounter. It’s a different world I am afraid.

Ireland bring home the bacon - and save ours

So the Six Nations is over and we in Wales can get back to what we are really good at - squabbling amongst ourselves. Ireland just about managed to cling on to a victory in Paris and so won the championship on points difference. It’s probably just as well, as if things had turned out differently, they may as well not bothered with the next Rugby World Cup as the media would have been convincing us that England were certain winners.

It was very much a two tier Six Nations with Italy and Scotland somewhat off the pace. Ireland probably deserved to be the champions on the basis that they were the only team to record an away victory against a top tier nation. It is a fitting end to the illustrious career of Brian O’Driscoll.

So what of Wales? They looked a good team at home, particularly against France and Scotland. In yesterday’s rout of the Scots, the backs looked a potent force again - admittedly against 14 men. Away from home, Wales were dismal and were well beaten by Ireland and England. They seemed to go into their shell and their abject kicking game allowed their opponents time to get a head of steam up. We need to find the right combination at half back urgently.

As a Welshman, you always need to have a supply of excuses ready:

• The unsettling effect of the WRU and Regions constantly at each other’s throats.
• Players scattered over Wales, England and France and not playing together regularly for their clubs.
• An injury crisis at outside centre - a fully fit Jon Davies would have made all the difference.
• Playing England and Ireland away from home.
• Playing England on a Sunday afternoon when Welshmen should be curled up on the couch after a few pints and a large lunch.
• Wearing red shorts - did they allow Vincent Tan to choose the kit?
• Not being refereed by the best referee in the world because he’s Welsh.

If I gave it some thought I’m sure there are many more plausible excuses out there.

The most positive thing for Wales, I think, was the emergence of Jake Ball who looks to be an excellent addition to the squad.

Next for Wales is a jaunt to South Africa. We must be gluttons for punishment!

Next stop for me is Cardiff Metropolitan University and what should be an entertaining match for Pontypool. against the students. 

Full of the joys of Spring - on Saturday anyway

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon as we drove up to Pontypool for the home game against Narberth. I made sure to drive especially carefully around Griffithstown in case a Russian tank commander had put the wrong Sebastopol in his satnav. Pontypool Park was looking a picture in the Spring sunshine as we made our way up on to the Bank. The pitch, for once this year, was dry and, although there was quite a strong breeze, conditions were ideal for rugby.

Right from the kick off it was clear that these were two evenly matched sides as their league positions would indicate. Both sides employed similar tactics with long kicks to try and establish a position in the opponent’s half so it was a bit like ping pong. The scoring in the first quarter was restricted to an exchange of penalties leaving the score at 6-6. In the second quarter, Pooler made the first significant move when Hurley squeezed in for a try in the corner after some good inter-passing by the backs. It was a close thing and the referee looked like he wanted to go “upstairs”. Of course the Championship is the equivalent of a bungalow so he had to be content with some valuable advice from the Pontypool touch judge. The try went unconverted to make the score 11-6. Narberth bounced back strongly and some rather weak tackling allowed their fullback Morgan to skate through and score under the posts to retake the lead at 11-13. The remainder of the first half was a little frenetic with a yellow card for both sides and Pooler first retaking the lead with a penalty but quickly losing it to a Narberth penalty. The half time score was tight at 14-16 and the final result was too close to call.

Strangely the second half was scoreless for a long period. Pooler did well to hold out as Narberth pressed when their scrum established a degree of dominance. Of the two sides, Narberth certainly looked the more likely to score as their tricky backs often managed to squirm through the first tackle. Against the run of play, Pooler squeezed into a narrow lead with another penalty 17-16. The pattern of the game was disrupted as both sides made their substitutions and the action moved from end to end and it was still difficult to pick the eventual winner. The next score was probably going to be decisive. To our delight the next score was an excellent try for Pontypool. Backs and forwards combined in a flowing move for Dyckhoff to cross and with the successful conversion there was finally daylight between the teams at 24-16. Narberth threw everything at Pooler for the final few minutes to try and at least get a losing bonus point. In injury time a Narberth attack in the home 22 broke down and Norton hacked the ball up field. He won the chase into the visitors’ 22 and, although he was tackled, managed to pop the ball up for Burke to score under the posts. The final score at 31-16 was a little flattering after what had been a hard and even encounter.

This was an excellent win against strong opposition. Let’s hope that it bodes well for the remainder of the season and we continue to climb up the table. It was a particularly impressive effort to keep a talented Narberth side scoreless in the second half.

PS Just in case you don’t hear about it in the media England beat Wales at Twickenham

Valete Ebbw

I’m sure that “Streaky” Edwards my Latin teacher at West Mon Grammar School would be proud that I remembered at least one word from all those lessons.

Ebbw Vale duly rolled off their 16th successive win in the Welsh Championship with a convincing 33-10 home victory over Pontypool.  Ebbw Vale must surely be promoted to the Premiership at the end of the season as they are a country mile ahead of everyone else. As a Pooler fan I will be delighted to say good bye (or valete) to them. Firstly because they richly deserve it, and secondly because, whilst they are in the Championship, no one else will have a sniff. Of course they still have the shifting sands of Welsh rugby to contend with and the WRU may yet find a reason to change the structure of the league again at the last moment to deny them their rightful position in the Premiership..

So to the match. Ebbw Vale kicked off and Pooler failed to secure the ball and immediately their line was under siege with a series of short range scrums and lineouts. Amazingly a stout Pooler defence coupled with some astute refereeing prevented the home side scoring. It was clear that the Ebbw Vale scrum was dominant and, although Pooler managed to escape to the halfway line, a heel against the head led to the Ebbw scrum half Jones sprinting down the touch line to score in the corner. Ebbw were well on top in all phases of the game but on a rare incursion into home territory Gullis kicked a penalty to bring the score back to 5-3. Another disrupted scrum close to Pooler’s line led to Ebbw’s second try and a 12-3 score line. Pooler failed to take an excellent opportunity to score a try just before half time after a break by Taylor but the 9 point margin at half time did not truly reflect the home side’s dominance.

In the second half, Ebbw Vale took advantage of a Pooler yellow card to pull away. They scored two of their three second half tries during this period. Pooler did manage to score a solitary consolation try from James but never really threatened the home side’s unbeaten record. It was a game in which Ebbw Vale held all the aces. They were more powerful in the forward exchanges and this meant that their half backs were able to control the game and release their strong running backs. Pooler for their part never gave up and tackled and foraged tirelessly. There were too many turnovers, however, perhaps a reflection on how little rugby that they have played since Christmas.

I see that the Regions have written a long letter to the Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee at the Welsh Assembly. It is certainly not a riveting read but the main thrust is to blame the WRU for everything and to tell everyone that they cannot be trusted. It certainly could not be described as conciliatory although it does seem to make some sense. We wait with bated breath for Roger Lewis’ response. No doubt there will be a team of lawyers slaving over it as we read the Sunday papers. It will be the end of the season before we know it and still nothing is settled!

So it’s Twickenham for Wales next weekend. I can’t help feeling quite pessimistic about the result but then of course I’ll be delighted to be proved wrong. Wales will have to up it a level or two from what they have produced so far if they are to succeed. Twickenham is a soulless place even when you win but if you lose….. All you want to do is get home but you can’t get away - it’s purgatory.

Perhaps Pontypool v Narbeth on Saturday and a Sunday afternoon on the couch is a more attractive option.