It’s Getting Harder

Management had decreed that I had to spend the weekend in Oxfordshire so I missed Pontypool’s latest encounter and it sounds like I missed a good close game. Bedlinog clearly gave a really good account of themselves and Pooler were mighty relieved to grab a narrow 13-10 victory when a first defeat of the season was staring them in the face. That is three tough encounters in a row and Pontypool have found a way to win all three. When you sit at the top of the Championship and have the great history that Pooler has, you can expect everyone to raise their game when they play against them and that certainly seems to be the case. Well done for keeping the impressive running going Pooler.

For my part, I did manage to sneak out to watch the local Oxfordshire side, Chinnor play against Bury St. Edmonds. Chinnor are enjoying a good season and are unbeaten and sit proudly at the top of English League Division Two South. This is just three leagues down from the English Premiership so it was interesting to compare the standard with Pontypool in the Welsh Championship two leagues down from regional rugby. I did spend most of the match fiddling with my mobile phone trying to keep up with events at Pontypool Park but I did watch the rugby enough to form an impression.

Chinnor have a mixture of professional and semi-professional players and what immediately struck me was the size of the forwards. These were not young players making their way in the game but burly men who knew their way around a rugby field. The ground itself had no stand or terrace but did have floodlights and a large clubhouse at the side of the pitch. There were also another three or four pitches nearby although there were no other matches being played. Apparently they have a tremendously strong mini-rugby set up. There are sixteen teams in their league so they do manage to play a decent amount of rugby unlike the Welsh Championship.

Chinnor were by far the stronger team and played some good rugby to overpower Bury St. Edmunds 45-14. The million dollar question of course is how would Pontypool fare against them? It is difficult to judge but I got the feeling that it would be a close run thing with home advantage possibly tipping the balance either way. When you think that Chinnor actually play on the outskirts of Thame  which has a population of around 12,000 and you consider how many similar setups there are in England you begin to realise just how powerful a rugby nation England is. You really wonder how the other home nations can compete at all when you look at the sheer weight of numbers. Is it only just over a year ago that Wales beat England in the RWC?

I did get to watch four matches from the various European competitions on the TV. I started with two pretty poor spectacles: Bath v Bristol (Thur) and Sale v Toulon (Fri). Both matches were the typical slug fests that are so often European rugby. It is tough and uncompromising and punctuated by injuries and referrals to the fourth official. There is plenty of muscle but little of the artistry that you would hope would set the rugby at this level apart. The two games yesterday: Toulouse v Wasps and Leicester v Racing 92 were in a similar vein although there were some flashes of brilliance from Wasps and Racing 92 at times. The neutral observer wonders at the ferocity but there is little to get the pulse racing.

Yet again in Wales we wait with bated breath to see if our players plying their trade outside Wales will be able to play in the extra Autumn international. You would think by now we would know one way or the other but it never changes. Only a few years ago, people were saying how much Welsh players would gain from a spell playing outside Wales with the exposure to different cultures and coaching methodology. Now we only want the old dogs to finish their playing days outside Wales and they certainly will not learn any new tricks. Maybe we need to award rugby scholarships to promising young players that enable them to go and play in the Southern Hemisphere in our summer.

Next week Pontypool are away at Newcastle Emlyn and will be hoping for a win to keep them ahead of the chasing pack in the Championship. I am sure the recent victories will leave the squad in confident mood but there is certainly no room for complacency.

Come on Pooler!