RWC Notes

Ten RWC Things I Think

   

1.    I think that if only one or two of the 50/50 refereeing decisions had gone their way, France could have easily won that Final.

2.    I think that Wales were inspired. They played with flair and the unconcerned air of youth. But in bald statistics it was played 7, won 4, lost 3. The only ‘top’ level team beaten was Ireland. You simply can’t miss as many kicks as Wales did.

3.    I think I was surprised at how bad England and Fiji were.

4.    I think that despite Romania going backwards, the Georgian and Russian teams showed that the gap will continue to narrow. The Georgian pack was immense.

5.    I think that the draw won’t open up in future like it did in 2011. When Ireland beat Australia all of the southern hemisphere teams landed in one half of the draw. Without that I don’t think a Six Nations team would have been in the final.

6.    I think Scotland will wonder what if. Almost, almost, almost.

7.    I think that, despite being 13^th in line to the throne (perhaps not for much longer), Mike Tindall’s days in an England shirt are over. Likewise Johnny Wilkinson.

8.    I think that Martin Johnson’s days in charge of England are limited. His “rugby players drink beer shock” press conference was cringe-worthy. Sir Clive Woodward - Shaun Edwards dream team, anyone?

9.    I think the eligibility rules have to be sorted out. It just feels wrong that two brothers can play for two different countries.

Manu and Alesana Tuilagi played for England and Samoa respectively.

Salesi and Campese Ma’afu both propped, for Australia and Fiji.

Sailosi and Michael Tagicakibau played against each other for Samoa and Fiji.

10. I think I’m amazed at how poor some drop goal attempts have been. Shane Williams’ Arthur Emyr-esque effort was a shocker. Seriously, do players practice or just have a go when panic sets in? He, Stephen Jones and Dan Parks need to get some rehab at the convalescent home for shell-shocked drop-kickers.

My RWC team of the tournament (for what it’s worth)

15 Israel Dagg (NZ) – Brilliant in attack, solid in defence. Went from the margins of the squad to centre stage in just 2 games. It was a shame that Aussie fullback Kurtley Beale was injured early in the tournament

14 Digby Ioane (Aus) – When on song, the Aussie backline were unstoppable. Ireland of course found a way to stop them.

13 Conrad Smith (NZ) – Awesome tackler and quick thinker. Brain O’Driscoll (Ireland), as always, got serious consideration here.

12 Jamie Roberts (Wales) – Close to being man of the tournament. Just immense. Felipi Contepomi (Arg) deserves mention for playing despite having (a technical term this) a shirtful of lack ribs.

11 George North (Wales) – 19. Imagine how good he will be when he grows up.

10 Quade Cooper (Aus) – Showed glimpses of what he could do, but carried the weight of the nation on his shoulders. The NZ faithful booed him even has he was carried off with a serious knee injury. Rhys Preistland (Wales) rose from nowhere to be a serious contender here.

9 Mike Phillips (Wales) – Superb return to form and scored the try of the tournament. Nobody else got even close.

1 Gethin Jenkins (Wales) – Did his job in the set piece and was everywhere in the loose.

2 Mario Ledesma (Arg) – Frankly the whole Argentina front row were in contention for this list.

3 Adam Jones (Wales) – The difference was obvious after he went off in the semi-final.

4 Paul O’Connell (Ireland) – Worth his place for the effort against Australia alone.

5 Victor Matfield (SA) – Towering lineout presence and intimidating across the field.

6 Thierry Dusautoir (France) – The IRB player of the year was immense in the Final against NZ, and completely outplayed Jerome Kaino (NZ), most people’s pick at blindside.

8 Imanol Harinoriquy (France) – Cup final man of the match. Sergio Parisse (Italy) was exceptional again, and Toby Faletau (Wales, by way of Tonga) was a wonderful revelation.

7 David Pocock (Aus) – Sorely missed in their key loss to Ireland. If he was fully fit Ritchie McCaw (NZ) would have run him very close.

Coach Warren Gatland (Wales) – There will be a tempting offer from the NZRFU arriving any day now.

Sports musings

Rugby Notes

Number 8 Ashley Sweet gets his try

Ebbw Vale got back on winning ways on Saturday with a convincing 44-18 win over previously unbeaten Gilfach Goch.

The pack dominated, completely unlike last week. The reshuffled pack seemed to work with Calum Brennan adding some size to the second row, Ashley Sweet played at number 8 for the first time, and Ben Parry had his best game for the club, and was my MotM.

Derrick Tredray made sure the ball was used quicker than in previous weeks, Tristan Davies brought some experience to a backline which sometimes is a bit like a headless chicken.

It also has to be said that the referee, Phil Connett has a top game; from the start he didn’t take any nonsense and made sure that both sides were allowed room to play rugby.

Scorers: 3 tries for Wes Cunliffe and one each for Tom Daly, Dan Dearden and Ashley Sweet, with 4 conversions and 2 penalties for Dorian Jones.

Next up, Treorchy away.

RWC Thoughts

Wales v Namibia in shadow of Mount Taranaki

I think that I take back what I said. On the form they showed against France, there is only one winner in this tournament. It was a game for the first ten minutes and then New Zealand exploded with three tries and it was all over.

I think that Scotland blew a golden chance to beat Argentina yesterday. Not the best game of the tournament but certainly the tensest.

I think that Wales haven’t been that clinical in finishing off a team for many years. The 12 tries in the 81-7 demolition showed a confidence that’s been missing for a long, long time.

I think that the best two quotes of the completion so far came this weekend:

·         Fancois Pienaar: “the only difference between my jog and my flat-out run was the expression on my face.”

·         “Alfie” Thomas on Gethin Jenkins’ try: “at that point I think he could smell the burger van behind the try line.”

I think that the commentators need to shut up a bit more. We never get to hear the referee’s explanation of a decision; rather we get some idiot guessing.

I think that Wales playing at Taranaki reminded me of watching a Taranaki side featuring All Black hooker Hika Reid playing at Tredegar many years ago. It seems that club tours have become a thing of the past.

I think that Scotland coach Andy Robinson is looking more and more like Clive Anderson.

I think that barring a freak result (Scotland thrashing England or South Africa losing to Samoa) the quarter finals are now set:

·         Wales v Ireland

·         England v France

·         South Africa v Australia

·         New Zealand v Argentina

Glamorgan Notes

In an enormous act of faith in a) Glamorgan cricket and b) the weather, I have purchased a Glamorgan season ticket for 2012. Its early bird price of just £99 makes a lot more sense than their pricing policies of the last few years.

I will probably be investing in a ticket for the England v South Africa game at Sophia Gardens too, but might wait to see what Santa brings me.

As he’s going to have to be busy over the next few years too, as in the last week Glamorgan has been announced as hosts of test matches against New Zealand (2013) and Australia (2015).

There is a good review of the not-so-good season on the Turn and Bounce blog.

This week's stuff

Rugby Notes

Bargoed mugging

Ebbw got beaten (and beaten up) by Bargoed in D1E. Lost 18-19 and Bargoed deserved the win. They played like they wanted it more, and scored the only two tries of the game. All Ebbw’s points came from the boot of Dorian Jones.

The referee struggled to keep up with all of the off-the-ball nonsense which started with a collection of high tackles, and deteriorated to an emormous brawl towards the end – not quite a “99” call but not far away. Bargoed had a player sent off for kicking that one off but it was too late in the game to affect the result.

My Ebbw man of the match was number 8 David Barry who seemed to be a main target of the Bargoed mugging (see pic).

RWC Notes

Wales sneaked past Samoa today. They survived through a stunning defensive effort, including a couple of goal line stands. But they need to improve in attack if they are going to make an impression in the competition.

Little Shane

One piece of good news for Wales is that Ireland’s win over Australia means that Wales’ half of the draw (assuming they finish second in the group) is likely to have none of the bog 3 southern hemisphere teams. If games go according to form (and that is a huge “if”) then it could be a quarter final against Ireland and a semi final against either England or France.

Russia gave the USA a scare. Kingsley Jones’ Russian isn’t very good, but from what they showed on TV be seemed to be getting his message across in English.

It was refreshing to listening to Talk Sport’s radio coverage when driving to Aberystwyth last week. Never-the-diplomat Brain Moore was better than any of the frankly poor ITV commentators.

Start the Car

  

Top game of cricket at Sophia Gardens (er, SWALEC Stadium) on Friday. There was nothing to play for in the last One Day International between England and India but, fair play, both sides played hard. Of course it being Autumn and it being Wales it rained quite a bit (see 2010 Ryder Cup) but the rain seemed to add to the tension.

Dravid and Bairstow

Pre-game there were so many ex-internationals around it was hard to keep score. TV crews from Sky (Gower, Botham, Bumble), Channel 5 (Boycott, Nicholas) and TMS (er, Vic Marks) were present in abundance.

It was the end of one great one-day career (Rahul Dravid) and the start of another one (Jonny Bairstow the son David Bairstow, Yorkshire keeper and one of the players I aspired to be growing up).

Bopara and Bairstow’s hitting at the end was very impressive – the umpires has to send for extra balls as at least four went into the Taff. Poor Samit Patel though, his fielding was shocking and simply not up to international standard. He put down two catches, the first of which, as Boycott once said “my mam could have caught that in her pinny”.

Huge crowd with a majority of them being India fans. I reckon the West Midlands was empty as I heard Brummie accents aplenty. A top day out, and I shall be getting a ticket to see South Africa in Cardiff next season.

Glamorgan Notes

There will be a new name in one day cricket next season as Glamorgan Dragons change their name to the Welsh Dragons. The Welsh Dragons will compete in the CB40 and Friends Life t20 competitions from 2012.

What a pile of marketing tosh. An excuse for new replica shirts at fifty quid a throw. Why not spend a little more time trying to get a better product on the field?

At least next year Glamorgan/Wales will have a local boy, Abergavenny-born Mark Wallace, as captain.

Website of the Week

The Kraken Wakes is a new blog from the Janes/Veale household, and it isn’t mine. So note that the rantings contained therein are not suitable for family viewing. But they are very funny.

Things I Think

I think that Dragon’s Den is almost unwatchable. No, it’s not Duncan Bannatyne’s “I’m oot”. It’s the endless recapping from Evan Davies, probably the most annoying man on TV. The show is now dumbed down to such an extent that almost every “I’m out” (or oot) is followed by a voiceover “another dragon is out”. Argh!

I think that I had almost given up on Doctor Who. After a pretty poor run back in the early summer, I wasn’t overly excited at its return. But the last few episodes have been excellent. Spotted the Millennium Centre and Duffryn Gardens as settings for last week’s episode too.

I think that, conversely, Torchwood set off at a cracking pace and ended at a crawl. The deeply annoying and unlikeable Rex hasn’t helped. If he grabs his chest one more time I’m going to send him to Category Zero with my own hands.

I think that it was great to watch the Tour of Britain cycle race. The Welsh stage was Welshpool to Caerphilly, and I reckon the tourist board couldn’t have done a better job of promoting Wales. The helicopter views of mid Wales were spectacular.

I think the best TV review I’ve read in a long time was about Page Eight: “vacuous, pinko tosh.”

I think that Justin Lee Collins’ comment when sitting in for Dermot O’Leary on BBC Radio 2 speaks volumes. “He’s off hugging idiots.”

This week's musings...

Mellow Fruitfulness

  

As you can see, we harvested our pear tree on the weekend. And a bumper crop it was too. Picked a good 60 pears on Sunday, and that was after a goodly windfall caused by the seasonal storms.

Now I’m in the market for some pear recipes. Pear and plum crumble has been done. Now what?

Ava’s diary

Back in Rhydyfelin Nursery for my last year before infants school proper. Mrs Luxton and the other teachers have a fairytale theme planned for this term, and there is already a trip to Castell Coch scheduled for next month.

Getting into the habit of going swimming on Sunday mornings. Dad usually comes too. After some initial nerves, I’m now a big fan and my party trick is jumping into the pool. Daddy usually catches me. Pool was quiet on Sunday morning; dad mumbled something about being thankful for Sky+.

Had a taste of coca cola on the weekend and pronounced “this tastes spiky”. Haven’t comes across the word fizzy, so spiky is the next best description.

Rugby World Cup

Rugby overload on the first weekend. Romania gave Scotland a good game, as did Japan France. Two modern miracles. How did England win? And how did Wales lose?

Looks like its going to be a good tournament, as the lesser teams seem to have closed the gap.

Respite for a couple of days. Georgia to beat Scotland on Wednesday?

Rugby Notes

Ebbw Vale made it two out of two with a 19-9 win at home to Beddau. The new jerseys were on display, but look a bit too red for my taste.

The game featured a strong wind and occasional downpours (a summer’s day for Ebbw). Ebbw’s pace out wide was under-utilised, but again the ball got turned over too readily. Full back and MotM Tom Daly (pictured) made many a good break, and it will be interesting to see how Charlie Simpson fits into the side when he returns.

Scorers: Try for Dan Deardon, four penalties for Dan Haymond and a penalty for sub Dorian Jones (whose dad is currently part of the Russia rugby set up at the RWC.

Travel Notes

Driving down Nantgarw hill on Saturday, I saw a yellow Reliant Robin. As starred in Only Fools and Horses. As I pulled alongside I could see the full Trotters Independent Trading logo, New York, Paris, Peckham. And to finish the look, the bloke driving had the Del Boy sheepskin coat. Lovely Jubbly.

Coffeenerdness

A coffee shop has opened up in Cathays, right opposite the University. Costa Coffee has moved into what used to be the registry office. Went to go in last week, but the queue was out the door. Literally. I’ll try it out sometime, but I’m not waiting 20 minutes for my cup of joe.

The Art of Tidying Up

Splendid new book out by Austrian comedian Ursus Wehrli. Called the The Art of Tidying Up, it does pretty much what you expect. Appeals hugely to my (some would say anal) sense of order.

There’s a terrific video on YouTube of Wehrli tidying up some famous pieces of art. Excellent stuff.

WRC Rugby Notes

It’s the nightmare scenario for all rugby fans outside of England who have to listen to the supposedly British media bat on about how wonderful “we” played and how “we” deserve to be in the World Cup final.

Yep, England just about edged out France 14-9 due to a fortunate first minute bounce and a dominating pack. Still no sign of life outside the front nine, but that doesn’t seem to matter.

On Sunday, there was a proper game of rugby. Well, it was a good game for 60 minutes or so until South Africa ran off with it, in the end well beating Argentina 37-13. Argentina’s pack gave the Boks a game throughout, which doesn’t bode well for next Saturday’s final.

Expect to see of lot of huffing and puffing; more piano movers than piano players. Hopefully the Springboks can get enough ball to actually play some rugby and quite down the press for a while.