Wales 9-29 New Zealand. 22 Nov. 2008

I went down to watch the game. Cardiff was buzzing with excitment and we went round the usual drinking spots. Made a first visit to the Nos Da pub opposite the Stadium across the river. A tidy pub. Saw Xavier Rush at Cardiff Rugby club.

Just before kick-off the All Blacks did their famous Haka. The Welsh team lined up to face them but when the Haka finished Wales did not get ready for the kick off. They remained in line and a dramatic stand-out ensued. The crowd went wild. I was cheering like mad "Wales!, Wales!". Nobody expected this, least of all New Zealand. They didn't know what to do. The referee tried to get the teams to start the game. Eventually after a very long minute or two, the All Blacks walked away. A moral victory for Wales and a classic moment in Welsh rugby. Truly special.

Wales played very well in the first half and forced a number of penalties. Stephen Jones kicked three to give Wales a 9 - 6 lead at half time. The second half was all New Zealand though. They played error free rugby and controlled the game. The crucial first try saw them take the lead. Wales had a man down injured and the crowd were willing the referee to stop the game. The All Blacks move actually went dangerously close to the injured player and from then they went through the phases to create the overlap for the try. Wales fought hard throughout the game but couldn't create enough to trouble the New Zealand try line. I can't really remember Wales spending much time in the All Blacks 22. As for exciting, breaking away moments from Wales, these were few and far between.

Overall, Wales put in a great effort in the first half, but were totally outclassed in the second. The scary thing was that New Zealand didn't really get into top gear.
My man of the match: Dan Carter. Mr reliable.

Ireland 3-22 New Zealand. 15 Nov, 2008

The first half was surprisingly full of errors by both teams. Carter missed some regulation penalties at goal, O'Gara was wayward kicking out of hand and the Irish line-out was poor. Worryingly for next week against Wales, the All Blacks set piece was strong. Ali Williams was bossing the game at line-out. Ireland were still very much in the game come the stroke of half time. New Zealand went through a few phases and found themselves in Ireland's 22. They had stretched the Irish defence and Nonu chipped to the corner for McCaw to score a try. Tommy Bowe raced across and stuck out a hand to knock the ball in touch. After a TMO decision the referee awarded a penalty try for deliberately knocking the ball out and handed Bowe a yellow card. Very disappointing, I was looking forward to see Bowe in attack. I guess he's not quite the complete player yet.
Tony Woodcock picked up a yellow card in the first two minutes of the second half and this seemed to spur New Zealand on. They scored two tries with 14 men in the next ten minutes. The game was more or less over and Ireland were playing for pride. The men in green never really got going and when talismanic forward O'Connell left the field there was no way back.
My man of the match: Ali Williams

Wales 34-13 Canada. 14 Nov. 2008.

A second string Wales took to the field in a bright yellow strip. Sadly this was about the only bright thing they did during the match. Wales were abysmal in the first half. Hook got injured early and Dan Biggar came on for his first cap. A good crowd of 59,000 were expecting some open free flowing rugby. Instead they got a turgid, stuttering display. Canada defended well and it took Wales 30 minutes to score the opening try through Stoddart. On the stroke of half time the ball found it's way to Halfpenny and he dazzled and danced to beat his opposite number and score his first international try.
The second half saw a slight improvement as the forwards finally upped their game. Andy Powell came on to replace Ryan Jones. The Wales captain has been in poor form this season. It looks like Powell could be playing no.8 for Wales for the 6 Nations. If Jones' form carries on he'll struggle to get selected for the Lions tour.
The pack earned two penalty tries from 5 metre scrums but still the back line was not firing. It took till the last move of the game to see some decent Welsh play. Jamie Roberts made a telling break, passed to Peel who flicked onto Halfpenny for an excellent team try. Why couldn't Wales play like that much earlier? Some credit must be paid to Canada. Thier no.7 Kleeburger was impressive throughout.

There was a good banner held up by some fans in the crowd: "Even in a credit crunch Halfpenny goes a long way"
Man of the match: Dafydd Jones.

Wales 15-20 South Africa. 8th Nov. 2008

I went down with my Dad to Cardiff to watch the game. It is customary for a home International to begin our day with a breakfast in Servini's cafe. The build up to the kick-off is spent drinking our way round Cardiff. This always includes a a few drinks at Cardiff Rugby Club. At 2pm we headed to the stadium. I was pleased to see a full capacity crowd. Last year's same fixture was well done on crowd numbers.

South Africa started the game much better than Wales and scored an early try. The opening signs did not look good when the Boks went 10 nil up within ten minutes. Andy Powell, on debut had a fine break in the first half. I was pleased with the set piece in the first half. By half time it was 3-13. With 30 minutes to go Gatland brought on Peel and Hook. The key moment of the game occured soon after. Hook's first pass was intercepted by De Villiers who sprinted in for a try. It was a crushing moment and I shouted in despair. I knew the game was all over then. Suprisingly Wales upped their tempo from that moment on and proceeded to dominate the possession for the rest of the game. The Boks almost went to sleep in attack though they did maintain a solid defence. Hook chipped away with some penalities and Wales, through Powell and Bryne had some good breaks. On another day, against lesser opposition Wales would have scored some tries but it just wasn't happening for them that day.

When the final whistle went it was quite disapointing. Wales were on the verge of beating South Africa. They were certainly the better team in the second half. Andy Powell was awarded the official man of the match.

My man of the match: Lee Byrne. From my position up high in the stands it gave a good view of the ground the full back was covering. Lee had a mixed day in attack, some fine runs, but it was his defense that impressed me most. He was a rock under the high ball and his game awareness was excellent.

London Irish 23-19 Ospreys. 2 Nov. 2008

The Ospreys managed to get a losing bonus point which was enough to qualify from their EDF group as winners. Nikki Walker played a big part in both halves. He managed to cause a mix-up in a backs move off a line-out that caused a turnover. He then failed to tackle the winger who proceeded to score a runaway try. Nikki went some way to redeeming himself by scoring a try in the second half. A big plus was the goal kicking of James Hook. He certainly had the right boots on in that game. He landed a huge kick inside his own half. The longest Hook kick I've ever seen.
My man of the match: Tommy Bowe.

Northampton Saints 33-20 Scarlets. 1 Nov. 2008

The Scarlets scored two tries in the first ten minutes through King and Stoddart. It wasn't particularly great just that Saints were still in the changing rooms, mentally at least. They soon recovered though and by half time the score was 13-13. This was a fairly typical Scarlets away performance for this season. Good in the first half. Awful in the second half. The Saints totally controlled the second half and outside half Stephen Mylor dominated the game. It was a bad day at the office for the Welsh team.
My man of the match: Stephen Mylor.

Blues 24-18 Bath. 31 Oct. 2008

An open and incident packed game. Molitika scored the first try after some nice interplay between the Robinson brothers. This was Tom James' first game back after a few months out with injury. He showed up well and looked hungry for action throughout the game. Bath were dangerous in attack during the whole game and it was only the Blues solid defence that kept them at bay. The turning point of the game came when the Blues already down to 14 men thanks to Shanklin being sin binned gave away a penalty try. The Bath wing was running in for a try and stepped inside the covering defender, Jason Spice, who flung out an arm and caught him high. It should have been a yellow card but the referee thought it was accidental. Spice survived and then even more dramatically Richard Mustoe charged down the conversion in front of the posts. I can't recall the last time I saw a charged down coversion. A real rarity.
In the last ten the homeside showed good compsure to close out the win. In their EDF group they beat Sale, Leicester and Bath. Not bad going.
My man of the match: Molitika

Autumn Internationals

On the eve of the first game there is great excitment and hope. Nobody knows what will happen. Wales have a daunting schedule. First up they play current World Champions South Africa, then it's Canada, followed by New Zealand and Australia. There was disappointing news today as Henson withdrew from the game tommorrow. He's not fully fit and Jamie Roberts will play at 12 with Shanklin coming into 13. I'm looking forward to the game tommorrow. I'm not too sure about playing Halfpenny and Shane Williams in the same team though. Having two small wings against South Africa could spell trouble. I suppose Mark Jones would have played if fit as he was in good form for the Scarlets. Elsewhere Andy Powell gets a deserved start at no.8. Hopefully he can provide parity with the strong back row of the Boks. He's been great this season and should certainly have a few good moments in the game. I predict a South Africa win but hopefully Wales can find some cohesion for the tougher test of the All Blacks in two weeks time.

The Canada game should be a comfortable win. The last twenty should see Wales put them to bed and score tries for fun. Though you never know.
England look to rebuild with Care and Cipriani showing the way. Ironic to see England with a pair of dynamic and skillful half backs.
I'm also interested to see how many current favourite player Tommy Bowe fares on the wing for Ireland. He's playing well for the Ospreys and needs to shine for Ireland to put his hand up for Lions selection.
At the end of New Zealand's Autmun tour of Europe they play Munster. This looks a very tasty clash. I've got a sneaky feeling that the Men of Munster can beat the All Blacks. I'm really looking forward to that game.

Ospreys 37-22 Worcester. 26 Oct. 2008

The Ospreys dominated the game and had alot of control. Jamie Nutbrown was back from injury to provide more experience at scrum half. Despite the majority of possession the Ospreys still look sluggish with the ball in hand. Shane Williams treated us to one truly fizzing run that nearly led to a try. Gavin Henson had a good game and showed his true class with a wonderful sidestep that left the full back Chris Latham on his arse and proceeded to dash over the line for a great individual try. Worcester hung on and contributed to the scoring and never looked like winning. It was all about getting four tries and the bonus point. The Ospreys left it to the last play of the game and Ulster legend Tommy Bowe finished off well after some constant pressure. What a signing Bowe is turning out to be.
My man of the match: Bowe.

Scarlets 27-10 Bristol. 24 Oct. 2008

The last ever game at Stradey Park was an EDF group match. The Scarlets enjoyed a comfortable victory on an emotional evening. Regan King created the first try for Morgan Stoddart. The Scarlets full back was looking sharp. He should have scored another try but started celebrating too early on a run in and the cover tackler got to him.
The last ever try at Stradey was ironically scored by Scarlets' wing Rob Higgit, an ex-Bristol player. A sad night for Welsh rugby. And to think I've never been to Stradey Park. I must go to the new stadium some time.
My man of the match: Mark Jones. A busy performance and some fine runs.

Tommy Bowe to the rescue ...

What would have the Ospreys done without Bowe this season? Initially bought from Ulster to strengthen the wing department he's had to provide cover and play at 13 for most of the season. In today's game at London Irish he played the second half at full back when Vaughton went off. He slotted easily into the position and his defensive work helped the Ospreys through. Bowe is fast becoming an essential player to the Osprey's squad. His place in the Ireland team on the wing looks pretty safe, and with a tidy 6 Nations he should secure a place in the initial Lions draft of 50 - 60 players. His play so far this season for the Osprey's has shown his versatility and superb skill set. This for me gives him the clear edge over other players such as Sean Lamont.

One man does not make a team but if the Osprey's lost Bowe their back line would be a poorer unit. I'm already predicting that he will walk off with the Osprey's Fans' player of the season award.

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Originally posted at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A43051015

Blues 37-24 Gloucester. 19 Oct. 2008

27,000 people turned up at the Millenium Stadium and were treated to an entertaining game. The first half saw 5 tries. The Blues were in impressive attacking form. Andy Powell was in fine form and doing everything a coach could ask of a no.8. He was winning ball at the line-up, getting go forward off the base of the scrum, running supporting lines and putting in hard tackles. At half time Jerry Guscott singled him out for praise. The try of the game started from a high kick from Gloucster. This was snapped up by Ben Blair and he executed a trade mark side step and went on a searing run through the centre of the field. He linked up well with Jamie Robinson who fed Alfie for an excellent try under the posts. One of the best Blues tries of the year. Half time 27-17.
Gloucester tried hard in the second half and the result was in doubt for quite a while but the Blues ran out deserved winners. A fine game of rugby.
My man of the match. Andy Powell. His first half performance was immense.