Wales 33-16 Argentina. 21 Nov. 2009

Went down to watch game, this time with tickets already bought for the upper tier. After the usual breakfast at Servinis we headed to The Vulcan. It was five to eleven and there were about ten people already outside waiting for the pub to open. On the way back to the centre we found another decent pub called the Tavern. Met up with Neil, Andy and his Dad and had a few drinks. It was an early kick off so we headed into the stadium 45 minutes before kick off. The roof was on and a new pitch had been laid for the game, apparently the 25th time in ten years. I was disappointed with the turn out, about 53,000, but on the upside there were no queues at the bars.

The first half was a fairly scrappy affair. Argentina showed little attacking intent and the first try was a quick bit of thinking from Stephen Jones. Wales were awarded a penalty and the Pumas assumed Wales would kick for goal. As the Argentinian players walked back to their line, Jones took a quick tap and sprinted over in the corner.

The second half got off to the best possible start. Shane Williams latched onto a charged down kick in the Pumas half and side-stepped his way over the line. From that moment on Wales were in full control of the game., although they didn't really find any real cohesion. They needed to go through the phases more. A surpise try from the Pumas after a failed clearance from Jonathan Davies briefly changed the momentum of the match.

The stage was then set for Shane to produce the moment of the match and score his 50th international try (48 for Wales, 2 for the Lions). He scooped up a loose kick from Argentina on the half way line and looked up to see a lot of space on his left hand side. After easily beating the first up tacklers he coasted in past the covering full back. From my upper tier vantage point Shane made it look like a simple try, that is the class of the man.

Not the best of games but a win, and some quality individual play.

My man of the match: Shane

More rugby

Worcester 12-12 Bath. 19 Nov. 2009

Just when you thought you'd see any open running game in the Premiership then this game comes along. Both teams initial thought was to kick the ball at every opportunity. One of the dullest games I've seen all year.

Ireland 20-20 Australia. 15 Nov. 2009

Ireland were slow in patches and their forwards took a long time to get going. Australia played an all round good game with Rocky Elsom in solid form as usual. The home side didn't really look like winning but they scrambled a draw at the end with a typical BOD burst in midfield.

England 16-9 Argentina. 14 Nov. 2009

How poor were England? Unbelievable! Every area of thier game was shockingly poor. It was a like watching a bunch of robots. No flair, terrible individual errors and little passion. Only Lewis Moody, the human dynamo, can take any credit from the match. Argentina brought a limited game play and England brought their worst performance for many a year. Winning the match was England's only saving grace.


Wales 17-13 Samoa. 13 Nov. 2009

A frustrating game for Wales as they created a number of chances but failed to score more than one try. James Hook was in good counter-attacking form and Halfpenny scored a neat try from a Biggar cross field kick. Samoa certainly tackled well and there were some crunching hits. The win was put in doubt when the visitors scored an interception try. Wales were hanging on in the last ten minutes. A disappointing game.

Harlequins 15-15 Scarlets. 8 Nov. 2009

Dragons 20-9 Sale. 6 Nov. 2009


Well done Dragons. A good old fashioned team performance from a team with no big names. Their commitment to the cause was on display for all to see and they ran out deserved winners against an experienced Sale outfit.

Leinster 23-6 Blues31 Oct. 2009

Wales 12-19 New Zealand. 7 Nov. 2009

The day started off well. We went to check out the Vulcan pub to see if it was still there. Thankfully one of Cardiff's oldest pubs will not be demolished to make way for a car park . We went down without tickets and the touts we trying to offload their tickets for one hundred quid. Much too much. On the way to the Cayo Arms this guy asked for directions to the Mocyhn Du pub. We showed him the way and he mentioned his sister had one spare. No good to us, we needed two. The Cayo Arms was jam packed and after a quick pint headed upto Canton for a drink in the Canton Hotel. On the way back into the city centre we popped into the Mocyhn Du and the guy we meet before spotted me and told me he had two spare tickets now, sitting together. What great luck. We purchased the tickets for the cost price of fifty five quid. They were lower tier tickets behind the posts. Not the best seat in the house but better than nothing.

The National Anthem was particularly powerful before the match. During the Haka the crowd chanted "Wales, Wales" and drowned out the All Black noises. And so to the match. The first half was a good old fashion arm wrestle and neither side really dominated. Dan Carter certainly tested Wales' back three but James Hook was equal to the test at full back. Both defences cancelled each other out and the Wales set piece seemed to be doing okay. Going into the second half it was 6-6. The third quarter of the game the All Blacks upped their intensity and from what looked like a fairly conservative move they scored in the corner through their hooker after some decent phase play. With 15 minutes to go the score was 9-19 and Wales managed to finally get some fruitful possession. Shane Williams made a telling break and off loaded to Martin Roberts who was entering the All Black 22 at pace, only for Carter to come out of nowhere with a move stopping tackle. The replay show a high tackle but the ref didn't spot it, and to be fair to the ref I don't think it was too apparent when it happened. Wales clawed back three points and with time running out a draw was the best possible result. Then out of nowhere Alun Wyn-Jones intercepted a pass deep in Wales' half and galloped towards the New Zealand try line. He was actually running directly towards the posts that we were behind. For him it must have seemed like a really long sprint but for us it was all over in a few seconds. And the briefest hopes of Wales' fans were dashed when the move broke down. It was almost a very exciting finish to a fairly average game.

New Zealand deserved to win, but I don't think either side played anywhere near their potential and in that respect it was a disappointing game.