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.

7 matches in October

Blues 20-12 Ospreys. 24 Oct. 2009
After the two previous games with no tries this was a welcome fairly open game. The home side pack were too good for a below strength Ospreys team.

London Irish 18-12 Leicester. 24 Oct. 2009
No tries. Little excitement. Lewis Moody confortably won his battle against Stefan Armitage.

Scarlets 18-3 Dragons. 23 Oct. 2009
Rainy conditions. Lots of errors. No tries. Little to remember.

Ospreys 25-24 Clermont Auvergne. 18 Oct. 2009
Ospreys were classy in the first half then nearly let it slip in the second. Thankfully they held on for a vital win.

Harlequins 19-23 Toulouse. 17 Oct. 2009
A second half comeback from a spirited Toulouse side bodes well for their chances in this year's Heineken Cup.

Toulon 31-23 Saracens. 15 Oct. 2009
Jonny Wilkinson was in a good form.

Leicester 32-32 Ospreys. 11 Oct. 2009
In which the Ospreys built up a big 18 point lead only for the Tigers to stage a remarkable comeback. Leicester centre Billy Twelvetrees announced himself on the National stage with a man of the match performance and instantly became a cult hero. With a name like that what else do you expect? Top notch entertainment. For Ospreys fans it was painful viewing in the second half and you could argue they were lucky to come away with a draw.

Blues 20-6 Harlequins. 10th Oct. 2009

Went down to watch this game. As usual the day started with a hearty breakfast at Servinis. This was my first visit to the new Cardiff City Stadium in Leckwith. It was an early kick off so we headed straight for the pubs in Canton before heading to the stadium. It's only a ten minute walk from Cardiff Castle to Canton and then another ten minutes from Canton to the stadium, which is not as long as I thought it would be.

It was a bright sunny day and at kick off I was disappointed with the attendence; only 11,000. The first half was not full of high quality rugby. From a Blues perspective it wil be remembered for one thing, the injuries. Four Cardiff players went off injured, Bradley Davies, Gareth Thomas, John Yapp and most worryingly captain Paul Tito. After the break the Blues scored the first try with some tidy counter attack play that saw Leigh Halfpenny cross the line. Harlequins then started to dominate large parts of the second half. They were without their England stars Easter, Monye and Care but still caused the home side alot of problems. The balance of the game looked to have switched to Quins in the last ten minutes as they put heavy pressure on the Blues line. A certain try was on, only for Quins full back Mike Brown to knock-on yards from the line. This turned out to be the truning point of the game and the Blues pushed on to grab another try after Deniol Jones' kick forward was chased and converted by a sharp Halfpenny.
It was an average game that could have gone either way.

My man of the match. Halfpenny

Leinster 9-12 London Irish. 9th Oct. 2009

Ospreys 31-10 Edinburgh. 4th Oct. 2009

Super round-up

The end of last season the games came thick and fast and as a result I lost interest in keeping up with this blog.

I watched all the Lions tour to South Africa except the Cheetahs match on 6 June as I was in France and couldn't find anywhere showing it. There is alot to remember about the tour but if I had to pick out one memory it would be this: the turning point of the 3 match series. Early in the second half of the 2nd test, both props, Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones were injured in the same passage of play and had to leave the field. This meant uncontested scrums for the rest of the match, and the Lions dominance from the first half was gone, and they never recovered.

A welcome consolation win in the third test restored alot of pride.

30 May:
Royal XV 25-37 Lions

3 June:
Golden Lions 10-74 Lions

6 June:
Cheetahs 24-26 Lions

10 June:
Sharks 3-39 Lions

13 June:
Western Province 23-26 Lions

16 June:
Southern Kings 8-20 Lions

20 June:
South Africa 26-21 Lions(first Test)

23 June:
Emerging Springboks 13-13 Lions

27 June:
South Africa 28-25 Lions (second Test)

4 July:
South Africa 9-28 Lions(third Test)

After the Lions I watched a couple of the Tri Nations games; South Africa wins again. And watched my first domestic game of the season the other night, the Blues grinding out thier first home win at thier new stadium against the Scarlets.

Blues 19-15 Scarlets. 26 Sep. 2009

Didn't think much of the new fly half Norton-Knight. Rush and Tito, powerful games.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/8266267.stm

More round up

Northampton 15-3 Bourgoin. 22 May 2009

Challenge Cup Final. A game full of good rugby that will be remembered for a couple of incidents that resulted in yellow cards. As the Saints asserted their dominance the French team resorted to bully boy tactics and frankly got dirty play. I was impressed with Saints hooker Dylan Hartley during this game. One of the best hooker displays I've seen for a long time.



Bulls 36-23 Crusaders. 23 May 2009

Super 14 Semi Final. A pulsating contest with the Bulls playing some superb rugby. Outside half Morne Steyn kicked 21 points, including 4 impressive drop kicks. The highlight of the match and one of the moments of the season was Spies' try. He found himself with the ball in his own half and the number showed incredible athleticism and pace to out-sprint the Crusaders backs to score under the posts. One of the best tries you'll ever see from a forward.

Leicester 16-19 Leinster. 23 May 2009. Heineken Cup Final

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Heineken_Cup_Final

Canada 23-32 Wales. 30 May 2009

http://www.setanta.com/UK/Articles/other-sports/2009/05/30/Rugby-Canda-v-Wales-report/gnid-55111/