Well, I must admit that I knew the final score of the game before tuning in to watch the delayed broadcast that we get in our location. I was prepared to do a few crossword puzzles and take a short nap for the 80 minute duration of play. However, I wasn’t prepared for the action-packed game it turned out to be. Granted, it did seem to be more of a rivalry as to who could score the most penalty points (or, conversely, who could give away the fewest) but that, in its own way made for some exciting rugby.

Now, being a diehard Welsh rugby supporter (Ospreys rule!) I naturally know far more about coaching rugby than all of the Welsh coaching staff combined. I’m also an expert in the field of refereeing said matches and I’m here to tell you most refs are dead blind - especially those officiating Welsh matches. But it wasn’t bad coaching or blind officials that caused the Welsh loss this weekend past, it was a clear case of equipment failure.

Yes, that’s right, equipment failure. One can never underestimate the value of quality footwear for a rugby team. And when your footwear fails and your players are sidelined by the need for shoe tying it can seriously affect an offensive player’s ability to move the ball over the Try line.

Further, setting aside the obvious social faux paux of playing in public in your dirty socks, I can’t stress enough the need for proper footwear to aid in the forward mobility of your team.

OK, I’m being silly, but I do have to say that the Welsh defense was absolutely brilliant in play against Scotland. They continue to show top-flight performance in the matches, successfully holding the opponents at the Try line and frustrating their attempts to cross.

I do have one complaint however, and I wonder that no one brought it up. That was the scrolling banner along the grandstands at field level. I’m not particularly sensitive to this kind of movement, but this one nearly drove me nuts. I found my eyes flicking on and off of it during the course of the game as it changed, and flashed and fidgeted. Then at one point when the camera panned down to player-head level, it was like a giant pervasive blue blob of intermittent movement.

I can’t even begin to imagine how distracting that would be to someone trying to concentrate on the whereabouts of the ball. In a game where it is so important to be able to follow fast action and keep the ball in focus at all times, having something flashing away in your peripheral vision, I should think, would be horribly distracting. I for one would like to see that kind of thing outlawed in future matches.

All that being said, Stephen Jones was in his usual good form, as were the Jones boys and my hat’s off to all the lads for a well-given effort.

This entry was posted by Arwen on Sunday, February 11th, 2007 at 10:11 pm and is filed under Wales, Welsh Rugby. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.