Samoans, Pumas and rainy weekends

It doesn’t look like being a nice weekend weatherwise – just rain, rain and more rain. Still, there’s plenty of rugby to look forward to. I’m off to Cardiff this evening for Wales-Samoa and then Twickenham tomorrow to see Argentina take on England.

Tonight’s match should be hugely physical, as any game involving the Samoans is. The battle in midfield of Jamie Roberts and Seilala Mapusua should be intriguing – Wales need to use Roberts more effectively this week because he never found much space against the All Blacks. Paul James also needs another big game at tighthead and I hope Dwayne Peel proves that he is still a world-class scrum-half. A new face to watch is Sam Warburton on the openside. Billed as the next Martyn Williams, he has a great all-round game and is sure to impress with his work-rate tonight.

As for England, I just want to see more creativity. A five-year-old could have figured out their game plan last weekend. What’s the point of using Matt Banahan as a runner if it’s so predictable defences can put two men on him and stop the big man in his tracks? There need to be decoys and support runners. The scrum is going to be a big battle, especially if it rains as expected. The pressure is on Duncan Bell, Tim Payne and Dylan Hartley as they come up against a fearsome Puma pack that is packed with experience and guile. If they get on the back foot there, it could be a long afternoon for England.

Here are my weekend predictions (winners in italics):
Wales v Samoa
France v South Africa
England v Argentina
Italy v New Zealand
Scotland v Fiji
Japan v Canada
Ireland v Australia 

 

North versus south

Yesterday’s first round of autumn Internationals proved to me the gap between the best sides in the southern hemisphere and their counterparts in the north. Australia and New Zealand have both been roundly criticised for their Tri-Nations form, but they swotted England and Wales aside with relative ease yesterday.

Okay, they were far from massive scorelines but if it had not been for Jonny Wilkinson’s incredible defence the Wallabies would have scored at least two more tries while the All Blacks dominated territory and possession in Cardiff but just failed to make those last couple of inches to the tryline. Or did they? Debate raged afterwards as to whether the TMO had got his three decisions right, particularly the Conrad Smith effort. And Ma’a Nonu simply butchered another chance when he selfishly went for the line rather than going to the players outside him.

So if the northern hemisphere sides want to be contenders at the next World Cup they need to step up their game. It will be interesting to see how Ireland fare against Australia next Sunday – hopefully they can prove more competitive and produce more inventive attacking play than England.

England’s chosen tactic yesterday was the pick-and-go over and over again. They rarely made more than a couple of yards and it was a tactic Australia could easily cope with. Why not make more use of the mazy running of Shane Geraghty and a threatening back three? The unpredictable is always more dangerous than the predictable – take a few risks! The other concern for England will be their defence. Australia seemed to find it relatively easy to punch a few holes and pile on the pressure – those gaps need to be closed over the next couple of weeks or New Zealand will have a field day.

Watching Wales-New Zealand after the England game was quite a contrast. While England were happy to keep taking the ball into contact, Wales (and New Zealand for that matter) produced some lovely fluid movements across the field with excellent offloading. Quick ball is a phrase used more and more often these days but it does make such a difference to a team’s attack – and to producing an entertaining spectacle for the fans. More please!

Rants and raves

There’s a few things I want to get off my chest this week and I thought I’d try to do so in an orderly fashion, so here goes…

1. The weak link
Wales coach Warren Gatland has been criticised in the media for calling this season’s Guinness Premiership the weakest in a long time, and although he is renowned for his mind games in the media – they’ve irked the All Blacks this week – I have to say I think he has a point. Some of the games this season have been turgid affairs liable to cause the crowd to nod off. Saracens are top of the table thanks to their kicking game and defence – but where’s the flair and the excitement? London Irish have done well in the try stakes but even they have been opting to grind out wins in some games. Yes, the Premiership is in a fine state in terms of crowds and finances and so on, but if we want to keep people coming back please provide a little more in terms of excitement.

2. Goode: Bad and Ugly
While I’m on the subject of boring games, it only seems fair to mention Andy Goode. How he is in the England 22 to face Australia tomorrow is beyond me – what does Martin Johnson expect him to do if he’s called to action from the bench? He’s certainly not going to be scything through the Wallaby defence to score a try. I’m sure he’s a nice guy but he’s more of a standard player than a standout one. Yes, he can kick and kick well, but surely we want to see more than that in our international players. And when you’ve got two players in the starting XV who can play ten and kick goals – Jonny Wilkinson and Shane Geraghty – why not put Ben Foden or Mathew Tait on the bench, a player who can bring that – and I hate to use the term – X factor to the game if a spot of magic is needed in the last 20 minutes. Goode definitely wouldn’t get Simon Cowell’s vote.

3. To Peel or not to Peel
The saga surrounding Dwayne Peel’s selection for the Wales team to play New Zealand confuses me. If Peel wants to play and Sale are happy for him why can’t he? I don’t know the ins and outs, and perhaps Sale are just using Premier Rugby’s ruling as an excuse to make them look like the good guys, but if the player, the club and the country are all happy for him to play it makes sense to me that he should be allowed to. Red tape is getting in the way of his international career – and I for one would definitely rather have Peel wearing the No 9 shirt against the All Blacks than Gareth Cooper. 

Now I’ve had my rant, probably best to look at my predictions for this weekend. I’m just going to do the Test matches and I’ll go for England to beat Australia and New Zealand to beat Wales – although both are going to be close. I’d love Wales to end their All Blacks hoodoo but just don’t know if their weakened front row can cope with the Kiwis while I hope England actually play some running rugby to see off the Wallabies but it’ll be tight.

I’m off to the Millennium Stadium tomorrow and can’t wait to see what Wales do after the haka. Here’s a reminder of what happened last year…

Predictions – Week eight

You know the score by now. Here are my predictions for week eight, winners in italics, then it’s into the autumn Internationals – I, for one, can’t wait!

Guinness Premiership
Sale v Gloucester
Bath v Saracens
Harlequins v London Irish
Leicester v Northampton
Newcastle v Worcester
Wasps v Leeds

Magners League
Connacht v Scarlets
Ospreys v Glasgow
Leinster v Cardiff Blues
Munster v Ulster
Edinburgh v Dragons

Mixed emotions

My best performance yet in the predictions I think, with nine out of 11 correct. Sadly for Martin Johnson I don’t see how England can pull one of their best performances out of the hat given the number of hospital visits his players are clocking up.

From a Wales perspective, it’s great to see Dwayne Peel in the squad. I’m a big fan of his and believe he can be one of the best No 9s in the world on his day. He hasn’t started much under Warren Gatland, with Mike Phillips the favourite, but he now has a chance to show what he can do. Getting leave from Sale for the All Blacks game will no doubt help his cause – otherwise he could be left warming the bench behind Gareth Cooper again.

And finally… the main reason for this quick post was to show you this hiliarious clip from the Scarlets v Dragons game on Friday night that I saw on Scrum V last night. Who said the days of stuffing the ball Up the jumper had been and gone?!

Predictions – Week seven

Time to look in my crystal ball again – winners are in italics

Guinness Premiership
Bath v Newcastle
Northampton v Sale
Worcester v Harlequins
London Irish v Leicester
Gloucester v Wasps
Saracens v Leeds

Magners League
Scarlets v Dragons
Glasgow v Connacht
Edinburgh v Munster
Ulster v Leinster
Cardiff Blues v Ospreys

You havin’ a laugh

Another month, another magazine done and dusted. I’ve wanted to post this all week, but just haven’t had time. The edition has now been sent to the printers, however, so I’ve got a few minutes free to tell you about my goings-on.

On Monday night I went to an event organised by Investec, which was a great laugh. Lee Mears, Nick Easter and Doddie Weir were there, and it was a sort of ‘whose line is it anyway’ when they did improvised sketches with a professional comedy troupe. It was hilarious with us in the crowd shouting out ideas for what they should use as the basis for the sketch – vibrators and lollypop men two of the diverse subjects chosen. 

All was going swimmingly until after the interval, when the journalists had to get involved! That’s my ultimate nightmare – getting up on stage in front of a group of people I don’t really know and trying to be funny. Not exactly my forte. Anyway, I was heckled to get up on stage, and Mears and I had to pretend we were a husband and wife training elephants to play darts at the Olympics. I was sweating under the pressure and Lee did a good job of saving it for me with the classic line “an elephant never forgets”. I can’t really remember what I said but I think I got a couple of laughs. The annoying thing is when you think of things you could’ve said the next day!

The embarrassment aside it was a good night and the players were really good – I think the banter in a team environment probably helps them with the quick quip.

In other news, I’ve entered the New York Marathon. Luckily not the one in a couple of weeks but in November 2010 so I’ve got a year to get myself in shape. And I think I’ll need every minute of it!

Predictions – Week seven

There’s no rugby on the agenda for me this weekend. I’m off to Newcastle to see my sister so I’m set for a weekend of shopping and eating rather than rucking and mauling. I’m really looking forward to it actually – hopefully it will prove relaxing, although my late train times could end up being a nightmare! I might try to catch some of the Heineken Cup on the TV, although finding a pub in Newcastle showing rugby instead of football is distinctly unlikely. 

Still, I thought I’d get back on the predictions horse and I’m hoping for a much better success rate than 33% that I had last weekend. Here goes, with the winners in italics:

Heineken Cup

Pool One
Perpignan v Northampton
Munster v Treviso

Pool Two
Dragons v Glasgow
Biarritz v Gloucester

Pool Three
Viadana v Leicester
Ospreys v Clermont Auvergne

Pool Four
Edinburgh v Ulster
Bath v Stade Francais

Pool Five
Sale v Cardiff Blues
Harlequins v Toulouse

Pool Six
London Irish v Scarlets
Brive v Leinster 

Hallelujah for the Heineken

I decided to go to two Anglo-Welsh encounters this weekend – and they were contrasting affairs. Cardiff Blues’ 20-6 win over Harlequins was a somewhat turgid affair as two sides struggling for form tried to grind out a win. Leigh Halfpenny’s try at the end probably distorted the scoreline slightly because this was a tight game dominated up front, handling errors leading to numerous scrums and turnovers with neither side able to string more than a couple of phases together. Neither side looks anything like the force they were last season.

The game made tough viewing and Quins’ post-match press conference wasn’t much better. I’ve been to three Quins games this season and John Kingston has been dour and miserable in each one. His dislike for the media is obvious – maybe Quins would get better coverage if he perked up a bit!

While the Blues won, they also picked up several serious injuries, although the news that Martyn Williams could be back in action at the end of the month will be music to Dai Young’s – and Warren Gatland’s – ears.

As for yesterday’s game, Leicester’s 32-32 draw with the Ospreys, it was a cracker. Both sides were willing to run the ball and showed more in attack than you suspect Quins and Cardiff would have if they were still playing now. The Tigers have to be applauded for their performance given that they had to make three changes on the morning of the game and another ten minutes before kick-off because of injuries. They even had a flanker playing in the centres for half the game and yet they score more tries (four) than they had in all their Premiership games to date this season.

The Ospreys should have won this game – they led 26-8 at one stage – but just couldn’t put it away. With the quality of players in their squad they should have the experience and nous to close out games like this. Instead, they will be left questioning how they allowed a Tigers side bereft of many of its big names to come back to get a draw. Improvement is needed if the Welsh side is to live up to the potential it has on paper. Maybe they need to take a leaf out of Leicester’s book and generate an incredible team spirit that means even when your backs are against the wall you come out fighting. Then the Ospreys might finally shake off their critics.

I love the Heineken Cup and the first weekend has been full of excitement, with plenty of upsets too. Check out Sky Sports for highlights of some of the cracking matches this weekend.

Predictions – Week six

Firstly, yippee, rugby’s made it into the Olympics. Sevens will be played at the 2016 and 2020 Games – can’t wait for a trip to Rio in seven years!! My only concern is that only 12 teams will compete in the tournament – it’s hardly enough countries to help develop the game across the world. The entire point of becoming an Olympic sport is to help smaller nations develop their rugby programmes because they will be awarded more funds if they are in the Games. I’ll also be interested to see how the whole Great Britain team pans out  – could be interesting!

Anyway, here are my Heineken Cup predictions for this weekend – winners in italics:

Pool One
Treviso v Perpignan
Northampton v Munster
Pool Two
Gloucester v Dragons
Glasgow v Biarritz
Pool Three
Clermont Auvergne v Viadana
Leicester v Ospreys
Pool Four
Ulster v Bath
Stade Francais v Edinburgh
Pool Five
Cardiff Blues v Harlequins
Toulouse v Sale
Pool Six
Leinster v London Irish 
Scarlets v Brive