KEV KICKS OFF
TALKING and writing about rugby/sport seems meaningless after what’s happening in the UK with these horrendous terror attacks. But we have to stay strong together and fight back against these cowards as a nation.
I have to say how fantastic it was to see the Champions League final at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
Millions of people from all over the world were watching and thousands went to Cardiff with no tickets just to soak up the atmosphere.
The stadium was a sell-out and some media reports say it was the best final for years.
Real Madrid with Gareth Bale and Christiano Ronaldo were outstanding with Ronaldo scoring two goals and Bale, who was on the bench, coming on in the latter part of the game to help Real Madrid beat Juventus 4-1.
Cardiff can be very proud they delivered a fantastic final. Hopefully there will be more big events to come to Cardiff.
The British Lions started off their tour with an unconvincing 13-7 win over what I would say are their weakest opposition of the tour, the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians.
The Lions were losing 7-3 at half time to a team who are semipros.
Gatland and the Lions are blaming jetlag and not being clinical enough for a poor performance, which is a fair call, but they need to improve fast, starting today against Auckland blues and Saturday against top of Super C rugby Crusaders.
The New Zealand media is giving them a slating in the local press saying it’s the worst Lions squad ever etc, etc, so the pressure is massive to get a good performance in the next few games.
I’m sure they will improve once they settle in and get some team spirit together and get the right combinations going.
Gatland has said he wants to give all players a chance in the first three games.
It was great last week to get to the final of the Phuket 10s Vets tournament. My team was Gulf Legends who are based in Dubai.
We had a mixture of English, Irish and Scottish and obviously Welsh players in the squad but sadly we lost to a good New Zealand university team in the final.
Wales beat Premiership side RGC 88-19 in a warm-up game in Colwyn Bay in front of a full house of more than 6,000 supporters.
Wales travel to play Tonga and Samoa next week and there will be much tougher opposition.
Lots of people are saying Wales should have played a tougher team such as a premiership select, Wales A or Barbarians team. The WRU made the decision to play in Colwyn Bay and all proceeds went to charity which was a positive and it was nice to see Brynteg boy Evan Yardley get a try.
Good luck to the Lions today against an Auckland Blues team who feature eight All Blacks in the starting XV.
Wales hooker Ken Owens will captain the team and he is joined by Welsh half-backs local boy Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar in a new 15 Lions team.
Gatland is saying the Lions will look to play a more expansive game rather than the Warrenball game – the direct rugby which the New Zealand media say the Lions are playing.
Good luck Webby and the Lions.
Question: Do you think Gatland will change his tactics and play a more expansive game?
Yes, think the coaches want the players to play an open game but you’ve got to play the weather conditions and play in the right areas and when it’s the right time to play; for example, if you’ve got overlaps and space to move the ball wide you play that way. I hope today against Auckland it’s a dry night, the boys are over their jetlag and we can throw the ball about and get a good strong performance and hopefully a win; but it won’t be easy facing eight All Blacks. Good luck boys. I