Be proud of warrior spirit because Welshrugby is in a good place
IT WILL be absolutely no consolation to Welsh fans but they can be so proud of their team. Wales have left everything out on the pitch in every game at this World Cup and we saw that warrior spirit yet again yesterday.
It was a game of extraordinary passion and intensity which Wales could certainly have won but, in the final analysis, you must also give massive credit to a resilient and clever South Africa side. They have bounced back in wonderful fashion since that defeat against Japan.
The Welsh have been beset by injuries both before and during this World Cup and it just caught up with them a little yesterday when they looked to put some daylight between themselves and the Springboks.
A couple of times they just lacked the cutting edge that the likes of Jonathan Davies, Scott Williams, Liam Williams and Rhys Webb can give you. Of course sport is full of ifs and buts — but my gut feeling is that Wales, with their first choice back division, would have found that extra score or two they needed
Tactically I can only think of one possible trick Wales missed on the day when they were enjoying a good period of pressure in the Boks’ half with about 10 minutes to go after emerging from a
long siege one point up. South Africa were defending well but there was an easy three points on offer if Wales and looked for another dropped goal to add to Dan Biggar’s fine effort on half-time.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and of course South Africa did clinch victory with a very fine try but to me it felt like a moment when a simple dropped goal would have been a huge lift to morale.
The penalty count also went against Wales at the breakdown and that made life difficult but I felt Wayne Barnes had a good match. Wales and in particular their excellent backrow, were contesting the breakdown very aggressively and in fact Wales had a good deal of success with turnovers. But when you go at it that hard it comes with a risk and you can concede a few more penalties that you want. Wales have contributed massively to this great tournament. Who will ever forget their incredible late win over England and that titanic clash of wills against Australia last week which could just as easily gone their way? They are absolutely ‘ball park’ and on another day, well who knows. The likes of Sam Warburton, Alun Wyn Jones and Dan Biggar are very strong contenders for any Tournament XV you might put together.
Through their injury problems, they have also blooded a tranche of young players — Tyler Morgan, Gareth Anscombe, Gareth Davies, Lloyd Williams — who will add greatly to their strength in depth going forward. Wales will be hurting, as Alex Cuthbert’s reaction (left) shows, but Welsh rugby is in a very good place.
THIS World Cup has been fantastic in every respect — except the disciplinary process which has been close to a shambles on occasions. Yesterday, 24 hours after Scotland were required by the tournament regulations to announce their team to play Australia today, Jonny Gray and Ross Ford were cleared on appeal of the three-week bans imposed in the week. They are now available to play at Twickenham.
After their bans were imposed Scotland prepared with one side in mind and now have another one available, while Australia will now find a different line up in front of them. It’s not fair on either side, there is enough stress to deal with this week.
Why couldn’t the appeal be heard on Wednesday or Thursday? This is rugby’s showpiece occasion and all concerned deserve better.