WE PLAY BY THE LAWS
GATLAND ON THAT SCRUM ROW
WARREN Gatland last night strenuously denied there was anything underhand about Wales’ part in a farcical situation surrounding a scrum in the dying minutes of his team’s turgid win against Georgia yesterday.
Wales ground out a 13-6 victory that saw a promising start by the hosts degenerate into a desperately-poor spectacle.
Hallam Amos’ first-half try and eight more points from the boot of fly-half Rhys Priestland were ultimately enough to avoid humiliation, but the match ended in controversial circumstances.
Georgia were prevented from having a competitive scrum five yards from the Welsh line after tighthead prop Tomas Francis was sinbinned because Wales claimed their only other tighthead, Dragons youngster Leon Brown, was unable to return to the fray because of cramp. On safety grounds, rules state that only a recognised tighthead prop can replace a fellow tighthead.
The Georgians subsequently decided to go for a lineout instead, but Wales snuffed out their attack to hold on. There were immediate calls in some quarters that Wales had gone against the spirit of the game, but Gatland dismissed them.
He said: “I can promise you, there wasn’t anything from our point of view in terms of trying to manipulate the laws or anything like that.
“If Leon had have been fit, he would have definitely gone back on to the field.”
“It was a tactical change with Leon, but we knew he was cramping up a little bit.
“After the yellow card, there was a question whether he could go on.
“But he had cramped up, his calves were no good.”
Gatland’s Georgian counterpart Milton Haig, a fellow Kiwi, asked World Rugby to look into the matter.
Haig said: “There’s a process for looking at the correct procedures and we will leave World Rugby to deal with it.”
WALES limped over the line against Georgia in a performance that deteriorated with every passing minute at the Principality Stadium.
A first-half try by wing Hallam Amos and eight points from the boot of Rhys Priestland was enough to at least ensure victory.
But Georgia were allowed to make it an uncomfortable afternoon and will feel they have proved a point regarding their desire to join an expanded Six Nations.
The spectacle was desperately disappointing, particularly after the interval, and it was galling that Georgia ended the match with a great chance to snatch a draw.
To the relief of the home crowd, they couldn’t breach the Welsh line even though prop Tomas Francis had been yellow-carded for a silly clearout at the side of a ruck.
That offence triggered a rather farcical and protracted finish as Welsh injuries precluded a contested scrum and forced Georgia to go for the equalising points via a lineout.
Wales held out, but the manner of the close summed up the whole sorry event...
A DECLINING SPECTACLE
WHAT began as a promising Wales performance, which hinted at a comprehensive victory being possible, petered out into something of a slug-fest that frankly just became a bit of a bore. Heaven knows what impressionable kids must have made of such a dreadful spectacle
In fairness, Georgia were organised defensively, they slowed Wales up at the breakdown and retained the ball themselves reasonably well.
But Wales, despite beginning the game with the same kind of tempo and attacking intent they showed against Australia, simply lost their way and ran out of ideas as to how to penetrate the lines of white jerseys.
The home side looked neat and tidy going across the field but, as Gatland spelled out on Thursday, rugby is first and foremost about going forward regardless of what overall style you’re trying to adopt.
That’s where Wales struggled. They didn’t have a brutish ball-carrier to trouble the Georgian defence with sheer bulk and power and they couldn’t really execute any magic via a clever dinked kick or a flash of genius in midfield.
Perhaps the fact that they tried to do a bit too much of that against Australia and paid the price planted a more conservative seed in some minds. Who knows?
LACK OF LEADERSHIP
SURE, Wales were without key personnel, partly because of injury and partly because of selection calls.
Warren Gatland cannot be criticised for using this fixture to assess what he has at his disposal, but the lack of leadership on the pitch was apparent as the spectacle, along with Wales’ performance, deteriorated in the second half.
When Wales needed to be dragged out of their lethargy, there didn’t seem too many individuals taking it upon themselves to be the catalyst for that.
Sometimes, when Wales get themselves into a rut like they did here, they just allow things to drift instead of doing something tangible to change the pattern.
The way it all unfolded in the second half suited Georgia down to the ground, a stop-start, bitty contest lacking in urgency.
When it gets like that Wales have to take it upon themselves to dictate an alternative.
NO.10 DEBATE COMING UP
WALES loves a good old-fashioned debate about who plays outside-half. Get ready for the latest one this week.
Rhys Priestland or Dan Biggar? The question arises because while Biggar – who replaced Liam Williams at full-back in the third quarter – is the incumbent, Priestland came into this fixture on the back of great club form and showed his class on his return to the Test stage. At least he did in the first half before Wales got bogged down.
His delightful loop created Hallam Amos’ try, but in general play he looked confident, classy and assured.
In the 15th minute, Priestland covered Liam Williams in the fullback role when the Saracens man had counter-attacked, fielded a Georgian kick, returned it with a measured kick of his own and then was first to the follow-up tackle.
It was a brilliant, and probably largely unnoticed piece of work from Priestland – and it underlined that he really is a man reborn.
Priestland or Biggar? It’s Gatland’s call.
And it’s a big call STILL A LACK OF RUTHLESSNESS TWICE in the final four minutes of the first half Wales opted to plant kickable penalties into touch and go for the try.
On the first occasion, Priestland was right in centre-field and there was an argument to build the score, a strong argument.
But the points were passed up... and guess what happened?
Yep, Wales couldn’t execute rolling mauls well enough to get themselves across the whitewash, with hooker Kristian Dacey knocking on just before the half-time whistle blew.
You can applaud the ambition, the intent. But it’s about making it count where it matters, on the scoreboard.
When Soso Matiashvili landed a long-range penalty to make it 10-6 in the 48th minute, the issue was brought into sharper focus.
Perhaps the worst example of profligacy came in the 67th minute. Wales won a penalty at 13-6 and could have taken three points that would have moved them two scores clear.
Instead they kicked to touch – and promptly overthrew the ball at the lineout.
Moments later, they were desperately defending their line as Georgia went for a try that could have levelled the score. We’ve seen it too many times. You have to earn the right to pass up shots at goal in rugby. Get the game won first.
CUTHBERT IN CREDIT
THE Blues man has been a hate figure on social media at times, the vitrtiol sent his way has been largely over the top even if his form has warranted criticism.
Like Priestland, this felt like the start of a clean slate with Wales – even though Cuthbert went on the summer tour – and the former Lions wing delivered.
One of the things Gatland has said he wants from his wings is for them to keep themselves busy, to get as many touches of the ball as possible by popping up in different places along the back line.
Cuthbert did that, twice running useful inside bursts in the first half and only being denied a try in the ninth minute by a heroic Georgian cover tackle and a subsequent TMO ruling.
Cuthbert got through his work in defence as well and did you spot the briliant inside flick out of a tackle in the 39th minute to Liam Williams? It kept a Wales attack alive when Cuthbert could so easily have been forced into touch.
Like the whole team, he faded in the second half, but he has a right to be relatively satisfied with his display.
TMO POORLY USED
WALES’‘second try’, which we thought had been scored in the 26th minute, was, on the face of it, an absolute beauty.
They defended 19 Georgian phases, then Nicky Smith ripped the ball off white jerseys and two passes later Hallam Amos was streaking home for the score.
It was a textbook example of counter-attacking off turnover ball, the sort of thing the All Blacks do to devastating effect.
But it was ruled out in a way that left a lot to be desired.
French referee Mathieu Raynal was bang smack next to Smith when he won possession, he saw the flight of the ball and clearly signalled with his arms that play was good to carry on.
Then Wales scored and he suddenly feels the urge to check the video tape.
The result was a great piece of entertaining rugby for the supporters being effectively scrubbed out. This is not how to use technology in rugby. Raynal should have made the call himself given the great position he was in.
What happened just frustrated paying punters who rightly don’t want every aspect of a move pored over for an infringement.
It was a classic argument for use of the TMO in rugby to be scaled back, perhaps used only to see if a ball has been grounded properly over the try-line or in the case of serious acts of foul play.