Wales vs France – the Aftermath

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Wales vs France – the Aftermath

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One thing is certain – being a Welsh rugby fan is not good for your blood pressure. After yet another attempted late comeback us Wales fans were yet again disappointed. The word again is starting to take on special significance here, because it is the same thing every time.

Friends are making jokes about it. Because that is what this has become, a joke. On the one hand we have shown we have the talent to dominate periods of matches, to take the game to them. On the other hand it takes 60 minutes for us to remember how… as an Ospreys fan I am used to that but I was hoping Wales would be better, seems they have caught the O’s disease.

What frustrated me most wasn’t that France deserved to win it – they didn’t do much, but then they didn’t have to. What was frustrating was we deserved to lose it. France played it simple because all they had to do was make tackles and wait for us to give it to them. We just made too many mistakes

Mistakes

There were plenty of these, Gatland and co certainly are left with questions to be answered – why our tactics have been the same constantly when it is obvious teams have worked us out (2 weeks running we have been confused by a blitz defence until at least half time).

But to be honest this time the players have to take more of the blame. There were elementary mistakes galore. I didn’t see the final tally but the BBC said 21 unforced errors with 10 minutes to go. You can’t make that many and hope to win a test match against average opposition – never mind against a team as good as France.

The lineout was a mess…. I think we have seen that Huw Bennett is not up to international rugby. He may add grunt around the park but we can not afford to consistently lose lineout ball as soon as we get ourselves into an attacking position. Matthew Rees is ahead of him in the pecking order but I think it is time to put Hibbard and Owens there as well.

Handling errors were shocking. Passes thrown blindly (Martyn Williams directly into touch), poorly (Hook to Charteris) or on automatic (Hook’s interception). 3 Interception tries this tournament is not good enough, we are giving teams games on a plate. But not just that the basic hands are letting us down, knock ons for no reason, dropped passes with no pressure, passes lobbed forwards or even when flat miles in front of the player (I’m looking at you again Hook).

The breakdown was at times improved, thanks in part to a magnificent effort by Bradley Davies even if you discount the emotional circumstances. But too often the runner was isolated, partly the fault of the runners for not taking support with them and partly the fault of the support. Jonathan Thomas was our hope for helping the breakdown and he was hit and miss… for periods of the game he did what we wanted, securing us quick ball, but for others he seemed to be missing.

The scrum was interesting. Going from hammered to winning and back to hammered on a regular basis. This is the same front row that destroyed Leicester in the Heineken cup so there should be no excuses.

Our backline lacked invention in the first half – it was simply the blind, blind, wide game we always play. I was texting a friend towards the end asking when Stephen Jones stopped being world class and just started going through the motions. How wrong he proved me in the 2nd half but it shouldn’t take a half time talk to change tactics. I don’t know how rigid Gatland has them playing but experienced players like Wellies should be able to alter a game plan far earlier if it isn’t working.

Players

A lot of negatives and not a lot of positives. As has been said Bradley Davies was superb… our best carrier by a long shot, a safe lineout option and a great rucker. If Evans comes back into form there is going to be one hell of a battle between Bradley Davies, Ian Evans and Alun Wyn Jones.

But there were a lot of negatives. Paul James’ work rate was again lacking – we know he is not Gethin but I would have thought he could have reproduced the work rate he has shown for the Ospreys this season. Apparently not.

Ryan was again a mixed bag, but to be honest the whole backrow misfired again and what really worried me is Martyn Williams. Hr is not the same player of even a year ago. I had hoped this was because Andy Powell was being used as a wide runner so he didn’t have the support. Whilst he didn’t play especially badly nothing about his game rose above average for me – and that game may well have suited the faster paced, harder running of Warburton. I don’t think it’s time to throw him out but I would like to see Warburton finish the Championship now to give him the experience ahead of a World Cup season.

Richie Rees didn’t let anyone down. Felt he drifted out of the game at times but in the 2nd half he injected some pace when needed, not just with the tap but also moving the ball much faster. It was as he has done when he has come on for Wales and I think the tactics of playing slower was not suiting his game. Very impressed considering I once wrote him off even as a regional player.

Jamie Roberts – butchered one chance, ran hard but I was hoping for more finesse from him now he has become more experienced as a 12. I know he is never going to be giving Henson like touches but a better awareness of what is around him would be useful But since James Hook was outside him maybe I can’t blame him for not passing.

I’m a stated James Hook fan but that was a woeful performance today. The interception try is becoming a trademark of his – running a move even when it is not on. But his defence was interesting positionally (in my opinion, posters on this thread on rugby rebels disagree with me so I am interested in looking again). His awareness was poor, his kicking average and all in all that was not a performance worthy of more caps. I am really not convinced by him at 13. Yes we need creativity but I question him being an outside centre. For me he is a 10/12 who can, when desperate, play 13/15. But I know many disagree.

Shane, pass aside, is finding his form again, which is great news. And Halfpenny is starting to get his groove back after a poor start to the season – I was especially impressed by his work under the high ball.

Lee Byrne was one hell of a mixed bag. Certainly not back to his best form he still kicked well, defended well and hit the line well (most of the time). But those kicks to touch, or more accurately not to touch, were wasteful and potentially cost us.

Misc

On the note of kicking – how much better was the kicking when we played the touchlines, both kicking in and the tramlines. We started gaining position, territtory. I know Warren gatland and Sean prefer the middle field kick and press – but it doesn’t work these days, time to change things.

Our defence needs changing as well. It held well enough, the tries were interceptions after all. But it used to be a weapon, a blitz in their face causing mistakes. Not any more. I know we changed it last season but time to say it’s not working and change back.

What is most frustrating about all this is that we are good enough to be winning these games, we show it in the game. But simple mistakes, tactically and by players, loses us position, ball and the game – yet again. The players need to take a long hard look at themselves. These are basic, unforced errors… and we are losing because they are playing like amateurs at times.

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