The Welsh rugby team to take on Ireland in this year’s 6 Nations has been announced, and it has a few surprises. Delve has, as many predicted, gone straight from not being in the training squad to starting, with Ryan jones out injured. Hopefully this will help him make up his mind to join Cardiff rather than head down under.
His ball carrying should be useful, as will Bradley Davies’, still in the team after his superb game last time out against france. Charteris gets yet another chance …

If you are this may interest you. Had a PR company get in touch with me about it – but that doesn’t mean it is a bad idea. The full ‘press release’ is below – but the long and short of it is that if you are in Dublin for the match you can go along to The Arlington Hotel in Dublin (I am told it is not far from Temple Bar – the main pub area of dublin) and question a few ‘greats’ of the game before …

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. …

Well here’s a big blow. Just as we were coming to terms with the Andy Powell golf buggy incident (by coming to terms I of course mean stopping laughing), and his subsequent dropping from the 6 Nations squad we now find ourselves another forward down – this time in the shape of lock Alun Wyn Jones.
The elbow injury he sustained vs Scotland has ruled him out of the 6 Nations, with a likely lay off time of 12 weeks (disappointingly also missing the Osreys’ Heineken Cup quarter final in …

So we did it, heaven knows how. After being behind almost all game we managed to come back and beat Scotland with the last touch of the ball. Helped by them being down to 13 players. But helped by Gatland actually learning how to use his substitues.
What do I mean by this? Gatland has traditionally made substitutions almost by numbers – always making the same substitutions at the same point in the game, with little effect in general. However vs Scotland he realised things needed …

I want you to think back to before the Autumn Internationals. To a time when our optimism hadn’t been dented by some poor performances and naive coaching decisions. To a time when we were still full of hope, whimsy and joy. Or something like that.
Are you thinking back? Remember the pain of knowing we would be without Adam Jones? There was a big debate over who would fill his sizeable boots – and the smart money seemed to be on Eiffon Roberts to step up …

I am not calling for his head but I have to say Warren Gatland, and the rest of the Welsh Rugby coaching staff, is really starting to worry me.  Yes they have brought an intensity to the Welsh team that we haven’t seen for years.  They have brought us a Grand Slam (thank you so, so much) and a belief we should win games.  But they are making a lot of mistakes as well.
More worringly than them making mistakes, they don’t seem to be learning from them.
Mistakes

In my precition for …

Welsh captain Ryan Jones has pulled out of the Wales vs Australia game tomorrow with a back problem he suffered in training on Tuesday.
This is a MAJOR loss for Wales as far as I am concerned.  On one hand we have a backrow that is far more balanced now.  Andy Powell has been moved to 8, his natural position.  That is great news in itself as he has been truly shocking at 6 and Gatland must have been mad to pick him there in the first place.  Dan Lydiate coming …

Well on rugby blogs and forums all over the world people are writing their preview of the big game, I wanted a turn at it!
So it happens like last year, we get to the end of the Autumn Internationals having won the games we were expected to and losing the games we expected to.  The question now comes – is this a game we expect to win or expect to lose?  In the last 3 Autumn International games we have won 2 and drawn one.  But in the World Cup …

The Welsh team to play Australia in this years Autumn International has been named, and only one change has happened, with Dwayne Peel starting ahead of Gareth Cooper. Other than that head coach Warrent Gatland has said pretty much same again.
That means Tom Shanklin doesn’t recover in time to play, with Jon Davies staying at twelve and Jamie Roberts continuing at 13.
The bad news is that it means that Andy Powell continues at blindside flanker. God knows how, the guy hasn’t got the skills or technique to pull …