Let’s face it – us Welsh rugby fans need some sort of cheer up after another disappointing 4 place finish in this year’s 6 Nations tournament. There were plenty of negatives to take from it, but let us instead look for some positives now that I have managed to calm down a little and no longer feel the need to run down half the squad and management using a super charged golf buggy with spikey bits attached to it.
Positives for Welsh Rugby
- Bradley Davies. Was immense in his first game, getting over the sad passing of his Mother to produce one of the performances of the series as far as Wales is concerned. Carried on in excellent form and it was unlucky that he had to limp off early in the last game. Has shown himself to be real international class and with Ian Evans on his way back now it could well be an interesting competition at lock for a long time to come yet.
- Sam Warbuton. Bradley’s regional team mate only had the one start, vs Italy, but put in what had to be close to a man of the match performance. Carried superbly, tackled like a demon and did soem of the best rucking I have seen in a long time. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves but Warbuton does look likely to show us that there is life after Martyn Williams. In my opinion he should be taken to New Zealand and leave Nugget to get some rest – let’s see what Sam can do against the best in the world.
- Gethin and Mike. We saw in the last game just how important these two are to the Welsh game plan. Some players in their positions may be able to ‘do a job’, Richie Rees especially did far better than I expected, but no player we have is even close to what these 2 can produce. Wrap them in cotton wool – we desperately need them for the World Cup.
- Shane Williams. The little wizard is back to his best, rumours of his demise have obviously been exaggerated – was at the heart of everything positive for Wales for most of the tournament. There may be talent coming through in the likes of Halfpenny, Tom James and Tom Prydie – but none can create something from nothing in quite the same was as ‘ickle’.
And, um, that’s about it. Some decent performances, Stephen Jones did some very good stuff but was also stuttering at times. Jamie Roberts, despite his detractors, did what was asked – we just need to get people running off him more rather than waiting for breakdown (presumably the game plan). Some others looked to be slowly finding some form as the tournament went on.
Overall it was a tournament of negatives, one that we will look back on with disappointment. But at least there were some positives that us Welsh rugby fans can take out of this tournament and give us some hope looking forward to the New Zealand summer tour and Autumn Internationals – against some of the biggest names in World rugby
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