Cracking the Code

Cracking the Code..: Courage not enough for Wales. : 'Courageous', an adjective I hope isn't used to describe the Welsh performance, in this evening's all important Euro 2016 gr...

'Courageous', an adjective I hope isn't used to describe the Welsh performance, in this evening's all important Euro 2016 group match against Russia. If the nation finds itself celebrating the players' courage, we will probably be doing so in absence of the desired outcome, qualification. Three times last week, I watched courageous Welsh efforts in the sporting arena. Each time the courage yielded nothing more than defeat. It started on the Wednesday, and the Under 20's Rugby team. A performance built on abrasive defence, backed up by tactics that were far better suited to the wet conditions than those deployed by their New Zealand counterparts, lead to Wales edging it on the scoreboard with time all but done. The teams departed the field with the Baby Blacks victorious, courtesy of a last minute penalty from Jodie Barrett. On Thursday, and to Lens, where Wales temporarily found themselves in dreamland as they lead England at half time of the much anticipate

'There's plenty of Rugby still to be played' and 'I'm only focusing on the next game'. Expect to hear these soundbites being reeled of by any number of possible British & Irish Lions over the next year, when quizzed on their candidacy for TBC's squad of X players to tour NZ.  Sure, there is plenty of Rugby still to be played before the Lions lineup against the creatively named, 'Provincial Union Team', in Whangarei, some 360 days from now. However, player efforts to avert selection discussion will not be mirrored by fans. In fact, I know at some point this weekend, I will encounter the President of the Bolton Welsh Rugby Supporters Club, and he will demand I provide him my Lions XV, complete with selection justifications. I should then be prepared to defend my choices, including the ridiculous bolter (normally Cipriani), against his considered interrogation.   Perhaps a more pertinent discussion leading into this Weekend's test match