Alex Cuthbert and The Keyboard Warriors

 The late try that took the Blues within a point of the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium last Saturday was a beaut. A well-executed chip and gather from Steve Shingler, inter passing between the Cardiff backs, before Garyn Smith exploited a gap in the fatigued scramble defence to cross the line.

Whilst I questioned whether Shingler would have initiated such a play if it wasn’t a low pressure, shot to nothing moment. The Ospreys were in Nigel Owens’ ear, disagreeing with his judgement that the penultimate pass, delivered by Alex Cuthbert had not traveled forward.

My dismay was not with the trajectory of Cuthbert’s pass, but that he passed at all. Once upon a time, the Blues' wing would have switched to turbo and backed himself to motor through the gap. The tentative manner with which lobbed the ball to his team mate was a sad indictment of a player who now seems to question the instincts that once made him such a devastating ball runner.

Last week, it was announced that the 47 cap wing, would part company with the Cardiff Blues at the end of the current season. Should his next deal take him across the Severn Bridge or the English Channel; it would temporarily, perhaps permanently end an international career that has yielded 17 tries.

27 years old, nearing a half century of caps and just one year out from a Rugby World Cup - why would Cuthbert choose to walk away? Unfortunately, the narrative has an ugly side. He has found himself victim of a brutal bombardment from the 1^st Battalion of the Welsh Rugby Keyboard Warriors. Anyone with an ounce of objectivity wouldn’t begrudge him parting Wales with a middle finger raised to the army of Welsh fans who have played a central role in sapping the confidence that the wing man exuded when he burst onto the scene. 

In the beginning, everything happened quickly, on and off the field. Sevens aficionado, Paul John, plucked the Hartpury college alumni from relative obscurity and made him Wales’ resident gas man. After his apprenticeship on the 7s circuit, it was on to the Blues, where a winning combination of speed, power and a bulky frame quickly drew the attention of Warren Gatland.

In 2012 and 2013 all was rosy for Welsh Rugby and its new star winger, a grand slam in his first Six Nations campaign backed up by a Championship win in his second. On a personal note, he bagged a number of crucial tries that cemented his place on Welsh Rugby’s highlight reels for years to come. He went on to wear the number 14 jersey for the British & Irish Lions in the first test of the 2013 tour of Australia, scoring a beauty – cutting the defensive line on a perfect angle before using his searing pace to evade the covering efforts of the covering defence in  Will Genia and Kurtley Beale.

I don’t recall when the abuse begun. Almost certainly, it was positively correlated with a downturn in Wales’ results. In victory, the Welsh fans do not care for the odd mistake. In defeat, the relevance of individual mistakes is amplified. There is a desire to blame, the need for a scapegoat. Time and again, Cuthbert was that scapegoat. He made mistakes, no doubt about it - some glaring - but then, so did other players. Regardless of the nature and magnitude of these errors, the reaction that Cuthbert received via social media was not only disproportionate but shameful.  

Wherever Cuthbert chooses to continue his career, it would be fantastic to see him mirror, Rhys Priestland. Another who was subjected to a social media tirade that no doubt contributed to his decision to depart Wales. The outside half has gone on to force himself back into international contention by turning in consistently high quality performances for Bath in the Aviva Premiership. As supporters we should reflect on these examples and realise that we should be protecting Wales’ talent rather than dragging them down. Think before we vent, have a swig and remember it is but a game.