Cracking the Code

77 minutes on the clock, Sam Warburton rips the ball in contact before putting a perfectly weighted nudge down into the French 22. France scuttle back and leather the ball into touch. Wales win the ensuing line out, retain the possession, Barnsey says time's up, ball goes off the park. Wales are victorious in Paris. Back to sleep. From a Welsh perspective, the above would have been a pleasantly mundane end to an average test match. Average at best. Instead Warburton's punt kept rollin, rollin, rollin (Durst 2000), off the green and into the drink - scrum to France back in Welsh territory. One last opportunity for Le Bleu - albeit the wrong shade of Blue, bring back Bleu de France. Stash is important. Rant required. Few phases later, France are camped meters from the Welsh line, the clock turns red and we enter the fifth quarter. The goings on of the nek twenty minutes, yes there was another twenty minutes, would be so farcical that they make the concept of five quarters s...

With 70 minutes on the clock, I found myself bemoaning Wales' lack of self control, whilst I simultaneously jumped up and down, trying to keep the expletives to a whisper - albeit a shouty whisper. Pot kettle.... For those of you who have followed my Six Nations journey to this point, I opted against the casino for Saturday morning's 7am KO. Instead leveraging the Hola VPN service to stream the game on my ageing laptop. Upside, I watched the game in the comfort of my bed. Downside, buffering. A word that hasn't been met with a positive reaction since the internet begun. Coverage wasn't all bad, loving the work of Paul O'Connell on comms - impartial, insightful and relevant. Fair to say that my previous offering paid more than mere lip service to George North's involvement, or distinct lack of, against the Scots. I loved the metaphorical two fingers that he stuck up to me with his two tries, and overall impact against the Irish. Get him back on that list, War...

The Star Casino, Sydney, bears little resemblance to 'Taly Social' (pronounced Taleee, short for Talybont), the bar at my Uni halls of residence. It bears no resemblance. However, as I exited the gambling emporium at 3:37am on Sunday February 26 2017, vis a vis today, my face held a glum expression that perfectly resembled that with which I departed  the student binge drinking haven on February 10th 2007. The day on which Wales last experienced defeat at the hands of the Scots. As a sign of personal development, I would like to add that the 2017 dejected Welsh fan comes without the Strongbow and Black stains situated within a short radius of the mouth. So, why did Scotland win? They nailed their doubles. No, this is not a reference to the much stereotyped drinking prowess of the Scots, more a darts type analogy used to indicate that Vern Cotter's side were more clinical in converting opportunity into points. And we all know what points mean.....(the answer is prizes)....

Monday’s copy of the Sydney Morning Herald made for a somewhat disheartening read for the Welsh consumer. Granted, by no stretch the target audience, I still found it frustrating at the ease by which their first piece in the build up to today's test match between Wales and the Wallabies, dismissed - in but a paragraph, any Welsh hope of victory. Incensed, my immediate reaction was an internal blurt along the lines of ‘we got closer to the All Blacks than you did’. Yes, unfortunately this is now the barometer for the rest of the Rugby planet. I calmed, and read the rest of the piece that focused on how Ireland would pose the first real threat of derailment to Australian hopes of a first Grand Slam tour since their one and only success back in 1984. The journo’s justification for the perceived lack of threat posed to the Wallaby slam train in Cardiff had nothing to do with form, quality of player, coaching reshuffle or playing style. Instead, it pointed solely to history; Wale...

Confused, divided and handy on the keyboard. No I'm not talking about a post Brexit state. This is Welsh Rugby. This is Gatland's law. Word from the politics bunch is that It will take decades for the masses to comprehend the impact and implications of the democratically determined Brexit decision. We are some eight years into Gatland's law, autocratic in origin, and a mess in practice.  The policy designed to keep Wales' premier rugby talent within the regional game, follows an old Churchillian notion - that success on the international battle field is underpinned by a vibrant home front, which is shaped to facilitate global successes. Thus far, it has has proved far more simple in concept than in context. The current understanding is that formalisation of the ruling under the guise of The WRU Senior Player's Selection Policy, will lead to a stricter enforcement. The only caveat, being the number of caveats, provided for within the written agreement. ...

Scanning selectively through the back pages of the Sydney Morning Herald, waiting for my never perfect porridge to reach a mouth eligible temperature, is a well established part of my daily routine. The subsequent norm is to tuck into the day's rugby headlines, whilst heavily exhaling, an act that I believe will cool my mouth from a breakfast that is inevitably still too hot for consumption. On Monday morning there was a minor divergence, the literary intake was an Aussie Rules piece. The article focused on the plight of Brisbane Lions' coach, Justin Leppitsch. The previous day, Coach Leppitsch's Lions, had defeated the Essendon Bombers in a basement battle. A victory, which preserved, Leppitsch's employment or so the author reliably informed me.  Had the article gone on to analyse the technicalities of what makes a successful AFL coach, I would have ditched it. It didn't. Instead it took a far more compelling, macro level view, of the key performance indica...

'Hey, where you from?', the cliched opening gambit of one backpacker seeking to temporarily befriend another over a cold beer. As a Welshman, I know that in many instances my response will draw a blank face and a 'Ah, Cool. Where's that?'. Each time, I sigh internally, so as not to come across rude, before offering up a token 'next to England'. On reflection, Wales' notoriety level or lack of, probably says as much about what the principality is bringing to the global stage, as it does about the geographical awareness of my fellow traveller. This lack of global identity is not an issue for our Celtic brethren from Ireland and Scotland. They have many an export, synonymous with their nation that have become common place in global society. The fact is, Brains isn't Guinness, Penderyn isn't Glenmorangie or Jameson, and despite his statue in the middle of Corwen, Owain Glyndwr isn't William Wallace. But then again, Wallace was seven feet tal...

I have often bemoaned the Welsh public for the failing to transition the passion they have for the international game to regional rugby. With the Six Nations on a fallow weekend, Ulster managed to attract a crowd in the region of 15,000 for their Pro 12 fixture against the Scarlets. Conversely the Blues only managed a crowd 1/3 of the size for Leinster's visit to the Arms park.  I accept that at regional level, attendance and more so a lack of, is a complex issue. There exist a hybrid of political, social and economic factors that dictate why rugby fans in Wales, don't, won't and in some cases can't, flock through the turnstiles.  Having never really had professional rugby on my door step, it is easy for me to criticise both the fans and the marketing departments for their collective inability to create a magnetic pull around regional rugby. A force that would not only drive attendance but also player retention. Undoubtedly money is a primary motivator for play...

A six nations Saturday is an entirely different experience at GMT+11. I awake at 3:18am, exactly 22 minutes before the alarm is due to sound. I would love to attribute the early get up to a Christmas morning like excitement. On reflection, I think it was more the noise of neighbours returning home from the boozer. I am sweating. I doubt anyone in Cardiff is sweating, excluding the players going through their pre match rigours, oh and Dai Baselayer. If you know Cardiff on match day, then you know Dai. Dai likes to showcase his guns in a pro fit Under Armour Wales jersey. However, Dai's no fool, it gets cold in the stadium, he knows that, he puts his Baselayer on. Unfortunately for Dai, his friends have a preference to spend a notable portion of their Mikey Rayer (all dayer) in the sub Saharan climate of Walkabout. Dai sweats, the baselayer is soon saturated, but he has a cold strongbow, he is happy. Meanwhile in Sydney, escalating personal sweat levels persuade me to roll out of...

Back in 2006 whilst on my pre university jaunt, known more commonly as the ‘gap ya’, I stopped by in Melbourne to take in the Commonwealth Games. My foremost memory of the event, other than the devastated reaction of local fans as an Aussie boxing man was KO’d 3 seconds before the end of a bout he had in the bag, was Wales winning some form of kitchenware (bowl or plate) in the Rugby sevens. With Google seemingly unable to assist, I’m going to have to back my memory and say that the winning try scorer in the final was a young James Hook. What I can say with certainty was that Hook, Wales’ playmaker, was the stand out player. The time Hook had on the ball and his ability to beat a defender convinced me that I was watching a guy who would not only go on to represent Wales in the XV man format but would be world class in doing so. Fast forward some nine years and Hook was removed from the Millenium Stadium pitch midway through the second half of Wales’ World Cup warm up match...

Whilst millions at home were enjoying watching Six Nations super Saturday unfold, I was forced to scurry around the Internet looking for alternative outlets for following events. The letters VPN became my nemesis. A combination of Radio Wales, Radio Ulster, BBC sport app and Twitter just about managed to keep me in check. Although the masses lauded this the best day's rugby in history, questions quickly started to emerge around the structure of the competition and why fans hadn't been treated to such free flowing games on previous weekends.  It is difficult to reject the notion that synchronised kick off times on the final weekend would assist in creating a level playing field as teams fight it out to determine their final standing. The concept is deployed in major football competitions for that very reason. It was undoubtedly to England's advantage that they had a total to chase, as opposed to Wales and Ireland who knew they just had to post their best and hope. Conver...

As I sit to write this, the 2015 Rugby World Cup countdown reads 315 days 22 hours and 33 minutes. This weekend, sees the return to our shores of the SANZAR superpowers on their end of year tours. Traditionally the Autumn Internationals provide an opportunity for the tourists to drip feed some new talent into the test environment whilst trying to exert dominance over their Northern Hemisphere opponents. For the hosts it is the start of the international season, a chance for the respective coaches to observe if their group can not only compete but defeat world class opposition. Given the proximity and location of next year's Rugby World Cup, does this year's series bare greater significance than previous? In June 1997 the English football team visited France to compete in Le Tournoi a four team round robin tournament featuring France, Italy and Brazil. The Tournament was played out as a prelude for France 98 the following year. England left as victors having defeated both F...

With the excitement of my World Cup adventure now but a memory and those 'what if' thoughts becoming increasingly irregular it is time to raise the curtain on the 2012 RBS Six Nations. Having dismissed other options including rail and sail, goat and boat and jog and log I will board  Ryan Air Flight FR 443 bound for Dublin at circa 6.10am tomorrow (subject to weather delays). Despite the promise shown by Wales out in New Zealand I travel with a feeling of uncertainty. Welsh rugby is by its very nature unpredictable and history would warn us against becoming over excited  and cocky on the basis of autumns endeavours. There are of course those that will gladly remind you that this weekends opponents were in fact Wales' only major scalp during their run to that World Cup Semi Final in Auckland. In order to prove both the doubters and historians wrong Wales must produce a performance and perhaps more importantly a result that demonstrates that Gatland an...