Cracking the Code

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)....

Pretty sure that I'm not the first punter to vacate Sydney's Star Casino, questioning what could of been, if that last spin had produced a favorable outcome. Certainly won't be the last. However, my disappointment had less to do with a dab handed croupier, more the fleet of foot of Elliot Daly, whose 78th minute try grabbed England a victory that either team would have been entitled to. Such was the contest. As I caught up on social media in the taxi (uber  had surge) home, it was the usual suspects getting grilled, Howley and of course Cuthbert, it was always going to be Cuthbert.  You do know that the Wales lot will blame me for this. To use a cricketing analogy, Cuthbert held down an end for nine overs before getting a walloping in his last. A loose carry surrendered possession at a critical stage before his decision to back his own wheels by offering Elliot Daily the outside proved to be a wrong'un as the Wasps gun turned on the heat to cross for the matc...

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...

October 31 2015, Rugby World Cup Final, New Zealand (1/3 - FAV) v Australia (9/4) , Twickenham. October 22 2016, Bledisloe Cup (dead rubber), New Zealand (1/25 - FAV) v Australia (9/1), Eden Park. Cold hard facts that paint a tale of exponential growth in All Black dominance, not just over their cross Tasman rivals but also the rest of World Rugby. Patience, England, we know you fancy a pop. To think there were concerns that post the Autumnal glory at HQ, the All Black ship would find itself in choppy seas without good ol Captain McCaw and First Mate Carter to guide it home. Transition period? Not here.    The All Blacks are the World's premier rugby team. News to nobody. However, the manner in which they have extended their preeminence over Rugby Championship rivals this season, is news. Six games, six victories, six bonus points and a score differential of 178 – an average winning margin of nearly 30 points. Australia, South Africa and Argentina all finished t...

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. ...

With 77 minutes on the clock of last night's Bledisloe Cup test match, Wallaby winger, Dane Haylett-Petty, tracked across field before selecting to slide an innocuous grubber behind the All Black defence. The kick was fielded by Man of the Match, Beudan Barrett, who found himself at Full Back as part of an injury enforced reshuffle. Barrett surveys the situation, makes a decision and executes it. Five  seconds later, and Australia are chucking a line out in their own 22. The aforementioned passage of play had zero baring on the final result, but was indicative of why the game had long since ceased to be any form of contest. Put simply, another poorly thought out, poorly executed piece of Australian play had been pounced upon by the All Blacks who in instant flipped opposition error into opportunity.   With the All Blacks racking up a record winning margin on Australian soil, it would be easy to wax lyrical about their individual and collective dominance. However, the cont...

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...