Cheer up, Gat !

So things are looking up for the Gat (I'd call him "Fat Gat" except it's been done before, plus the fact that I'd be too scared...)
The Blues and Ospreys negotiate their respective groups, giving the Welsh regions continued exposure to the extreme demands of the Heineken.
And both sides delivered away from home - the Blues in the muddy bearpit that is the Memorial Ground, Lyn Jones' multi talented Ospreys at Bourgoin. He will reflect on the fact that the Scarlets' failure to progress is possibly down to the fact that their forwards were simply not up to the task. They need to dig deep in to the coffers to buy in at least 2 core forwards, as the Blues have done with Tito and the Ospreys have with Holah. Far from restricting Gatland's choice by taking up Welsh playing spaces, these players are visibly lifting standards around them and, crucially, bringing a harder edge, a winning edge, to the teams.

And Don't Dilly-Dallaglio On The Way...

So how will the big man from Wasps be remembered ?
A certainty that he won't fade away, mind you, as he will certainly go down as one of the most media savvy player of the modern age. As England's coach, Andy Robinson's freedom to select was fatally undermined by the Big D's ready supply of sound bites. As Brian Ashton discovered, Our Lol didn't take kindly to others suggesting that he should sit on the bench, much less retire from the game.
An objective view of his rugby would have to concede that he should have jumped ship back in 2004. The square jawed bloody mindedness is still there week in week out, but he has been short of gas, a deficiency thrown in to some relief by the power of the emerging James Haskell. How England could have done with his ball carrying prowess in the second half against the Springboks.
He will be remembered in Wales for being everything that his Welsh contemporaries were not, a player with power to spare, and a winner's mentality. Who could forget the way he carried the Welsh back row, plus both half backs, to score off the back of that scrum?
At the end, however, the rugby fan still finds it hard to accept some of the nonsense that went on after the World Cup. For all his accolades, and his status in the game, the manner in which he has cashed in on the backroom rumblings (and as he was put on the bench in the early stages after some indifferent displays, it has to be said that he was probably a key source of those rumblings) has diminished him as a person.