Raising a glass or ten...

 

The Irish victory over the Wannabees has turned the rugby World Cup draw upside down. All bets are off...

Now the Tri Nations will have to scrap it out amongst themelves to decide who gets to the final, and although home advantage would lead most to think that the All Blacks should be there, the hosts' fragility in a semi final against either Australia or the Boks should make for compulsive viewing.

Meanwhile, the northerners will be assured of a finalist - assuming the remaining pool fixtures go to plan. A big if, however. That slightly unpredictable ball, allied to the vagaries of the NZ weather, is making it difficult to close matches down, and is creating perfect conditions for playing underdog rugby.

If the Irish can continue to improve, they will be very difficult to beat. If Wales can keep 15 front line players fit after going through the Horror Show that is their Pool experience, if France can play theway they did in the last quarter against Canada, if England can focus on playing rugby rather than perfecting their dwarf tossing techniques...

As I said, a lot of ifs...



Let's hope they're not celebrating here...

Breaking News

Will Henson ever play in a World Cup ?

Henson's enforced 6 to 8 week layoff following surgery on his wrist underlines the dangers inherent in these so called "warm up" matches. Competitive, meaningful rugby matches can't be played at anything less than 100% and a small country like Wales is inevitably going to lose personnel due to the extraordinarily high attrition rate in the modern game.
The loss of Henson may be difficult to estimate - but the loss of players like Adam Jones and Mike Phillips would be plainly disastrous. This Welsh squad is full of high quality players, but scratch a couple of names out, and Fijians will be licking their lips.








Search Amazon.com for rugby world cup 2011

The moment Stoddart's RWC dream died...

Legendary Lions coach Carwyn James chooses his top tries

And Carwyn knew his stuff...

John Dawes recalls British & Irish Lions' 1971 success

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/13913041.stm

from ScrumV - Dawes reflects on 40th Anniversary of the Tour

"Some men see things as they are and say 'Why?' I dream things that never were and say, 'Why not?'"

Fans at the Millenium may have been asking "WHY?" on Saturday, as the impressive Barbarian line up threatened to overwhelm the young Welsh side. WHY award caps for the summer jamboree ? WHY stage it here, when it was always going to be half full ? Most obviously - WHY does Henson get another chance at redemption ?
To which, the words of RFK might be relevant.
WHY NOT give Sam Warburton and his charges exposure to life in the fast lane ? Ryan Bevington would have learned more from Saturday's arm wrestle with Carl Haymans than he would in 6 months on the bench with the Ospreys. And if we are serious about competing against the best this Autumn, WHY NOT see if our Gav is worth a run. If he can face 80 minutes in close contact with Monsieur Bastareau's thighs, then he's on the way to being ready.