Robbing against Lawes

This weekend saw the middle weekend of the Six Nations rugby tournament and a key match between England and Wales who were both unbeaten from their first two games.  I know a post about rugby may not mean much to any Swedish readers; however I do know that you play rugby since one of my co-workers plays his weekend games alongside the Swedish captain.

The game was at Twickenham, where Wales had not won since 1988, but on a clear sunny day they started the brightest, almost conjuring a try from a well worked lineout.  They continued to dominate the first quarter and even had the chance to score the first points, until Leigh Halfpenny fluffed the penalty.

England, vastly improved from the World Cup with a new coach and set of players, duly came back into it with some excellent passing moves and strong forward play, and should have scored a try themselves but for an excellent last ditch tackle and some good Welsh defending.

There followed a series of penalties back and forth, all converted by England’s Owen Farrell (son of Rugby League’s Andy) and Halfpenny, and England led 9-6 at half time.

England had won their previous two games with last minute interceptions, and at the start of the second half it looked as if it would continue to be a winning tactic, as first Rhys Priestland had his clearing kick, right in front of his own posts, charged down and although England couldn’t score the try, Priestland himself gave away a penalty for offside and found himself in the sin bin for ten minutes.  England duly scored to lead 12-6 and Wales were down to fourteen.

Usually the side who are down a player will concede seven points and last time the two met at Twickenham, Wales had a man sin binned and they shipped seventeen. But here they played their best rugby of the match.  They kept possession, kept England pinned in their own half and were rewarded with a penalty of their own which Halfpenny slotted over.  And when Priestland returned they had technically conceded no points at all.

It was easily the turning point of the game.  England began bringing on their replacements, much less experienced than the Welsh and Owen Farrell after missing a penalty also found himself injured and had to leave the field himself following a great performance.  Suddenly Wales found themselves stronger and after relentless pressure earned themselves another penalty to level the scores at 12-12.  There were eight minutes left.

For years this was where the Welsh weakened but they have won tight matches already in this tournament and here they did again. England were attacking, but Courtney Lawes was tackled and Scott Williams wrestled the ball out of his grip.  With a smart kick forward into acres of space behind England, he set off in chase.

Now, a rugby ball with its odd shape can bounce in all directions but he got the luck he needed as it continued to bounce forwards but in a slight curve too, evading the English defence.  It jumped up perfectly into his arms and he dived over the line, just by the posts, amid roars and strains of ‘Bread of Heaven’.

Wales were ahead for the first time in the match, Halfpenny converted and it was 19-12 with five minutes to go.  England unsurprisingly counter-attacked.  They moved the ball left and right, won penalties on either wing, but they needed to score a try.  And then, as the clock wound down, it seemed that they had.  David Strettle had dived over, surrounded by Welsh bodies and the referee called for the video replay.

The wait was agonising.  Had he touched down or hadn’t he?  Would England have the chance to level the game with an unlikely Toby Flood conversion from the right touchline?  In the end the replays proved inconclusive, the ref blew the final whistle and Wales had won.

They now have the chance to secure the championship and Grand Slam if they can beat Italy and France in their final few games, but England should be pleased.  This was a much more attacking, intelligent style of rugby than they have played for many years, and come next year with some more experience, really will be the team to beat.

The Money and the Power

As a description, Terry Wogan’s auction of things money can’t buy, is a bit off the mark, after all money is buying these things and nothing else. I guess you could argue that money doesn’t buy them, only extreme wealth can. Who else, especially in our current economic climate, could afford to spend several thousand pounds on something as spurious as being in possession of the Barclay’s Premier League Trophy for a day?


Even more annoying is Terry’s simpering tones about how wonderfully generous these people are. No they’re not. They’re giving a tiny percentage of their wealth in order to both have their names read out on the radio and get a prize at the end. Far more generous are the ones you never hear about who either donate a small amount (but greater percentage of their wealth) or who donate their own time to good causes.

And why can’t they do this thing behind closed doors with a collection of the super-rich, whose ego’s and competitiveness in such a close environment (plus plenty of drink) might push the final sums up even higher? Why play it on national radio? Well, it’s simple. It’s to make us feel some sort of gratitude to these oligarch’s and multimillionaires, to continue the myth that we are better off with them in charge, that they are kind and generous and benevolent.

It would be much fairer if they asked people to donate a nominal amount, say £5 or £10 (but you could donate more), in order to have a ticket in the draw for all of these things. At least it would give everyone a fair chance and they could conceivably raise more money if enough people donated. But no, the BBC want to continue the myth the rich are wonderful. Well, I for one have always felt a little nauseous when I hear the adverts, and for the sanity of my own wireless, I will not be tuning in.



The other thing that has caught my attention this week is the blatant power politics being played by the FA. Obviously still miffed that FIFA didn’t play fair over the World Cup allocations (and let’s face it they probably didn’t – but get over it!) and perhaps also that England were rubbish in the last world cup, they have sniffed a weakness within the organisation.

If it’s within FIFA’s rules that political and religious symbols should not be worn on football shirts, then denying the England team the chance to parade poppies should be the final say. But FIFA aren’t popular at the moment, the FA know this and so wanted to flex their muscles a bit, even going to the lengths of getting a future King to write a letter.

I have respect for the Royal British Legion, and for people who have died in wars (and don’t get me started on politicians who’ll wear a poppy, say how terrible war is and then three hours later discuss who we should attack next), however I really don’t see what difference it makes whether the England football team wears a poppy or not. If they were playing on Rememberance day or Rememberance Sunday then I could understand it a little, but they are not. It’s a Saturday in the same week as Rememberance and that is all. It would be a far greater gesture by the FA if they got their team of selfish, millionaire, overgrown schoolboys to make them speak out against war, than to make them wear pieces of red and green paper on their lapels.