Monday 9 February 2009

Yes, We Have No Banana Skins...

Wales 26-6 (dec.)
Scotland 7 (all out)


Few Welsh dreams played out the Murrayfield game as easily as reality ultimately allowed. Scotland - admittedly handicapped by injury and looney selection - proved far more accommodating hosts than anyone had predicted.

26-13 may look like a contest, but it wasn't. Had the eternally perfect Chris Paterson been kicking goals for Wales instead of Scotland, it would have been 37-5. As it was, the man who has scored all but 20 of Scotland's last six matches' worth of points against Wales, sat on the bench for 30 minutes, waiting for one of his hapless team-mates to injure himself. Once on the field, he led his team to a subsequent parity - in terms of points, at least.

That Wales settled for the hour-mark scoreline will frustrate fans and concern coaches, but there is an argument for keeping powder dry for when the English visit Cardiff on Saturday. On reflection, a solid, professional but unspectacular victory might be just what is needed. It should ensure that the spotlight remains to be shared with Ireland, whose calm dismantling of France has made everyone sit up and take notice. A perfect atmosphere, one suspects, for Gatland & Co. to quietly take care of matters arising this week.

2 comments:

Riddles said...

I thought the Ireland/France game was one of the most stunning I've seen for a while.

If Italy had played with a scrum-half, they would have pushed England.

Scotland should take Italy and may have a chance against England.

Wales _should_ beat England at the weekend. France could be fun and it could be Ireland and Wales playing for the Grand Slam in the last game of the 6 Nations!

Assuming we can beat France of course...

Rob Stradling said...

Wales favourites against England... how retro is that? 1988 was the last time, I think.

Should be a cricket score. Won't be, 'cos they still unnerve us so much.

But not enough. Wales 16 England 6.