Disincentive

Magners League to provide 24th Heineken Cup qualifier

As the league stutters to a close, this drops in. The higher-placed of Connacht and the Dragons will play in the Heineken next year, guaranteed.

The Ospreys have yet to play both teams. As a result of this move, and with the Ospreys already qualified, the clear interests of Welsh Rugby lie in the Ospreys throwing the Dragons game. This situation is not the fault of anyone at either club. If the Magners League has any sanction in place against such behaviour, it had better make it known quickly. Otherwise, Connacht will have a legitimate grievance should they miss out.

Had this announcement been delayed 24 hours, the Rodney Parade game would be done and dusted and there would be no issue. Connacht surely have the right to ask why this couldn't have been done?

No More Ifs...

Where was I?

Ah well - disaster & triumph for the Ospreys, and it's still a tall order to treat those two impostors both the same. After burying Saracens in the EDF Cup semi, they contrived to fall meekly to the same opponents in the European quarter-finals. Inconsistency incarnate. Bah!

But as consolation prizes go, the EDF Cup isn't bad - and to take the trophy from the Leicester Tigers, at Twickenham, would be any Welsh team's dream. Some meaningful silverware in the Liberty Stadium cabinet - not to mention a healthy portion of sweet revenge - at long last.

Meanwhile, the Blues & Scarlets managed to serve up an eight-try thriller at the Arms Park, to give a welcome boost to the credibility of the Magners League. A corking match, made so more by attacking skills than defensive weaknesses, for a change. More, please!

As Grand as It Gets...

Never in doubt, was it?

Mark Jones' impromptu rendition of "Rockin' All Over The World" on Corner Flag stole the after-match show, as might his late run have crowned the match had he made it another yard. So leave it to the Williams boys, then; one for the show-stopper, the other for the encore.


Shane not only became Wales' highest-ever tryscorer; his last two efforts have completed a full-house of top-flight victims. Surely even Ben Cohen must be impressed by now? As for the ageless "Nugget", well, I pondered for a while but couldn't beat this from The Telegraph's Martin Johnson:

"Williams is one of those players who appears to have powdered Duracell, rather than blood, flowing through his veins, and his work in those dark areas beneath piles of steaming bodies puts you in mind of a ferret plunging down rabbit holes. The French back row will doubtless spend the next few weeks checking underneath their beds, just to make sure he's not there."

The Cardiff rain pinged off the stadium roof, but records still fell from the sky; Shane's Top Gun, half the previous record for tries conceded in a 6N (2 to England's 4 in 2003), 10/10 wins from 6N starts for Gavin Henson... and almost lost in there, Wales' biggest win over the French since... well, Agincourt, probably.

Neutrals will deride the quality of the game, and fairly so. But it is probably the greatest signifier of Wales' renaissance that they can now win games like this, and win them comfortably. Croke Park last week was an even less gaudy spectacle than this game, but Wales' performance there was a rough diamond of high carat. This was even better. A full-strength French XV never looked like scoring a try, and the scrum they lost under the Welsh posts perfectly symbolized their inferiority. That incident alone should earn the match video an 18 rating in France, while forwards coaches elsewhere will be busy making screensavers out of it.

England ambushed; Scotland dismissed; Italy humbled; Ireland outmuscled; France nullified. Where next for this Welsh side? A two-match series in South Africa, no less. It doesn't get any easier, does it?

Yet you sense that this Wales outfit wouldn't have it any other way...

Grand, Or Just Good?

So, it's 18 points, then. If Wales lose by 19, it stands to reason that they'll be behind France on tries (11 each at present), so 18 is the magic number. Surely a Shaun Edwards-coached side can't leak that badly?

It's kind of a shame that the Six Nations scoring system allows for such a potential anticlimax; once before (1994) Wales lifted the trophy after losing the final game, and there's nothing like it for turning a triumph into an embarrassment. By any rational analysis, winning this tournament would be (dare we say "has been"?) a remarkable feat of resurrection from the cold ashes of RWC2007; but it won't feel that way if Wales lose the game by the odd score tomorrow.

Ah well; all the more reason to go out and beat France, I suppose. But how annoying that they seem to have brought their real team this time. Rotten spoilsports!

Friends in Low Places

Despite being edited almost to oblivion, I'm still going to link to "Carling's Round" episode 6, although nothing really interesting happens until about 10 minutes in :-) Don't know star quality when they see it, that lot!

The guys were very welcoming and friendly, and the whole thing was a "hoot", as we rugger-buggers say. Oh, and later that day Shaun Edwards and Clive Woodward both came out agreeing with me about the Cipriani affair. Where were you when I needed you, chaps? Well, okay Shaun - helping Wales win the Triple Crown is a decent excuse, I suppose...

Anyway... I'm ready for my close-up!

The Business End

The Wales team is close to most predictions, although there's some surprise (perhaps even the odd whisper of dissent?) that Jamie Roberts' heroics against Munster weren't enough merit a bench spot. But we're in thrall to this coaching team's prescience so far, and we'll all probably eat our words when Mark Jones gets a hat-trick against the Irish...

Meanwhile, please forgive a little plug - Yours Truly will be appearing on a monitor near you via the Daily Telegraph video podcast, Carling's Round. Please check out episode 6 from Friday 7th onward. I shall be doing my level best to get the odd word in edgeways!

Benign Dictatorship?

The issue of "player power" in Wales is again in the news after Gavin Henson's interview on BBC's ScrumV. Because it's Henson, reaction of all colours will be forthcoming, but his words carry the ring of truth. His problems with the previous regime were clear to see, and few will argue that a system which makes players like Henson happy, must be a good thing.

Not that much to cheer about on the field for Welsh teams this week; but the best was saved for last. Cardiff Blues' stunning finish against Munster could be argued to owe a debt to fortune, but the visitors' crazy attempt to play keep-ball on their own try-line for the last ten minutes, appears no less crazy for having almost worked.

Next up will be Warren Gatland's team announcement for Wales' trip to Dublin. Primed now to expect the unexpected, most observers still seem to anticipate Stephen Jones starting at 10 against the Irish. The accepted wisdom is that Wales will need calm control more than quick wits at the start. What is not in dispute is that we'll also need another step up from the forwards. Will this be Robin McBryde's finest hour?