Why you don’t give up on your dreams
2WG747X
SIX NATIONS 2024
It's been said before but needs reiterating on a regular basis but there is no sporting tournament quite like the Six Nations and this mad encounter at the Principality Stadium provided the latest compelling evidence.
In any other sporting arena a totally dominant Scotland team leading 27-0 against a Wales side playing like a Sunday morning pub team after a lock-in would have been over as a spectacle and I suspect many around the UK and the rugby watching world were tempted to turn off early in the second half, or at least wander out to the kitchen and start cooking the evening meal.
One more Scots score and there would probably have been a mass exodus from the Principality stadium as well with disgruntled fans fleeing the scene of the massacre to avoid the ‘queuing hell' of Cardiff Central.
But the reason everybody stuck with it is because we know stuff happens in the Six Nations and there is well over a century of history and national pride at stake. You don't give up on the dream and desert those wearing the colours. And we know deep down that there is no lead big enough that Scotland aren't capable of blowing and we still feel that if Wales – any Wales team – suddenly gets hot and hits the emergency button they can score three of four tries in 20 minutes.
So we kept the faith and were royally rewarded with a comeback for the ages and mixed emotions. Scotland have squandered winning positions so many times before so although they pushed their luck tonight the fact they actually got over the line will be a huge boost as they square up against France. As for a young, injury wracked Wales team, in extremis they suddenly discovered themselves and have kept the Welsh public onside. Welsh rugby fans will cut this side a lot of slack if they can replicate their second half spirit and adventure.
The big Wales names for the coming years are beginning to identify themselves. Aaron Wainwright and Tommy Reffell in the back row, half-backs Tomos Williams and Ioan Lloyd, who need to be starting and not on the replacements bench, the electric if eccentric Rio Dyer, Teddy Williams – who also started on the bench – and the wonderfully whole hearted Corey Domachowski. You can support such players without reservation or quibble.
Ultimately, I would even argue they were ‘robbed' of victory. Scotland's second try of a dominant first-half performance from Duhan van der Merwe came off a clear forward pass from Finn Russell. True it was a straight forward two on one after great work by the Scots but that doesn't mean you get immunity against the laws. Van der Merwe was never in a position to receive a legal pass and I'm astonished Wales didn't kick up merry hell about it. Alun Wyn Jones would have but young Daffyd Jenkins, who rallied his troops wonderfully on his debut as skipper and generally worked well with referee Ben O'Keeffe, seemed to miss it entirely.
At the time so dominant were the Scots that it just seemed an academic discussion, the latest example of officials simply not reffing the final “scoring pass” – almost to a man they switch off when they think the try is inevitable. I suppose it's human nature but they should train themselves to stay with the action. That's what they are paid to do, not stand back and admire
As Wales' comeback got underway thoughts returned to that moment, those seven points could prove vital. And indeed they were.
Some matches decided by one point are nip and tuck but this was ebb and flow. Tide in, tide out. Scotland for the first 42 minutes were irresistible with their forwards in control, the Welsh lineout malfunctioning and a myriad of errors from Jenkins' team. Scotland accumulated points steadily, including the dodgy try referred to and two minutes after the break they went 27-0 up when Van der Merwe sprinted into the corner for his second try.
It was hard to believe that it was only 102 days ago that Wales defeated Australia 40-6 at the World Cup in Lyon. Yes they have had retirements and injuries but the squad seemed in good nick and heading in the right direction, surely it hadn't all completely fallen apart in such a short period of time. A baffled Gatland said afterwards that it was the worst half of his coaching career. Indeed.
Russell was marshalling the game in second gear barely breaking sweat but that was about to change. When the Wales fightback started with a try from Jim Botham which also yielded a yellow card for George Turner as Scotland's discipline went to pot, at one stage they conceded 14 penalties on the trot. Wales were up and running and there were tries for Dyer, Wainwright and Alex Mann not to mention a further Scotland yellow card, this time for Sione Tuipulotu. Momentum seemed with Wales but just in time Scotland regained their senses and toughed it out. They earned a vital turnover with three minutes to go when a Wales pass was deemed forward. It was … but nowhere near as forward as Russell's pass. Hey ho.
Let's finish this opening round with a curious little thought. My Scottish friends inform me that yesterday was the first time in 99 years, since January 1925, that Scotland had taken the rugby field without a Borderer in their line-up. I suppose that's not really surprising what with full English and Aussie inter nationals in their 23, South African buy-ins and multiple U20 caps from England, South Africa and Ireland and Australia but it still pulled me up short. But wait a minute, that 1925 date, that rings a bell. Back then they were pulling in Scotland qualified players from all over the Empire and to good effect. A few months later they recorded the first and probably most celebrated Grand Slam. Just saying.
Who knows what will happen next? It's the Six Nations after all and that's why we love it.
