Peter Jackson: Open or shut case at Millennium Stadium
The organisers’ refusal to approve the Welsh request for their home fixtures against the contenders to be played under the roof has left the Welsh management feeling short-changed.
The usual rules of engagement on the 400-ton roof will apply, that it remains open unless both teams agree otherwise. Wales made their bid for automatic closure direct to the Six Nations as a means of circumventing the arrangement, knowing full well that most opponents refuse to play ball.
They do not buy the Welsh claim that their motivation is for altruistic reasons, that by eliminating wind and rain the closed roof gives the paying customer the chance of seeing a better game. Wales shot themselves in the foot on that issue so long ago that they may have forgotten.
Andy Robinson, never slow to see shadows even where none existed, smelt a rat during his time as Scotland coach and insisted on an open roof for the game in Cardiff seven years ago rather than give Wales ‘an advantage’. His counterpart, Warren Gatland, wanted it shut.
“I cannot understand why you would have a roof and not close it,” he said at the time. “I think we have a responsibility to the game, the public, media and sponsors that if it’s raining and you’ve got a roof to be closed, let’s close it. We need some sanity so at least we can see some positive rugby.”
When Australia came to Cardiff later that year, Gatland had done a volte face on the roof. The Wallabies would have preferred it closed, Wales, aware a dry ball would suit the Aussie backs, insisted it had to stay open.
What about all that guff about responsibility to the game and the paying public? Howley, then Gatland’s No. 2, was left to defend the decision. “The reason we’re doing it is because we want to get used to the conditions we will face in the World Cup in New Zealand,” he said, unconvincingly.
No reference there, of course, to the real reason – that the Wallabies had a novice goalkicker in James O’Connor and why should he reap the benefit of perfect conditions off the tee? It made no difference. The Aussies won, as they always do in Cardiff, and O’Connor, surprise, surprise, displayed his ability to kick goals in the open air.
Intriguingly, Howley has conceded that he missed a trick over the roof when the Wallabies pitched up on a sunny, cold afternoon 12 weeks ago and wiped the floor with Wales.
He admitted he had “made a mistake and kept it open because it was a fine day. I underestimated the occasion and did not have the best conditions for the team. We all make mistakes”.
Exactly what those conditions were or how they were affected by exposure to a crisp autumn day is difficult to fathom. As England manager, Martin Johnson objected to a closed roof (“it’s an outdoor game”) as did Nick Mallett during his time in charge of Italy.
Stuart Lancaster experienced both roof and no-roof with contrasting results. Under it in 2013, his England team lost the Grand Slam and Six Nations title in 80 of their most calamitous minutes. On their last Cardiff appearance two years later, with the stars in full view, England won 21-16.
And it will surely remain open when Eddie Jones pitches up on Saturday week.
Even making full allowance for its use as a platform where everyone says nice things about everyone else, the Six Nations’ launch at the Hurlingham Club prompted Joe Schmidt to make an odd comment about Ireland’s biennial visit to Cardiff.
It wasn’t so much that Ireland’s coach talked Wales up as ‘the sleeping giant’ but what followed next, a revision of more than 30 years’ history in one sentence: “We’ve had trouble keeping ahead of them in the Millennium before.”
Trouble? Most of the trouble has been created by the Irish and dumped on the Welsh, often from a great height. For the record, Ireland have been to Cardiff 16 times since 1985, won 12, drawn one and lost three.
Maybe Schmidt subscribes to the theory that all history is bunk. If not, he must have had the Irish squad running around the Blarney stone.
