Posted by The dictionary definition of wind is “the perceptible natural movement of the air, especially in the form of a current of air blowing from a particular direction”.
You may wonder why that kicks off this edition of the View from the South Terrace, but the reason is quite simple – despite travelling to Galway more than 20 times since the Irish hijacked the Welsh-Scottish League, and every single time (probably) it has been blowing a gale, it seems Cardiff Rugby are constantly surprised by the conditions at the Sportsground.
The first half of Saturday’s United Rugby Championship was no different as the Blue & Blacks decided to kick to compete when playing into the wind, only to look somewhat confused as the ball was immediately blown back into their faces and Connacht took over in great field position.
It kicked off the frustration that would underline the evening from a Cardiff point of view with the kicking strategy being compounded by a lot of missed tackles, the issues around kick-off reception continuing, handling errors aplenty and some cheap penalties at key moments all contributing to the hosts being able to hold on to for victory.
Undoubtedly the most frustrating element of all though was that, despite the above list, the Blue & Blacks had done enough to come back across the Irish Sea with the all-important win. Some battling rearguard action kept Connacht within touching distance after their half with the wind at their backs, and then some excellent attacking shape and improving execution got the scores level at 19-19.
Rhys Barratt continued to look at home at this level, Rhys Litterick put in a huge 80-minute shift, Josh McNally and Alun Lawrence got through their usual mountains of work, Johan Mulder was electric again, Rory Jennings’ distribution was top drawer, Rey Lee-Lo oozed his unlimited quantity of quality, and Callum Braley was sharp off the bench on debut.
It’s just a shame that too many lapses and not being quite clinical enough meant a game that was there for the taking ultimately slipped from our grasp. Narrow losses continue to be points well earned, but it’s no longer the case that valiantly losing is automatically welcomed as it was last season. Against more comparable opponents, such as Connacht, we need to win more of these fixtures than we lose.
Of course it has to be mentioned that as common as the wind in Galway is the suspect refereeing when playing away in Ireland. A questionable forward pass for one try, a maul allowed a ridiculously long time to move for another, some soft calls going against Cardiff included one for breathing on the 9, and then our 9 flying headbutted out of the way with the clock in the red being ignored all add to the frustration.
Nothing will ever change on that front though, it never does, so the Blue & Blacks can only focus on ourselves and being that inaccurate and ill-disciplined in the Emerald Isle is unlikely to get you a result.
It’s all change now with Matt Sherratt heading off to Cymru camp leaving Gethin Jenkins and Corniel Van Zyl to prepare the team to face Leinster in two weeks. A formidable task by any metric, and one that we will certainly have to work hard at taking the positives from. In truth though it’s all eyes on heading back to Connacht in April for the European Challenge Cup round of 16.
Hopefully taking the lessons learned on Saturday around the discipline, and bringing back a considerable amount of quality from international squads and injury, will stand us in good stead for a season defining win.
There’s no question Cardiff are good enough to win at the Sportsground, we just need to put the pieces together for a whole performance. Keep the faith, #TrustTheProcess.
Cardiff Rugby Life 