Posted by Now I’ll never claim to be a diehard supporter of the Welsh national rugby team. I love Cymru, I love us doing well in any sports, but unlike with Cardiff where results and performances can have a genuine impact on my mood, there’s not that same buy-in with international rugby for me.
The constant circus of the Welsh Rugby Union, the fatigue of playing the same few opponents on a loop, and the prohibitively expensive ticket prices and general matchday experience leave a disconnect between myself and the whole spectacle.
So in the end, as much as winning is great, I ultimately just wanted to be entertained when the men’s national team take to the field. Unfortunately that has been in criminally short supply for a long, long time. Going back to the start of Warren Gatland’s first regime there was success, but from a very direct and physical standpoint.
Then Warren Pivac came in and threatened to get Cymru playing a bit, only to revert to pure pragmatism every time the going got tough. A far cry from some of the rugby his league-winning Scarlets side played. And the trilogy was completed by a Gatland sequel playing all the same hits as the first stint but at least 7 years too late.
Saturday though saw Matt Sherratt take the temporary reigns and, despite only having a maximum of four training sessions with the squad in the week leading up to Ireland arriving at the Principality Stadium, the work he had done on overhauling the attack paid dividends as the men in red played some fantastic rugby on the way to a narrow loss.
Wisely selecting familiar faces to Jockey and his attacking system in the form of the called up Gareth Anscombe and Max Llewellyn, and reverting Ben Thomas to inside centre, there was a flow and confidence to the back line, and an ambition among the forwards, that saw the home side visibly grow into proceedings.
Tom Rogers’ score, courtesy of some measured build up play and then recovering shape for Anscombe and Thomas to release Blair Murray on the outside, was one of the finest the Stadium has seen for many years, and got the place properly rocking to the point it was matching pre-pandemic/2019 Grand Slam levels.
The defence, which has been going well under Mike Forshaw but constantly put under pressure by the toothless nature of the attack, was able to flourish and force Ireland into numerous uncharacteristic errors, while the all-too-obvious direction from Jockey to Adam Jones of “pick your best scrummaging front row” paid dividends as WillGriff John had Andrew Porter in all sorts of trouble.
A bit of simplicity in selection, and a bit of detail in the game plan, and suddenly Cymru are level with the Irish going into the final quarter of the game. What a turnaround!
There was no surprise to Cardiff fans that Sherratt was able to work wonders with the national team, we’ve seen it at the Arms Park over the last 18 months. There was equally no surprise though that a much more positive performance did not quite equate to getting over the line and securing the win.
As with the Blue & Blacks, turning this Cymru side from plucky underdogs playing exciting rugby and causing the opposition problems to a team regularly winning games is not a quick fix. That takes a belief, an experience and a total confidence in the game plan and the team that isn’t going to materialise overnight.
What Jockey can do, and is doing, is to set the team on the path to that state though, leaving the playing group in a much better spot for the next coach to take over than they were in after Gatland’s departure. Two more no-pressure fixtures to go, two more opportunities to show what all of the players and coaches can do.
Off to Murrayfield for more #JockeyBall!
Cardiff Rugby Life 