My review, look here for more:
http://fourballsblog.blogspot.co.uk/
The ref. The ******* ref. I agree with the yellow cards in the first half, but he must have left them in the dressing room because when they were needed against the Welsh in that second half he never showed them. Kicking the ball away in a dangerous area, a high tackle on the last man, repeated offences and yet the ref let them off with it all. Of course it wasn't all against Scotland, the tackle off the ball that led to Webb's try should have been a yellow, regardless of the "blocking" and Scotland repeatedly infringed for a period of time in the second half, but those last ten minutes were a sham from the ref and cost Scotland dearly. Now that's out of the way, let's have a look at the actual rugby.
In our preview we said it would be the game of the weekend, and we were right. Stuart Hogg setting the game alight from early on set the tone; the Scots were up for this one. A great turnover from Finn Russell led to his opening try and the Scots kept the momentum going until a yellow card for the fly-half due to taking the man out in the air, which was followed by a Rhys Webb try and then a Jonathan Davies yellow card for a similar incident. A tense game saw some Welsh indiscipline and some similar Scottish problems, the inability to finish off the move and score the try. The lack of composure from the Scottish was evident when they missed 3 or 4 guilt-edged chances. A slightly concerning game for Wales as Scotland had ample chances to take the victory, but their clinical edge proved better and they secured their first win of the campaign after an opening weekend loss to England, and this will certainly make them happy.
Some players just weren't up to scratch in on Sunday for both teams. Finn Russell despite the aforementioned turnover was wasteful with his kicking, two penalty kicks missed touch, one crucially very close to the end. Alex Cuthbert proved once again how useless he is, and Liam Williams has now walked his way into the side considering North's poor form. We should have seen the last of Lydiate starting as well, he amazed early on in his career with his tackling and work at the breakdown, but that side of his game appears to be less effective, and his lack of ball carrying is becoming more apparent. Tipuric has to start the next game.
The aftermath of this game caused a lot of debate between rugby fans and pundits, but one thing we can all agree on is that some players put in some outstanding shifts. Man of the match Alun Wyn Jones was good, but in my opinion not up to the standards of the likes of Hogg, Dunbar, Halfpenny, Biggar and Roberts (in the second half) who showed how special test match rugby is to the players. My man of the match was Stuart Hogg, he was lightning fast, looking to create opportunities out of nowhere for the Scots and very nearly inspired them to a victory. Dunbar impressed when he put his body on the line, making some big hits but also offering a good option in attack for Scotland. Biggar was commanding, very brave in the air and put on a performance that really impressed me, and I'm often critical of the Welsh fly-half. Halfpenny once again kicked fantastically, and it turned out to be crucial, but he showed more than that, plucking balls out of thin air to help his side. Jamie Roberts showed that sometimes Warrenball does work, using his physicality very well in the second half and being a bit of a monster whenever he touched the ball. Wyn Jones was good... but not on the same level as these guys. They helped create a thrilling spectacle that was incredibly tense, certainly the game of the 6 Nations so far. Scotland will be disappointed they once again were the "close losers", a painful tag to hold, and the Welsh will look to gain momentum from this win. Both teams have something to prove going in to next weeks clashes, Scotland need to beat the Italians after coming so close, but will be wary that the Italians scored 3 tries against England on Saturday. Wales need to beat a French side that were only 7 points off of Ireland, so will need to improve on this performance. I, like many others, can not wait for next weekends fixtures, which, alongside the Ireland vs England game, could be one of the closest rugby weekends we have all year, and there is still a World Cup to come.
Let me know of any mistakes or things to improve!
