Welsh stutter to victory
Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:44
Wales managed a comprehensive 34-13 over Canada in the international at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on Friday, but it was not the kind of performance that would inspire confidence ahead of the visits by New Zealand and Australia later this month.
The positive is that the Welsh managed to end a three-match losing streak. However, the highlights package will, for eternity, include two penalty tries from scrum dominance in a match that had very little in terms of creative endeavour.
Playing in their new yellow change strip for the very first time, the Welsh performance resembled the pale colour of their kit.
The jersey, which carries the St David's flag on the right sleeve and sports the word 'Hiraeth', meaning belonging, was meant to inspire patriotism.
A link across the centuries to the flag of St David, which represents the patron saint of Wales, was meant to form a direct bond with the nation's patron saint - St David.
However, it was not a performance that would have inspired any romanticism or patriotism.
Four early knocks by Wales, including captain Ryan Jones twice, set the tone for a game in which the Welsh totally dominated the set pieces.
The Welsh produced a very disjointed performance and the stop-start nature of the game suited Canada - while Wales' schoolboy errors contributed to keeping the outclassed Canadian team in the game in the first half.
Wales started the second half with more purpose and took the ball through numerous phases, looking in control.
But again a knock-on ended a promising move.
However, with the Welsh scrum simply too powerful, they won a crucial heel against the head five metres from Canadian line and eventually turned that into a penalty try. When they scored a second penalty try from scrum dominance, the game was over as a contest.
The first real scoring opportunity came in the 10th minute and went to Canada - a penalty for going offside inside the Welsh 22. Fullback James Pritchard made no mistake and against all odds the Canadians took an early 3-0 lead.
Two minutes later the Welsh had a chance to reply, as a Canadian player went shoulder first into a ruck and was penalised for dangerous play. Flyhalf James Hook, lining up the angled kick from 25 metres out, but he hooked it past the upright.
And things went from bad to worse for Wales when a groggy-looking flyhalf James Hook was helped from the field late in the first quarter and was replaced by Dan Biggar.
Wales did eventually find some kind of rhythm and after a couple of near misses, once with Leigh Halfpenny tackled into touch just metres out, Wales stole a ball on the Canadian throw and good hands saw Morgan Stoddard go over in the left corner. The call first went to the TMO, but he reported that the try was good - with Stoddard touching down just before being shoved into touch. Biggar pushed the conversion attempt wide, but the Welsh had finally hit the lead after 24 minutes.
Just under 10 minutes later and the Canucks were back in the lead, with Pritchard slotting a penalty from the halfway line after the Welsh went offside again.
It was Halfpenny who eventually brought the Millennium Stadium crowd to its feet right on half-time - turning Canadian rival Justin Mensah-Coker inside-out and then using his strength to go over for Wales' second try. Biggar's conversion hit the upright, but the home team took a 10-6 lead into the break - after a first half in which they looked everything but like Six Nations champions.
The Welsh started the second half with more purpose and even though there was an early knock-on and a penalty conceded, they soon got reward for their endeavours when Biggar slotted a penalty in the 46th minute to stretch the lead to 13-6.
And 12 minutes later the killer blow came, when - after a succession of penalties at scrum time five metres from the line - Australian referee Stuart Dickinson awarded a penalty try to Wales. The conversion by Biggar made the gap 14 points - 20-6.
There was a second penalty try - which finally ended the game as a contest - in the 71st minute, again after a succession of scrum penalties five metres out from the Welsh line. Biggar's conversion made it 27-6.
Two minutes later centre Ryan Smith got a consolation try for Canada when he intercepted a very ordinary loopy pass from Biggar and sprinted 60 metres for the score. Pritchard added the conversion to make the Canucks score a little more respectable at 27-13.
Halfpenny, as he did at the end of the first half, brought the crowd to their feet with the last try of the half - and the game. Biggar's conversion made the final score 34-13.
Man of the Match: There were not too many outstanding player, although Canadian scrumhalf Ed Fairhurst produced an admirable performance behind a beaten pack. Our award goes to the Welsh scrum, for the manner in which they destroyed the Canadian pack in the second half - securing a comfortable win through two penalty tries.
Moment of the match: The two Leigh Halfpenny tries were worthy of meritorious mention, but the crucial scores were those two penalties tries - the first of those, in the 58th minute, spelling the beginning of the end in terms of the Canadian resistance.
Villain of the match: There were no villains.
The scorers:
For Wales:
Tries: Stoddard, Halfpenny, penalty tries 2
Cons: Biggar 3
Pen: Biggar
For Canada:
Try: Smith
Con: Pritchard
Pens: Pritchard 2
Teams:
Wales: 15 Morgan Stoddard, 14 Leigh
Halfpenny, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Mark Jones, 10 James Hook, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 Ryan Jones (captain), 7 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 6 Dafydd Jones, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Eifion Lewis Roberts, 18 Alun-Wyn Jones, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Dwayne Peel, 21 Dan Biggar, 22 Jamie Roberts.
Canada: 15 James Pritchard, 14 Ciaran Hearn, 13 Bryn Keys, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Justin Mensah-Coker, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Josh Jackson, 4 Tyler Hotson, 3 Jon Thiel, 2 Pat Riordan (captain), 1 Kevin Tkachuk
Replacements: 16 Mike Pletch, 17 Frank Walsh, 18 Mike Burak, 19 Sean Michael Stephen, 20 Morgan Williams, 21 Matt Evans, 22 Dean van Camp
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges: Matt Goddard (Australia), David
Changleng (Scotland)
TMO: Geoff Warren (England)
* Can Wales upstage the All Blacks or Wallabies? How bad was this performance? You let us know.
