Dwyer's View

Full House at Parc y Scarlets.

Llanelli, Boxing Day. 2009.

The ‘Full House’ sign was up for the first time at the Parc y Scarlets for the vital local derby between the visiting Ospreys and the Scarlets. For the Scarlets, there was a growing need for competition points. For the Ospreys, there was a growing need for consistency of performance to match their promise. There was also Wales’ top referee, Nigel Owens, to match the big occasion.

The Scarlets began with intent and pace. They stole the first lineout, on an Ospreys’ throw, but poor catch & pass skills slowed the movement and the opportunity was lost. They continued with urgency and soon had the penalty as their reward. Stephen Jones missed the relatively simple, for him, chance but was able to make amends soon after and the Scarlets had three points for their effort.

However, despite their lack of possession and field position, the Ospreys were giving their large band of travelling supporters plenty of hope for a winning result. Their scrum was already showing clear superiority, their defence was quickly off the line and powerful at the tackle, and Marty Holah was consistently in and on the ball. By the end of the first quarter, he had already claimed three turnovers.

Scarlets were getting scant return for all of their effort and good field position and this is always a worry. Ospreys, on the other hand, profited from their first real opportunity, with a somewhat flukey try to loose-head prop, Paul James. Their lineout ball had come back from a wild tap, under good pressure from the Scarlets’ lineout, but when James gathered, the defence opened wide and he went straight through the middle without a hand laid on him.

Some simple mistakes by the Ospreys, including two dropped high balls by Ricky January, were keeping the Scarlets in touch and they had two more penalty scores, to lead at half-time by 9 to 7. The latter of these was given, incorrectly, by referee Nigel Evans, for a deliberate knock-on, when, in fact, the ball went forward, off the defender, in the force of the tackle. I had the feeling, however, that he Scarlets were on ‘borrowed time’ and needed a big lift in the accuracy of their play to breach the solid Ospreys’ defence.

The lift came certainly, but from the visiting Scarlets. They took possession and applied continuous pressure, and with pace. They won the space needed and Paul James took his second try, this time on the right wing - a position not normally associated with prop. A lead of 9-12 was soon to become 9-15 and then 9-18, with some distinct lack of discipline on the part of the Scarlets. The ‘defending’ team must give the kicker a clear shot at goal from a penalty, but this law seemed to have escaped the Scarlets. Not so the referee, however, and he allowed Dan Biggar a second kick, this time ten metres closer – a ‘give away’ three points.

Dan Biggar, throughout the second half, was able to keep the Scarlets under pressure in their own quarter, with numerous touch-finding kicks into the right-hand corner. This was great play by the visiting team and denied the Scarlets the opportunity to bring the support of their vocal crowd into the equation. It was difficult to understand that the Scarlets were unable to cover this tactic for the entire match.

The still dominant Ospreys’ scrum were able to win another scoring opportunity in the 74^th minute and Biggar extended the lead to 9-21, to put the match out of reach for the Scarlets. To their credit, the Scarlets were not about to be denied at least the losing bonus point and they lifted both the pace and the urgency of their game. They won three successive penalties and soon won also the space for the try, on the overlap, in the corner.

The Ospreys were deserved victors. Their attack was better than the Scarlets defence, and their defence was more than equal to the Scarlets attack. With all of their top-class players available they should fear no team. Unfortunately, we don’t always see them playing to their potential.

I was disappointed in, and for, the Scarlets. Their game lacked shape and, bar the first 20 and the last 5 minutes, it lacked urgency also.

For the winners; their scrum was a significant component of their victory, Holah was the dominant factor at the tackle contest and Biggar, at fly-half, had time and ability. For the losers;  Jonathan Davies, at centre, looked full of potential but their pack was outplayed and gave Stephen Jones no space at all.

I have a clear opinion on the elements required for quality attack. In just a few words, it is this: “Continuity and Realignment; Make space and Exploit it!” In order to allow backs the opportunity to realign quickly, the forwards must do the heavy work at the tackle contest and the scrum-half and fly-half must keep moving to be always in their selected positions. All things are now possible. The game played in this way is successful, and is fun for the players and the spectators. The Scarlets satisfied none of these elements.

Towards the end of the match, commentator Jonathan Davies, implored: “If we can just get the ball-players into their selected positions, they can then make the correct decisions with the ball!” He knows a bit about the game.

Record Crowd See Twickenham Cliff-hanger.

Twickenham. 27^th December, 2009.

Harlequins v Wasps. 20-21.

A record crowd of 76,716 fans packed Twickenham on Sunday to witness a tough, tense match between two teams ranked 5^th and 6^th on the league table. A win was important for both teams fighting to stay in touch with the play-off group, and both teams, indeed, played with a commitment matching the occasion.

Although it was a thrilling contest, with the result in doubt until the final whistle, it was not a top quality game. The attacking play was not of the highest order and the goal kicking from both sides was disappointing. Indeed, after Danny Cipriani had missed five from seven, not all easy mind you, he was replaced by Dave Walder. Walder was then successful with his two attempts.

Harlequins showed their intent early and Nick Evans chipped over the defence and regathered to put Quins on the attack, but, in an indication of what was to follow, they took the “50:50” option and play broke down. Almost immediately, George Skivington broke away, through a gaping hole in the Quins defence. When covered, he kicked ahead for Joe Simpson to show his great pace on the chase, and when Joe Strettle made a complete hash of his attempt to cover, he simply dropped on the loose ball in the in-goal area for a very soft try. It seemed to me that Wasps had predicted this flaw in the Quins defence, in behind the tackle contest, because later in the half Simon Shaw exposed the same fault. Shaw’s run also produced points, this time from the penalty given after he was tackled and the pressured Quins defence “handled on the ground”.

Wasps scrum was well on top, almost from the start, and this was perhaps the single most influential component of the game. This is more often than not, the case; that a dominant scrum grows to control the game. The scrum is, after all, the “back door” escape from a period of defence – when your defence has been extended, perhaps almost to breaking point, and you are awarded a scrum feed as a reward for the break in the attack caused by the pressure of your defence. If your scrum can’t deliver quality, useable ball for your turn to attack, it suddenly looks like “a long, hard day at the office”.  When Tim Payne was forced off, injured, in the 58^th minute, you could hear the sighs of relief from the entire Quins team, through the tv set. Quins would not have got close if Payne had been fit and able to continue.

It was a messy game and lacked most of the fundamentals required for quality attack. Perhaps the referee, Dave Pearson, played his part also, because, from the start, there were far too many bodies on the ground around the ball, at the tackle contest. I found it difficult to follow when a defender could advance and make a tackle and when he could not. The players obviously had the same problem, so they took to asking the ref, on the run. This is a weird, and inadvisable, situation in a game meant to be played instinctively.

From my vantage point, I cannot see just how Quins managed to finish so close on the scoreboard. As I have already said, their scrum was demolished, until Tim Payne was forced to retire. Their play was so structured that support play was at times non-existent. The ever-livewire Danny Care made one line-break of about 25m, from in front of his forward pack, only to be penalised for ‘non-release’. This is really a penalty against his team-mates, for ‘non-support’. Surely they have noticed that he does this sort of thing often; actually it’s his strength, and good support would make his strength even stronger.

Quick ball was obviously to be discouraged – actually it goes hand in hand with good support play. Full marks for quality “bridging” at the tackle contest. If the ball looked like being available too quickly, another player would arrive to lengthen the “bridging tunnel” and further delay the recycle, whilst the defence restructured their line. I hate “bridging”; it’s an excuse for poor support play and poor realignment. Then we have the scrum-half who spends an ‘eternity’, organizing and reorganizing his phase attack (I use the term loosely). On one occasion in the second half, Danny Care, with the ball at the back of the ruck, took the time to adjust his socks, before passing the ball. I kid you not! Take a look; it was around the 43min mark.

Quality attack requires urgency in the recycle of possession and in realignment. Quins had neither of these qualities. After yet another individual spark by Care, he chipped ahead for the industrious Robshaw to regather and set up an opportunity wide out on the left wing. Alas, when the (at last) quick recycle was delivered, only the fly-half and left wing, some 30m away, were in position. Perhaps the quick recycle was not part of the game plan.

Urgency in attack suddenly appeared again in the game, for each team in turn, for the last fifteen minutes. First it was Quins turn, when, realizing that they were eight points adrift, decided that they had better play. Care took the tap (again) and after three quick phases, they were on the Wasps’ line. Care (again) sneaked over inside a pressured defence.

 Next it was Wasps’ turn and, following five quick recycles or off-loads, flanker Hart scored and the conversion re-established the eight point margin. It was noticeable that replacement scrum-half, Mark Robinson, cleared the ball much more quickly than the original choice and that close support play was at hand for the off-load. It’s a simple game if you do the easy things well!

Back to Quins now, who were full of urgency and enthusiasm to grab the losing bonus point. The attack asked a series of questions in quick succession. The defence came up with a wrong answer and Dave Strettle skipped through the gap for a try under the posts. A one point margin again.

That’s another thing that I hate; teams who don’t try their utmost to win, until they’ve lost!

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