Wales have done it again. They have surprised everybody, bar a few delusional sheep shaggers in the Valleys, and won the Grand Slam, again. The second time in 4 years. But are they as good as all the Welshies will have you believe or is everyone else in the 6 Nations just plain rubbish? The proof will be in the pudding when Wales tour South Africa in the summer but for now here is my somewhat controversial point of view.
Wales are overrated! Lets go back to the team that lost to Fiji in the Rugby World Cup 2007. They were pretty woeful and this was less than a year ago. Add to this the fact that five of the squad were still in the squad on Saturday. Gatland and Edwards have evidentially worked their magic, especially in defence but can 5 games really tell you how good a side is. What about their first game of this year’s 6 Nations? Not only were Wales playing against a team of 14 (any team that has Iain Balshaw at Fullback is a man down from the start!) but they were completely out played in the first half by an average England side. The Welsh team’s saving grace was Brian Ashton’s obviously ‘inspiring’ half time team talk to his English players.
There followed wins against another average but pumped up Scottish side, whipping boys Italy and the biggest underachieving team in memory Ireland. Le crunch for the Grand Slam was the Six Nations Fianle. Wales played well but France’s performance on the day was as good as David Skrelas remarkable restart that actually went backwards.
So in summary Wales beat a 14 man England team with a granddad as a coach, an Italian side with a fly half who has hands like a digital clock and the serial fuck up artiste in centre Gonzalo Canale, a Scotland side that is as boring as an episode of Lost, an Ireland side with less motivation in them Roman Abramovich at a job fair, and a French side that is as settled as a paedo in a prison.
So let’s look forward to the Summer tour. Can you see Shane ‘sidestep’ Williams running around Brian Habbana, Gavin Henson running through Francois Steyn or Martin Williams dominating Schalk Burger? I think not. Wales – a Grand Slam winning team with 3 or 4 World Class players, compare that to New Zealand a country with 20 – 30. Bred in heaven…more like head in the clouds.
Wales are overrated! Lets go back to the team that lost to Fiji in the Rugby World Cup 2007. They were pretty woeful and this was less than a year ago. Add to this the fact that five of the squad were still in the squad on Saturday. Gatland and Edwards have evidentially worked their magic, especially in defence but can 5 games really tell you how good a side is. What about their first game of this year’s 6 Nations? Not only were Wales playing against a team of 14 (any team that has Iain Balshaw at Fullback is a man down from the start!) but they were completely out played in the first half by an average England side. The Welsh team’s saving grace was Brian Ashton’s obviously ‘inspiring’ half time team talk to his English players.
There followed wins against another average but pumped up Scottish side, whipping boys Italy and the biggest underachieving team in memory Ireland. Le crunch for the Grand Slam was the Six Nations Fianle. Wales played well but France’s performance on the day was as good as David Skrelas remarkable restart that actually went backwards.
So in summary Wales beat a 14 man England team with a granddad as a coach, an Italian side with a fly half who has hands like a digital clock and the serial fuck up artiste in centre Gonzalo Canale, a Scotland side that is as boring as an episode of Lost, an Ireland side with less motivation in them Roman Abramovich at a job fair, and a French side that is as settled as a paedo in a prison.
So let’s look forward to the Summer tour. Can you see Shane ‘sidestep’ Williams running around Brian Habbana, Gavin Henson running through Francois Steyn or Martin Williams dominating Schalk Burger? I think not. Wales – a Grand Slam winning team with 3 or 4 World Class players, compare that to New Zealand a country with 20 – 30. Bred in heaven…more like head in the clouds.
