Wales beaten by the better team

Legs above ahead = Spear

It seems that my crystal ball is broken, either that or it is linked to a parralell universe where just one of the following things didn't happen today in Auckland.

1. Stephen Jones was selected ahead of James Hook
2. Captain Sam wasn't sent off/didn't make 'that' tackle
3. James Hook had worn studs
4. It hadn't poured down before kick-off
5. Mike Phillips had managed to get under the posts
6. Wales's lineout had functioned
6. Leigh Halfpenny managed to sneak it over
7. Stephen Jones ever so slightly sliced his conversion

Because if any of those things had just gone the other way then Wales would be in the World Cup final next week. Alas, they are not.

The game ebbed and flowed for a short time, even if it was peppered with too much (poor) kicking.  Then Hook nailed a penalty from the touchline, as he so often does, and set about to miss 3 more kickable chances and continue to kick Wales out of the game from hand.  The nerves had not settled.

Up steps Captain Sam, Wales's hero throughout the tournament and does something that I beleive showed just how pumped up he was, a moment of emotion peeking out behind his otherwise professional demeanour that has served him and Wales so well in this fabulous World Cup.  He picked up little Vincert Clerc, legs above the winger's head, lifted his left elbow and made the body movement of a spear tackle.  Luckily for Clerc he did not follow through with the spear and the damage was far less dramatic than the Frenchmen - who lay prone for a few minutes - would have us believe   Unluckily for Warburton (and the whole of Wales) the tackle was illegal under the rules of the game and was right under Alain Rolland's nose.  Despite the protestations elsewhere the ex-Ireland scrum half had little choice but to go for the red card.  Two years ago it might have been a yellow; 10 or 15 years ago it would have been a good tackle.

At this point France won the game.  Perhaps Wales should have won anyway, due to the other mistakes and missed opportunities listed above, but the psychological lift that the French received from the extra man was evident in their fervent defence, improved scrum and destructive line out.  Otherwise they offered nothing.

Onwards Wales charged, Lydiate, Wyn Jones and Charteris working themselves to a standstill, and 2/3rds of them not even finishing the game.  Faletau had his best game in a Welsh shirt.  Phillips was at his very best in scoring his try but Hook was the weak link. Lievremont's reverse psychology may just have paid off.  Stephen Jones's introduction should have come sooner.

Many of the close calls and missed chances were within Wales's control and so I must conclude that Wales were beaten by the better team today; themselves.  France were little more than a line of blue sponges, all willing the game to end with them in front.  And, despite over 20 phases of trundling possession for the dead-on-their-feet 14 of Wales, it did.

What next for France? A thorough stuffing by either Australia or New Zealand some would suppose.  What next for Wales?  Considering the mental strength and capacity for good, swift, incisive rugby - and ignoring the seemingly meaningless play-off to come - I would hope a win against the Aussies in December and - with 3 games at home - a Six Nations championship.  Either that or this was the very best of false dawns in living memory.

Either way I am thankful for what the Welsh team have given the rugby world in this World Cup.  Heart, hope, determination, passion and skill.  Hold your heads high boys, you've done us proud.

Wales Forever

So my prediction came to pass and Wales did indeed face Ireland in a 2011 RWC quarter final. Hardly a sage-like premonition from me after Ireland's outstanding win against the Aussies. I knew that Wales were a good side, built on a base of talented youngsters, and that Ireland were also a quality side, but 10 years older - no crystal ball required.

What I did not foresee was just how good Wales would be. Like many 'proper' pundits I saw this game as a close fought thing, perhaps decided by 1-4 points either way. Ireland played well, well enough to dispatch any Wales side since perhaps the 2005 vintage, but Wales played better, 12 points better according to the scoreboard. Ireland threw the kitchen sink, the fridge, the Aga and the oak table at Wales and all were rebuffed. At no point did I ever feel like Wales would lose; that is a truly alien feeling to any Welsh rugby fan. Even when we win we like to dice with defeat, but not today.

Despite all that, just what were Ireland up to in the first 10 mins? Wales score early and Ireland get three penalties in quick succession in the Welsh half. They have Ronan O'Gara to kick the goals. They chose to kick for touch. The got nothing for their trouble. Cup rugby is about building a score and keeping pressure on opponents; plus, as IBM keep telling us, only 10% of lines out result in tries. So what were they thinking?

Whatever was going through Irish minds Wales were having none of it, Sean O'Brien broke very few tackles, BOD made little impression with ball in hand and Ronan got out kicked (from hand) by the uber-cool Priestland. After Shane squeezed in at the corner to quash any opening Welsh nerves, then the strength of body and mind that this young Welsh side forged in the cryogenic chambers of Poland came to the fore.

Ireland came out firing in the 2nd half and earned their try through the diminutive and busy Keith Earls. Then Halfpenny absorbed the aerial attacks and Wales drove through the middle of Ireland where Alyn Wyn Jones made some real ground, allowing Mike Phillips to finish with an exquisite, and necessary, dive (Chris Ashton take note). All that was left was for Jonathan Davies to score the kind of try he often produces in regional matches, showing strength and acceleration that he has not often produced at international level with ball in hand. Ireland continued to bludgeon away and showed some slick handling but they lacked the Welsh incision and were repelled time and time again.

"We deserved it" said the ever-humble Mike Phillips, he was right. The question is, can they sustain the same defensive efforts for two more matches and continue to be ruthless in attack? We'll go some way to finding out when Wales play France next week for a place in the World Cup Final. Surely the rudderless French have used up their best game in dispatching England today?

With that in mind this prophet foretells a Welsh win. Cymru Am Byth!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad, what a brilliant App!

An Irish Quarter Final?

It was my duty as a Welshman to awake this morning at 4.15am to catch Wales play Samoa in New Zealand's Rugby World Cup. There are a number of drawbacks to this: Wales have a terrible record against the Samoans in World Cups with embarrassing losses in both '91 and '99, the Samoans had a nice easy match to open their RWC account against Namibia whereas Wales had a gruelling encounter with current champions South Africa but more importantly I had to get out of bed in the pitch black of 4.15am and watch the 'coverage' supplied by ITV Wales which is almost as flat and impotent as the Welsh team proved to be today.

Samoa deserved to win today, even more so than Wales deserved the win against South Africa last week. Where Wales were slow to the ball and the breakdown the Samoans were dynamic and sharp. Wales struggled to put more than 4 phases together where Samoa regularly held the ball for more than 10. The Welsh Scrums and lines out, which were so strong against the Saffers, were creaky and at times woeful against the general accuracy and gusto shown by Samoa.

Still, the match ended 17-10 to Wales. Wales landed more kicks and matched the 1 Samoan try courtesy of a fantastic break by the speedy Gonzalez legs of Leigh Halfpenny who came on for the ineffectual (and injured?) James Hook. The greater loss, in this writer's opinion, was of Dan Lydiate, Andy Powell huffed and puffed as he so often does but did little to impose himself on the game. Lydiate is the antithesis of Powell, he gets about his word quietly and patiently, turning ball over regularly and often dominating his opposite number around the field and making 'hard yards' around the fringes.

Special mentions go to the Samoan back row, Stowers worked tirelessly at 8 and Faasavalu at 7 outshone Wales captain Sam Warburton, though he was helped by a lack of control of and respect for the ball at the breakdown by Wales. Samoa, in contrast carried dynamically and strongly deserving more than the solitary try by Anthony Perenise.

In the end Halfpenny's scintillating pace up the line, the support of Jon Davies, his best effort to butcher the try and Shane's incredible anticipation to pick up the lose ball and dot down were the difference. A win is a win as they say and another couple in the group and Wales will surely face Ireland in the quarter-final. On this performance however, both Fiji and Ireland will be licking their lips.

Franchises that pay

"Develop as many income streams as you can" - Anonymous

I don't know who said it, but it seems common sense to ensure as many streams of income as possible if only to spread the risk. Another reason is to spread your interests and therefore, for me anyway, keep motivated.

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket" - Anonymous

It's the same maxim, only in the negative context.

The new year has seen a major development at Norman Environmental Ltd; we are committing to two separate franchise schemes. One is the sale of cut price, cash discounted utilities to home and business property owners, the other is the sale of environmentally friendly promotional branded products. Both these ideas dovetail nicely with the slogan of Norman Environmental - "Reducing your energy bills and waste". To successfully integrate these products and services I must take charge of building and maintaining a robust database of current, potential and past clients.

How will we find the time? Good question, and it's one I intend to begin to answer at the office tomorrow, one thing I do know is that I'm excited and exhilarated by the challenges ahead. It is imperative however, that we do not lose sight of our core business; that is assessing the energy use and habits of our clients and successfully helping them to minimise their environmental impact via a selection of energy saving and generating devices and products that we install at their property.

Time to roll up our sleeves then...

Christmas is over, Happy Warring

Today is Christmas day, only it isn't - but we need a national holiday for Saturday's festivities so this is it. Tomorrow as it goes, is boxing day, only it isn't - that was yesterday - but either way it is time for me to go back to work.

Last week's whiteout never really happened, we ended up cobbling together a week of work for our workforce and sadly achieved little else, save for being taken out by the bank and getting rather sozzled. So lots to catch up on.

The infopath documents are coming on but are unfinished. I'm working on delegating responsibility to the electrical installers so that more time can be dedicated to winning work and expanding the company. A marketing plan needs to be written for the electrical and renewable companies but I need more financial information to start understanding the parameters in which I can operate. January is a time for things to move on, as the snow melts away we must emerge from the frozen cocoon we find ourselves in.

This won't come without fights, internally and externally, with both current and new contacts up and down the supply chain. You get nowhere and nothing without fighting for it - but it is my fight and I am determined to win, whilst being careful to pick my battles.

Every snow-cloud....

I attended the 2nd network meeting of my career on Thursday 16th December as a guest of a good friend Ali Hoy, who has started up his own ChipsAway franchise. Another electrical contractor was in attendance so my introductory speech concentrated on the renewables business - which suited me fine. The truth is that nearly all of us pay too much to the utilities suppliers because we are so wasteful in our habits - we can offer a number of installations tailored to individual business or domestic needs that can severely cut our clients' bills. The meeting went well, everyone was very welcoming and friendly, it could make good sense to become a member of the chapter as a director of Norman Environmental.

This week promises to be very challenging, the deluge of snow across South Wales means that we may tell our workforce to stay at home and set up camp in the office. This gives me an excellent opportunity to analyse the financial performance of the company to ensure that decsions are based on results and that lessons are learnt. I can also continue to explore the possibilities of using Microsoft InfoPath to create forms, collect data and streamline Norman Electrical and Environmental internal paperwork. Work needs to be done to acheive ISO 9001, extend the H&S and environmental policies and secure constructionline accerditation.

The opportunities and possibilities of 2011 may be secured by making the most of the difficulties of the last two weeks of 2010, bring it on.

9 days later.....

It's been 9 days since I took the plunge. In many ways it reminds me of when I first started at my old job, it's a pokey little office near some local shops, the building is shared and the turnover is not into 6 figures. In other ways it is very different.

I'm finally at the 'business end' of proceedings, not reacting to events with admin work but sculping, shaping and changing things with graft. I'm working longer days, wtith less breaks and I'm happy. So far I've been to a weekly network meet, secured a month's turnover in work and finally got the green light on a substantial start-up loan for the new renewables company of which I am a director.

All in all it really feels like the difference I make will be reflected in my reward, not just finanacially but, more importantly for me, it will allow me to build a name and reputation of my own. After so many years of just bumbling along, I am determined to be 'someone', and I think this is my chance.