Gloucester Fail The Millenium Test
Cir Mhor is not a happy chappy...
The Millennium Stadium experience is one that I’d like to wipe from my memory as soon as possible. From the moment I stepped into what is essentially an aircraft hanger with some grass in it, I had a bad feeling. Better suited to a rock concert than a top-level rugby match, it had all of the atmosphere of a lower league football game – and before our Welsh friends get grumpy, I concede that, with the roof open and 80,000 screaming fans it is probably an entirely different place.
This was the worst Glaws performance I’ve seen in a considerable time, and those that preferred it to the solid win against Biarritz can class them selves as rugby supporters rather than Glaws fans – give me the four points any time. I’m sick of saying after so many of our games that it was one that we should have won, but once again that was the case. We started poorly with Olly Morgan surely consigning his immediate England prospects to the dustbin with a truly pathetic attempt at a tackle to allow Cardiff in for a soft try – it was as if he had suddenly spotted Medusa in the crowd and been turned to stone!
However, after that Glaws started to show their form, with Ryan Lamb pulling the strings nicely, and a period of pressure lead to a Glaws try when a lovely delayed pass from Balshaw put Morgan in. However, next came the first of the big moments in the game.
With a Glaws ruck on the Cardiff line, Alain Rolland penalised a home player for a spot of cynical / professional play diving through to knock the ball out of Cooper’s hands – surely this was just the kind of situation for which the yellow card was introduced? Not in Rolland’s book and a firm telling off was all that was given.
This beggars belief: if it’s a penalty it’s got to be a yellow card! Glaws took the scrum, knocked on, but then destroyed the Cardiff scrum to allow Narraway to pick up and put Balshaw in. Even with Rolland having allowed Cardiff to stay at full strength, Glaws were in the lead, dominant and surely headed for a glorious victory?
The next big moment came when Lamb limped off. Dean Ryan brought on Lesley Vianikolo and I would argue that this was, with the benefit of hindsight, possibly the worst coaching decision he has ever made. With Willie Walker on the bench we had a stand-in stand-off (!) available, but he chose to move Barkley to 10 and Sinbad into the centre. 
Whatever our head coach thinks – and on this I certainly won’t bow to his superior knowledge – Barkley is not a 10, and Sinbad is a winger. Suddenly we went from looking like decent side to something close to a rabble, and within five minutes had allowed Cardiff to score twice – one of them coming from a piece of lunacy from Barkley.
After half time, Walker came on for Morgan, and despite having the opportunity to regain our shape, Ryan opted for another player out of position. To remind you we then had a 10 at 15, a 12 at 10, and a winger in the centre – why not bring Rory Lawson on at hooker and complete the shambles! This was madness of the highest calibre, but we might still have won! Balsh scored his second try and we were within spitting distance of Cardiff. But then Mr Rolland and the blind mice contrived to miss an obvious knock-on and this led to a Cardiff score – but I still felt that we weren’t out of it.
Rolland, however, had other ideas and he sent Azam to the bin for an offence on the Glaws 22. This was Gloucester’s second penalty of the half and the yellow card was a criminally stupid decision from the referee. All we ask is for consistency, and having allowed the blatant Cardiff professional foul in the first half he can have no justifiable reason for suddenly getting tough on a less important Glaws offence. That finally cost us the game – it’s as simple as that, and it stinks.
Despite valiant attempts to get the fourth try which would have got us within seven points, our 14 men came away with nothing.
As for my first visit to the Millennium Stadium, I hated it. An inane / insane Welsh DJ and daft rock music did no credit to Cardiff – let’s be honest, they should be deeply ashamed of themselves for ever allowing that kind of nonsense to take place. The contrast with the great day out a few years ago at the Arms Park was pretty stark, and we have a duty, when they visit us, to stuff them comprehensively, and to show them what a proper rugby ground is like!
|
