Welsh Rugby and all things Wales

by **Welshboy** » October 18, 2011, 4:19 am

This has nothing to do with Wales or Rugby but it is interesting.
This is one of three and i will post all three.
Get a cup of Tea/Coffie sit back and injoy

Origins of Us
- 1. Bones
http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/p00jjjw4/

by **Welshboy** » October 21, 2011, 5:03 pm

Rugby World Cup 2011:
Wales 18-21 Australia
Friday, 21 October 2011

Wales (3) 18Tries: Shane Williams, HalfpennyCon: S JonesPens: Hook, S Jones
Australia (7) 21Tries: Barnes, McCalmanCon: O'ConnorPens: O'Connor 2Drop-goal: Barnes
Barnes scored a try in a superb personal display A Welsh World Cup campaign that held so much promise a week ago ended in disappointment as Australia won the third-place play-off.

A try and drop-goal from Berrick Barnes and eight points from the boot of James O'Connor left Wales with fourth place despite a try from Shane Williams in possibly his last Test appearance.

In an error-ridden contest short on quality and atmosphere, Wales failed to replicate their devastating attacking form of earlier in the tournament.

A succession of handling errors gifted the Wallabies the initiative, and Leigh Halfpenny's try in the 83rd minute came too late to deny Robbie Deans' men.

While the result gives Australia revenge for Wales' victory in the corresponding game in the inaugural World Cup 24 years ago, a serious knee injury to fly-half Quade Cooper left their celebrations muted.

And while Eden Park was virtually full, there was the unmistakeable whiff of anti-climax about the night, the minds of both players and supporters on Sunday's final and what might have been.

Wales will reflect that they lost three matches at this World Cup by a combined total of five points, with a host of missed kicks costing them dear in the final analysis.

Australia's hopes suffered an early blow when full-back Kurtley Beale limped off with a recurrence of his hamstring injury, but after Williams was clattered into touch by the right corner-flag the Wallabies struck with pace and precision.

Will Genia took quick ball from the back of an attacking scrum and fed Cooper, whose sweetly-timed flat pass put Barnes through the hole between Jonathan Davies and Jamie Roberts and under the posts.

O'Connor converted for 7-0, only for a fumble from David Pocock off a poor pass to set up a Welsh scrum in front of the Australian sticks. When referee Wayne Barnes called the Wallaby front row for collapsing, James Hook eased over the resultant penalty.

Australia lost Cooper to a serious knee injury With Australia looking for another gap deep in Welsh territory, Cooper then went down in a heap after his right knee appeared to buckle. He was carried off the pitch, clearly in great pain, his nightmarish World Cup coming to an end with an injury later confirmed as torn anterior cruciate ligaments.

O'Connor hit the right upright with a long-distance penalty attempt after prop Paul James was mangled at a scrum, and the game entered a scrappy phase with both sides spilling possession in contact and under the high ball.

Halfpenny pushed a penalty of his own wide to the right before Davies opted for a grubber with space outside him and put the ball into touch.

The errors continued after the interval as Hook somehow hooked a straightforward penalty from 25 metres out and O'Connor kicked the ball out on the full after taking it back inside his own 22.

But even without suspended skipper Sam Warburton, Wales were beginning to dominate the breakdown, and when Wallaby possession was burgled on halfway a clever kick ahead from Mike Phillips allowed Hook to gather behind the defensive line.

His pass out wide appeared to be both forward and short of Williams, but the old stager booted the ball onwards on the volley and kicked past the covering run of O'Connor before gathering and flopping over the line for his 58th Test try and an 8-7 lead.

Hook again missed his place kick, albeit from way out left, and O'Connor snatched back the lead with a brace of penalties as the Welsh forwards failed to roll away at the breakdown.

Barnes then lofted over a drop-goal from distance for a 16-8 lead with 15 minutes left, replacement Stephen Jones reducing the deficit to five points with a drilled penalty from 35m.

A glorious piece of counter-attacking rugby from the Wallabies' back line appeared to have made the game safe, Genia releasing Adam Ashley-Cooper to run from deep, the winger combining beautifully with O'Connor to cut through the Welsh defence until George North's desperate tackle on the try-line stripped the ball from Ashley-Cooper's grasp.

It was a brief stay of execution. Another handling error in the Welsh midfield allowed the Wallaby forwards to batter their way towards the try-line, and Ben McCalman took advantage of a disorganised defence to rumble over in the left-hand corner to seal victory.

Wales had the last word after a series of 30 controlled phases saw Bradley Davies put Halfpenny over in the left corner, Jones converting, but it brought little consolation.

Wales: L Halfpenny; G North, J Davies, J Roberts, S Williams; J Hook, M Phillips; G Jenkins (capt), H Bennett, P James, L Charteris, B Davies, D Lydiate, T Faletau, R Jones.

Replacements: L Burns (for Bennett, 70), R Bevington (for James, 64), AW Jones (for Charteris, 53), A Powell (for Lydiate, 64), L Williams (for Phillips, 64), S Jones (temp for North, 33-37, for Hook, 50), S Williams (for J Davies, 70).

Australia: K Beale; J O'Connor, A Ashley-Cooper, B Barnes, D Ioane; Q Cooper, W Genia; J Slipper, T Polota Nau, S Ma'afu, J Horwill (capt), N Sharpe, S Higginbotham, D Pocock, B McCalman.

Replacements: S Faingaa (for Polota Nau, 52), B Alexander (for Ma'afu, 59), R Simmons (for Sharpe, 46), R Samo (temp for Higginbotham, 30-33), L Burgess (for Genia, 67), A Faingaa (for Cooper, 20), R Horne (for Beale, 10).

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

by **Welshboy** » October 21, 2011, 11:32 pm

Australia vs Wales.
http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=282910
There is no getting around the adverts

by **Welshboy** » October 25, 2011, 4:59 am

Scrum V - 2011/2012- 21/10/2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b016vqgb/

New Zealand claim the World Cup!
.23rd October 2011
...It was not as convincing as many fans expected but the All Blacks held on to claim an 8-7 success over France and with it their second World Cup crown.

Les Bleus were a completely different side to the one that had fallen to the 2011 hosts and also Tonga during the Pool stages.

And they pushed the Kiwis right up until the death in a highly-charged 80 minutes at Eden Park on Sunday.

But New Zealand managed to beat their rivals who had caused them such bother in the past, ultimately banishing their 1999 and 2007 ghosts.

The score has a certain eeriness to it too - '87?

Auckland was alive with All Blacks supporters all afternoon as the whole population hoped for an end to their 24 years of Webb Ellis hurt. Tickets were not sold out however as only hours before kick-off, sales were still going: cheapest for $401 ranging up to £1280 for the most expensive.

France meanwhile had banked on proving that their 6/1 bookmaker price for a game of such magnitude was way off the mark, and they duly racked up the phases inside opposition territory. This followed les Bleus not backing down from the Kapa O Pango - in fact they walked into it.

A marker was well-and-truly thrown down by France.

It was always going to be key for France to deprive New Zealand of the same start they enjoyed against the Wallabies and that was exactly what they managed, keeping the All Blacks away from the red zone despite an early penalty miss from fan favourite Piri Weepu.

Their starvation attempt did not last as back came the All Blacks following a solid touch-finder from scrum-half Weepu. And from that ensuing line-out, superb off-the-top ball back inside to Tony Woodcock saw the prop ghost through unopposed. Cue a big sigh of relief.

Suddenly the momentum had swung while Morgan Parra continued to struggle, which eventually led to Francois Trinh-Duc replacing him. France were not going to be alone in losing their fly-half though as six minutes before the break, Aaron Cruden exited injured.

Breakdown supremacy was also always going to be vital and as is their wont in 2011, the All Blacks soon dominated matters, which should have resulted in another three from Weepu. However, the former Hurricane looked like he was kicking in one with another missed shot.

Despite those eight points from the tee having gone begging, there was little worrying New Zealand heading past the half-hour mark but as this nation had become accustomed to, France aren't to be taken lightly, particularly with only a five-point lead taken into the sheds.

Marc Lievremont was clearly encouraged from what he had seen from his charges and sent the French back out from the break with the greater intent, but this time it was they who counted the cost of a penalty miss. Dimitri Yachvili sending the ball just wide of the uprights.

It looked like New Zealand had made the visitors pay for that failed attempt when first-half replacement Stephen Donald slotted from bang in front, but as the French have a habit of doing in this tournament, they soon came back to haunt their hosts. Thierry Dusautoir it was who crossed as the All Blacks fell asleep in defence following Donald's effort. The visiting captain burrowed his way over close to the post to make it an easy conversion for Trinh-Duc.

Suddenly the nerves of yesteryear were weighing on the hearts and shoulders of the 61,000
play nervously pitched itself on the halfway line coming up to the hour mark. That aforementioned 6/1 bookies price tag had become a great amount shorter.

France had the chance to snatch an unlikely World Cup crown on 63 minutes when Trinh-Duc lined up a 45-metre penalty but it proved unsuccessful as New Zealand weathered both the French storm and the pressure they'd put on themselves after almost a quarter-of-a-century without the Webb Ellis trophy.

The game was on a knife edge right until the final moments but the hosts just managed to hold on and end 24 years of waiting for their second RWC, McCaw left holding the prize.

Man of the match: Yet another towering performance from Imanol Harinordoquy has gone into the locker of the Biarritz stalwart. The number eight proved once again he is a must in this French line-up as he foiled several home line-outs, ran well in open play and also had a good night in close quarters. However, along with Thierry Dusautoir, Richie McCaw put in captain's performance on Sunday and was colossal at the breakdown. Big game effort.

Moment of the match: It had looked like France were going to upset New Zealand in 1999, 2007 and now 2011 when Francois Trinh-Duc lined up a long-range penalty attempt with only a quarter of the game remaining. The replacement fly-half did not get hold of his attempt though and that proved the difference between the two when it came down to it.

Villain of the match: A game played in good spirits. Nothing to report.

The scorers:
For France:
Try: Dusautoir
Con: Trinh-Duc

For New Zealand:
Tries: Woodcock
Pen: Donald

France: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Morgan Parra, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Fabien Barcella, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 20 Jean-Marc Doussain, 21 François Trinh-Duc, 22 Damien Traille.

New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Richard Kahui, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Brad Thorn, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Hore, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Ali Williams, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Sonny Bill Williams.

Referee: Craig Joubert
By Adam Kyriacou at Eden Park

by **Welshboy** » October 25, 2011, 5:16 am

Rugby News

Henry to coach Barbarians
.24th October 2011
...The All Blacks' World Cup-winning coach Graham Henry will take charge of the Barbarians against Australia at Twickenham next month.
Henry and his assistant, Steven Hansen, have agreed to coach the famous side against the Wallabies on November 26.
The duo guided the All Blacks to success in Sunday's Rugby World Cup final, beating France 8-7 at Auckland's Eden Park to end a 24-year wait for the Webb Ellis Trophy.
Several of the world's biggest names have agreed to play in the match, including All Blacks duo Keven Mealamu and Sonny Bill Williams, Springbok locks Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Wales pivot Stephen Jones, former Wallabies skipper Stirling Mortlock and Wales centre Jamie Roberts

Dusautoir named world's best player
.24th October 2011

France captain Thierry Dusautoir has been named the IRB Player of the Year, during a star-studded ceremony in Auckland on Monday
Dusautoir is the second Frenchman to win the award, following in the footsteps of former national team captain, Fabien Galthié, who claimed the accolade in 2002.

New Zealand were named IRB Team of the Year and Graham Henry IRB Coach of the Year, to add to the Rugby World Cup crown they claimed at Eden Park with a hard-fought 8-7 victory over the French on Sunday.

Dusautoir was outstanding all season for France, including in the World Cup and particularly the final where his defensive effort and ball-carrying inspired the French against the hosts.
He was picked ahead of five other nominees - New Zealand scrum-half Piri Weepu, flanker Jerome Kaino and centre Ma'a Nonu and Australia flanker David Pocock and halfback Will Genia.

The winners were selected by the awards' independent panel of judges, chaired by Rugby World Cup-winner John Eales and made up of former internationals with more than 500 caps between them. The panel deliberated on every major Test match played this year, starting with the first Six Nations match and finishing with the Rugby World Cup 2011 Final.
The glittering event, which also celebrated 125 years of the International Rugby Board, was a fitting finale to what IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset described as an "exceptional" Rugby World Cup and was attended by all four semi-final teams, royalty and stars from sport and entertainment.
Earlier in the day, an estimated 240,000 fans turned up to catch a glimpse of the All Blacks who were last to arrive at the Vector Arena with the Webb Ellis Cup.
Other award winners on the night included South Africa's Cecil Afrika, who won the IRB Sevens Player of the Year. Afrika was the outstanding player from the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series and finished as the top try and point scorer. Afrika scored 40 tries and 385 points across seven events, returning from injury in double quick time to inspire the Blitzbokke to Cup success in Las Vegas, and was also key in their victories in London and Scotland.

England's George Ford took home the IRB Junior Player of the Year gong. Ford becomes England's first recipient of this award after playing a key role in his country's run to the IRB Junior World Championship 2011 final in Italy, where they ultimately lost 33-22 to New Zealand.

Australia number eight Radike Samo was awarded the IRPA Try of the Year, for his effort in the Tri-Nations decider between New Zealand and Australia in Brisbane. The Fijian-born 35-year-old forward received the ball on his own 10m line and shrugged off a couple of All Black defenders before outsprinting the cover defence to score a remarkable individual try.

Full list of IRB awards winners
IRB Player of the Year: Thierry Dusautoir
IRB Team of the Year: New Zealand
IRB Coach of the Year: Graham Henry
IRB Junior Player of the Year: George Ford, England
IRB Sevens Player of the Year in association with HSBC: Cecil Afrika, South Africa
IRB Women's Personality of the Year: Ruth Mitchell
IRB Referee Award for Distinguished Service: Keith Lawrence
Vernon Pugh Award for Distinguished Service: Jock Hobbs
IRB Development Award: Rookie Rugby
IRB Spirit of Rugby Award: Wooden Spoon
IRPA Special Merit Award: George Smith, Australia
IRPA Try of the Year: Radike Samo, Australia v New Zealand

Lawrence to referee Currie Cup final
.24th October 2011
.Mark Lawrence has been appointed to referee Saturday's Currie Cup Final between the Golden Lions and the Sharks in Johannesburg.
The 46-year-old Lawrence, who recently announced his retirement from international refereeing, was also the man in charge of the Currie Cup Final in 2007 and the Super 14 Final in 2008.
Former Test referee Andre Watson, who is now the general manager of the South African Rugby Referees Association, said Lawrence is among the best officials in the game

'Home' games no guarantee for Wales
.24th October 2011
...Wales can't be certain of hosting any matches in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, International Rugby Board chairman Bernard Lapasset said on Monday.
England won the bid to hold the tournament on its own, but Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) chief executive Roger Lewis has been pushing lately for Millennium Stadium in Cardiff to host pool games involving Wales and up to two quarter-finals not involving the Welsh.
However, the Tri-Nations powerhouses have opposed Wales playing at the Millennium Stadium, saying that if Wales and England are placed together in a pool then the other teams in the pool would be disadvantaged by conceding home advantage twice.
Lapasset said the IRB and England 2015 organisers have discussed using the Millennium Stadium without making any decisions yet.
"No guarantee (for Wales)," Lapasset said.
"We have two objectives. The first is maximising revenues to be successful, and the second objective is to run a quality tournament for everyone like we have done in New Zealand.
"We opened 12 venues (in New Zealand) to make it possible for as many fans to participate. It will be the same in England, but which cities in England we have not decided."
England have proposed using Twickenham and Wembley in London, and Leicester's Welford Road, Gloucester's Kingsholm, Leeds' Elland Road. The English were also interested in football arenas Old Trafford, Anfield, St. James Park and Emirates Stadium, subject to their needs.

by **Welshboy** » October 25, 2011, 5:22 am

Origins of Us
- 2. Guts
http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/p00jjjxm/

by **santos123** » February 23, 2012, 8:55 am

Hi All....Anybody know whats happend to Welsh Boy?

by **santos123** » March 5, 2012, 5:18 am

Hi all.
Got some news on Welsh boy.
He is now living in a council house in Porthcawl.
With a lady boy from udon.
They have opened a fish and chip shop.
So if your on porthcawl seafront, and feeling a bit peckish.
Please come in, for a real udon fish and chip dinning experience.
santos123

by **Aardvark** » April 4, 2012, 12:54 pm

Bad Luck for a very Talented young Man .... http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/ ... r-of-aust/

Who is online