Welsh Flanker Arrested After Scottish Win
Wales flanker Andy Powell faces an uncertain future in the international game after being arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning for allegedly taking and driving away a golf buggy.
Just hours after his team’s dramatic victory over Scotland, the 28-year-old Cardiff Blues forward was arrested with another man at services off junction 33 of the M4 in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Investigations are ongoing, but with Wales coach Warren Gatland a stickler for discipline, the player’s inclusion in the squad for the game against France a week on Friday, must surely be in doubt.
The pair’s alleged high jinks put a further dampener on a match already overshadowed by serious injuries to Scotland’s Thom Evans and Chris Paterson. Evans, the 24-year-old Glasgow Warriors‘ wing underwent surgery on his neck at the University of Wales Hospital, Cardiff, on Saturday night after a sickening collision with the Wales full-back Lee Byrne. Paterson, the 31-year-old Edinburgh full-back, suffered a damaged kidney and like Evans, will remain in hospital until deemed well enough to travel.
Gatland and team manager Alan Phillips chose not to comment on the matter last night, but a statement from the Welsh Rugby Union read: “The WRU is aware of a police investigation into an incident involving the player Andy Powell and is monitoring its progress.
“The national squad views matters of player conduct extremely seriously. Members of the national squad management will formally speak to the player before any futher statement is issued.
“The WRU has advised the player on the opportunities he can consider for legal representation at this stage.”
South Wales Police confirmed that one of the two arrested men failed a breath test, but it is not known which one of the men this was. No charges have yet been brought.
It is understood the golf buggy was taken from the Vale Hotel, Golf and Spa Resort in the Vale of Glamorgan where the Wales team stayed before and after the match on Saturday. A spokesman for the hotel said they could not comment as a police investigation was ongoing.
Thanks to the telegraph.co.uk
Animal Magic of Richie McCaw Offers Lesson To Six Nations
Richie McCaw remains the world's best
Ian McGeechan calls them “Test match animals”. According to Sir Ian, and he’s identified a few in his time, they are a special breed of rugby player. As the demands get greater they get better. From club rugby, to the leagues, on to European competition and then to internationals … with every step up they go up a notch.
It’s not just a talent thing. There are plenty of guys who have bags of talent but fall short. The ones that matter have the full package. Talent, skill, fitness, and athleticism almost go unsaid. It’s the brain that adds the extra. The mind to fit the occasion.
Look at Richie McCaw, the All Blacks captain, twice world player of the year and a near-perfect example of Sir Ian’s Test match animal. Even the casual spectator has to be impressed by his all-action style of play – the number of tackles he makes, how often he’s involved in attacks and the number of times he gets his hands on the ball. However, it’s when you look a little deeper that you begin to understand the real value of the man to his team.
Even in those mad moments at the breakdown, he has a cold eye. To see him tackle, get back to his feet and then either strip the ball from an opponent or, in all probability, win a penalty for holding on is one of those magic moments in the game. But even that is not the end of it.
McCaw, more than anyone I can think of, lives as close to the line of legality as possible. Some referees think he steps over it and there are times when the amount of ball he wins has to be weighed against the penalties he concedes. I said penalties not points, because McCaw has that happy knack, an extra sense if you like, only to transgress (or almost only) when the penalty is safely out of range of the opposition’s goal-kicker.
However, most of the time McCaw seems to have an in-built ability to know just how far he can go. When he’s penalised you can almost see him rethink his approach. It’s a bit like recalibrating an instrument or an engineering tool. Add a millimetre here, take away a fraction of an inch there. When he’s satisfied that the referee is satisfied, then it’s back into those parts of the game that often go unseen by the fan on the terrace or in the stand.
So we have the near-perfect example of a Test match animal and I hope there will be plenty around this weekend at Murrayfield, Croke Park and especially Twickenham, where England take on Wales in the best possible match-up at the start of a Six Nations. As an Englishman I obviously have a foot in both camps, but even before I started coaching with Wales, even before I switched codes and began working in rugby union, I always understood that England versus Wales – it didn’t matter whether it was in Cardiff or London – was a bit special. After two years coaching in the Six Nations I now know how special.
Merely thinking about it brings me out in a sweat and this is where Sir Ian’s man comes in. Looking at Martin Johnson’s side, with the speedy Mathew Tait chosen ahead of Dan Hipkiss or Shontayne Hape at outside-centre, and such men as Ugo Monye and Delon Armitage in the back three, it’s obvious that England have changed tack a little and are going for pace whereas Wales are, perhaps, more settled.
However, looking at the teams in isolation, examining two bits of paper doesn’t tell half the story. International rugby is not called a Test for nothing. At the most obvious level it’s a test of skills – passing, running, kicking, scrummaging, leaping in the lineout, catching the high ball – and fitness – doing it all for 80 minutes, the last 20 probably on wobbly legs if you have been scrummaging, rucking and mauling all afternoon.
But on another, less understood and less fashionable level, it’s also a test of manhood, being prepared to put yourself where “normal” people wouldn’t go. And doing it with a clear head.
Aggression is fine, but if that alone was enough, then we might as well pick a bunch of bouncers or dancehall doormen, guys who like a rumble. Winning Test rugby demands more – guys who can stay cool during the mayhem, players who keep their wits about them when all around seems madness.
With thanks to The Guardian
Wales Could Profit From Johnson’s Expansive Plan
England Face Wales On Saturday
It appears the caution imposed in November by an injury list the length of the Pennines has given way to an invitation to play. Perhaps, however, Martin Johnson does not do invites – this could well be an order to his England team to deliver, starting against Wales.
Throughout the ages there have never been too many question marks over the amount of possession provided by England packs. Some, notably the ones containing Johnson as a second-row, provided more than others, but this pack looks capable of maintaining a healthy supply.
It may not be the most elastic in the air – Simon Shaw is more a reinforced girder – and the front row will give away experience against the Lions trio of Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees and Adam Jones, but primary possession will not be a problem.
What Riki Flutey and Mathew Tait require, for the order from their manager to be executed, is speedy delivery, and here Nick Easter and James Haskell will both have to be persuaded to off-load, rather than snort. The back row and centres will have to strike up an understanding and, since Tait and Flutey are strangers on all fields bar the training paddock, this arrangement may take time to settle.
If, however, the centres click and the ball is taken away from contact – not at all times, but when the half-moment is right – then there is every reason for England supporters to presume that the back three of Ugo Monye, Mark Cueto and Delon Armitage, plus Ben Foden off the bench, will have an exciting time in the Six Nations. This is a selection that points the way to a brighter game.
There is a problem for England. Wales will be issuing an invitation of their own to their opponents to play an attractive game. Wales often struggle to escape the stranglehold of a mighty England pack, and by the time the game escapes its rigid structures it is too late for Shane Williams in space to make much of a difference.
But if the game is deliberately loosened by England, Wales may consider a fair proportion of the hard work done. And if you’re going to experiment with liberty, it constitutes a major risk to do so against experts in broken-field rugby.
Wales have been talking up the importance of the kicking game from hand and how they will increase the volume of punting at the expense of a handling game. It has sounded as if Warren Gatland has swapped his customary pre-match barbs for a promise to be boring.
But what Wales say and what Wales do are not to be confused. And if England accept the perils of the trap and go ahead anyway, we could be in for a majestic opening to the Six Nations. Who will win? Can’t say, but it won’t be 7-6.
With thanks to The Guardian
Welsh Team Sign Ricky Januarie
The Ospreys have signed Stormers and Springbok scrumhalf Ricky Januarie on a two-month mid-winter contract.
Januarie was omitted from the Springboks’ current European tour squad and his provincial side, the Stormers, in hope his short spell in Wales will bring him back to form ahead of the Super 14 season, which starts in February.
The deal has been conducted with the Welsh Rugby Union’s approval as Januarie’s signing breaks the quota of non-Welsh qualified players at the region.
Ospreys elite performance director Andrew Hore said: “We have moved to secure Ricky’s services because of the exceptional circumstances we face at scrum-half.”
Liam Davies and former Wales under 20 international Rhys Webb will share duties in the meantime, but Januarie will take over as first choice when he arrives next week.
Good luck Ricky.
Thanks to The Telegraph
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