Lions 2013 – Gatland’s Warburton gamble

When the 2013 Lions squad was announced on Tuesday 30 April, the majority of the names were generally expected, but there were also plenty of large question marks, not least Warren Gatland’s selection of his international captain Sam Warburton as leader of the tour party – a decision it is difficult to believe wasn’t made in favouritism and politics, instead of sober logic.

Six Nations 2013 – How Wales can beat England

Both going into the match with two wins from two, there wasn’t much between the teams when they met at Twickenham in round three 2012; replacement Scott Williams’ converted try in the 75th minute the difference between four Owen Farrell and four Leigh Halfpenny kicks. England won their next two matches to finish second, but so did Wales, and with their victories came the Grand Slam. Just over a year later, it’s now England with the hope of a Grand Slam, but Wales and a trip to the Millennium Stadium that stand between them and a first clean sweep since 2003. So, as the visitors are the undefeated team, what do Wales need to do to beat England?

Six Nations 2013 – The lamentable absence of T-CUP

Ireland and France contributed the Six Nations’ lowest-scoring draw (13-13) in Dublin, but as is nearly always the case when teams finish equal on the scoreboard, one team would have been happier with the result than the other. Ireland captain Jamie Heaslip said there was nothing between the teams after the match and ‘supposed’ that the score reflected the match, but no doubt with something of a dejected tone. On the balance of play, it was a point lost for Ireland and a point gained for France, but even after Louis Picamoles’ try and Freddie Michalak’s conversion made it 13-13, with five minutes left to play there was still plenty of time for either team to win the match, but both lacked a bit of T-CUP in the last, critical moments and the scores stayed level.

Six Nations 2013 – England scrum problems a myth

The common story after England’s 23-13 win over France was that England had overcome a few set-piece issues and used their bench wisely to find some final-quarter dominance and ‘grind out’ their third Six Nations victory of the 2013 season. “With Thomas Domingo giving Dan Cole all manner of scrum problems, the lineout wobbling and tackles being missed far too often, Lancaster’s side had no foundations to build on,” was one of the lines that caught tGL’s attention; not because of the lineout wobbling (which it did) or the tackles being missed (which they were), but the part about Domingo giving Cole ‘all manner’ of scrum problems. Domingo certainly gave someone a lot of scrum problems at Twickenham, but it wasn’t Cole, it was referee Craig Joubert.

Six Nations 2013 – Murrayfield explained

In the lead-up to the Six Nations’ round-three matches, tGL indicated that possession efficiency, and not just high possession and/or territory percentages, was the key to victories, so the almost universal ‘How did they do that?’ reaction that followed Scotland’s ‘surprise’ 12-8 home win against Ireland was a little disappointing, but almost totally predictable. When a team manufactures victory from such scarce raw material, the standard option is disbelief. In the eyes of so many, the Murrayfield outcome simply didn’t arrive the way it was supposed to, but to think sporting logic was defied, or that statistics might somehow be irrelevant as a consequence, is off the mark; after all, the right information was all there beforehand.

First in best dressed – how England beat the All Blacks

A few weeks back tGL cast an eye over Wales’ courageous attempt at the unexpected in their 33-10 Test defeat against the All Blacks, and applauded their decision to try and swing some pretty lopsided odds (9-1) back in their favour. The plan was simple, engineer a way to get something close to their average Millennium Stadium score against New Zealand (14) on the scoreboard before New Zealand could get anything of theirs (34) in order to pressurise the All Blacks into an altered game plan. However, as risk takers are wont to do on occasion, Wales fell on their sword; a couple of early penalty opportunities weren’t converted into the points their plan needed and they went in at half time 23-0 behind. New Zealand coach Steve Hansen later called their strategy “crazy”.