Good afternoon sports fans.

It didn't take a mystic to know that we were going to lose this one, but 9 tries to 1, 62 points.

Not much to say really, so I'll make a few observations and hope that Jenkins is serious about learning from this experience.

Haven't seen any footage, so I'm going with 'hearsay'!!

It was back to the Beeb last night, listening to the dulcet tones of Phil 'anging in the hair' Bennett and Gareth Charles.

Who the hell sang our anthem? Bloody rubbish.

One thing I noticed throughout the game was there wasn't much atmosphere. 61,000 odd in the stadium too. How come this couldn't get sold out though?

It was nice to hear the 'Chariot' sidelined by Charvis' break.

I've been critical of Oliver and Mealamu this summer but our hookers are even worse.

Jenkins says you can't expect to compete with only 29% possession. When your game plan is to kick away as much of your very limited possession as possible, and then lose the resulting line out why is this such a surprise?

Surely there are players, and I'm not even talking hookers who can throw the ffffing ball in straight and secure possession on our own throw. Bryan Williams did it for NZ back in the 70s. I'm sure that somebody else on the park could do a better job. They certainly couldn't do any worse.

And everyone trots out the old line 'ah but it's not just the hooker'. Well if it isn't, then the hooker and the line out jumpers should be eating, sleeping and shitting together to develop that relationship.

One of the things about modern rugby that really gets me wound up.
Darts is criticised for not being a sport. One thing it is based on is accuracy. And dartsmen?? get accurate by throwing a shit load of darts.
Rant over.

The scrums seemed a mess. The players or the ref?

I know he was under a lot of pressure, but Sweeney kicked away a lot of our very limited possession.  Was it because:
a) Sweeney was playing to a game plan which wasn't
changed because Jenkins is an idiot?
b) there was no game plan?
c) Jenkins had changed the game plan but no one had
told Sweeney?
d) Sweeney is crap?
e) all of the above.

Brew sent to the bin for dangerous tackle on Hipkiss.  I wrote at the time 'Hopefully that'll be it for Brew for this season'. Unfortunately it wasn't.

At half-time my thoughts were go to the bench.   Get better players on who could do the simple things well.  Perhaps the only sensible thing Jenkins did was not bring on all the troops in a worthless cause.

Keep them fresh and more importantly fit for the next challenge, Argentina. Jenkins will have to pick a pack.  And what is the point of having current internationals in the commentary booth during internationals?

Cockbain, who I would have taken as a straight shooter, spewed out how positive our first half performance was and how we could still win the game.  What a waste. Get someone on the air who can freely speak their mind.

Lawrence Bruno Nero Dallaglio came on to the biggest roar of approval of the day (bit harsh on Easter after scoring 4) and went over with ease pretty soon after.  One for the Sun or Mirror, Lawrence Bruno Nero Dallaglio fiddling while Wales' World Cup preparations go up in smoke.

Perry named Man of the Match, deservedly so by the sounds of it.

Shanklin off. Injured? I hope not. Solid defensive performance.

Lots of people very critical of Farrell, but have they forgotten that Shanklin and Thomas have shut down most of the world's midfields?

Tom James on for his first cap. Poor bastard. Robinson chips him and scores.

Post-match sound bites

'Cockbain - "England were workmanlike".  Grow up Brent.

Jenkins - "We knew how they were going to play." So why didn't you pick a side to combat that?

As expected, England played to their strength which is their strength.

Well played England.

As Gareth Charles, the commentator for Radio Wales summarised perfectly:

"Wales, outmuscled, outplayed, outhought and out on their feet."

Wales had no possession, no change to the restart and hence no answer to England.

England are arguably the smartest team in rugby. They know what they can do and they know what they can't. They do what they can do really well.

After Gareth Jenkins' handling of Henson, we need a shooter from the grassy Gnoll to take him out.

Unfortunately that's not going to happen, unless someone knows someone who knows someone who for a price...

So Gareth please put our best 22 on the park against Argentina and stop experimenting. Experiment when someone gets injured. We need continuity and momentum.

Ashton has said that the first game against France doesn't matter. I disagree. Same advice to him as to Jenkins. Pick your best 22 next week and the following game. Beat France home and away for a 3-0 record prior to the start of the tournament and my prediction of Ingerrrland making the final doesn't look too far fetched.

The best we can hope for is pipping someone in a very tight QF to make the semis. Not looking very realistic at this stage.

But Wales are the only team in World rugby that can look bloody awful one weekend and bloody good the next.

Well that turned out to be quite a bit for nothing to say.

Yours
Unhappy in Hirafu.