WALES v ARGENTINA:IF WALES have not exactly joined the kick it out campaign, their players are conscious of the effect that aerial ping-pong, coupled with a welter of penalties at the breakdown, is having on rugby union as a spectacle.
Few teams pose such attacking threats behind but the prevailing notion that risk brings little reward has not bypassed the men in red.
In past years the visit of Argentina to the Millennium Stadium would have marked a contrast in styles, will-o’-the-wisp Wales against the powerful Pumas, but the early exchanges at least will be dominated today by a series of punts and returns, much to the dismay of the Lions wing Shane Williams, who recalls days not long ago when running from deep was not frowned on.
“I grew up in an era of exciting players,” said Williams. “We used to criticise England then for kicking the leather off the ball but it seems the game has gone that way now and it is not a direction that suits me. Sometimes it is a case of kicking for kicking’s sake and I just wish teams would throw the ball about more: I am sure spectators would rather watch tries being scored than three points kicked. Your first thought when you receive the ball now is whether to kick and you worry that you are doing something wrong if you run with it.”
Coaches have encouraged their players to take the aerial route because of the emphasis placed by the International Rugby Board on ensuring the breakdown is a true contest for possession. It has led to teams fearing the consequences of taking the ball into contact, especially within 60 yards of their own posts, the range of most kickers, and a surfeit of kicking has resulted.
“The breakdown has become a lottery and the advantage is definitely with the defending side,” said the Wales flanker Martyn Williams. “It does not make sense because it is killing the game. There is more kicking because there is such a risk when going into contact, giving away a penalty and three points.
“That is why you are not getting the free-flowing games you want and there are not many enjoyable international matches at the moment.”
England found themselves sucked into a kicking battle with Argentina last week, pulling in front only 10 minutes from the end when they finally put some phases together. The Pumas have been working on their lineout this week after losing five of their own throws at Twickenham, while their much vaunted scrum was questioned by the Wales coach, Warren Gatland, this week.
“We have the best frontrow in the world,” retorted the Argentina captain, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe. “Our scrum can dominate, as it did against England. We know Wales are a big threat and we cannot afford to switch off for one second.”
Wales laid a new pitch this week after an infestation of flies laid waste to the old one. Footing had become precarious but it perhaps says everything about where rugby union is that the change was made not so much to give Wales’s runners a surer surface but their frontrow.
Venue:Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Kick-off: 2.30pm, Today
On TV:Live on RTÉ 2 and BBC 1
- Guardian Service
