Greenwash for 6N’09

So the Six Nations rugby championship is over for another year and Ireland take all the honours.
There was a great atmosphere in Cardiff as Wales took on the Irish for the title and in the fine tradition of sporting encounters it went down to the wire.
Wales missed what would have been the championship winning penalty [...]

If at first you don’t succeed, essai, essai, essai again

So what did we learn from the two Friday night experiments after France defeated Wales in the third round of Six Nations matches?
Firstly, once the anthems are played it doesn’t really matter whether it is Friday night at 8pm or Saturday afternoon at 3pm. If you are treated to an enthralling game of rugby – even one [...]

Friday night’s alright for…rugby/TV/fans*

(* delete as appropriate)
History will made in Paris on Friday night (8pm our time, 9pm locally) when Wales take on their French hosts in the Six Nations rugby championship.
It is the first 6N match to be played on a Friday night and needless to say it has not been universally welcomed, with some of the [...]

Brief, pithy and to the point

As ever, I’m not surprised (but still slightly miffed) at the English-centric coverage of the Wales-England Six Nations match in most of the national media.
Wales won, but the lion’s share of the coverage and analysis is of England’s performance.
Even where there are articles purporting to focus on the Welsh achievements, there’s a large dose of [...]

The brains in the marketing department

For the last few years Welsh rugby’s main shirt sponsors has been Brains, Cardiff-based brewers of some damn fine beer.
It continues to be a happy marriage, good business for both the Welsh Rugby Union and Brains.

After all, it taps into two of the great Welsh love affairs – rugby union and beer.
Admittedly, as with most [...]

Feeling a little hoarse

So, we did it.
The match and the result were a lot closer than many had predicted, but Wales ultimately deserved victory over England in the 6N on Saturday.
My pre-match anxiety kept building up to kick-off.
I had never shared the confidence of some of my fellow fans, or media pundits who were predicting a 20 or [...]

Fear and loathing in Las Iguanas

This year I have lined up a special Valentine’s Day treat for Rachel.
We are off for a romantic weekend in Wales.

More specifically, Rachel will be spending a good chunk of February 14 with my sister and nieces while I head off with my brother-in-law to the pubs of Cardiff’s Mill Lane and elsewhere ahead of [...]

The right result in the Six Nations

Italy 23 – Scotland 20
England 33 – Ireland 10
Wales 29 – France 12
A Welsh Grand Slam. A new English star is born. The Italians make their new coach shed a tear.
It was quite an end to the 2008 Six Nations and arguably three of the best rugby matches in this year’s tournament.
The Italians claimed a last-minute win [...]

Keeping control in the Six Nations

Ireland 12 – Wales 16 
Scotland 15 – England 9
France 25 – Italy 13
Forget about dedication, control is what you need if you’re going to be the best and beat the rest.
On the penultimate weekend of the 2008 Six Nations, Wales exerted the type of control against Ireland that brought about a deserved win, a Triple Crown and [...]

Professionalism vs Patriotism

Did you hear the one about the Welsh, Scottish and Irish rugby players?
You probably didn’t if you tuned in to watch the BBC’s coverage of the third round of Six Nations matches.
A perceived English bias throughout the day-long coverage has riled some supporters and prompted at least one MP to complain to the BBC.
With all three [...]