Blues v Dragons

Firstly, I don't think this game should be on with the pitch as it is. Secondly, why is Leighton Hodges refusing to penalise the Blues for never rolling away. Prime example being the loosehead before Blues going 6 up.

If he fancies watching Scott Andrews drop his side of the scrum every time too, it would be nice.

This game also highlights why Darren Edwards is a moron for not starting Tom Prydie.

Very nice try under these conditions, well done.

And the team that did all the game and actually scored a try lose, terrible for the game.

Risca: is prydie not injured. Amos looks handy but Prydie offers more with the boot so I assumed he was injured

I'm glad we won...that's about it.

In all honesty, we didn't really deserve it - if the Dragons had a decent goal kicker or drop goal kicker they would have won. If Prydie had played they would have I think.

Patchell's 4/4 penalties and a really assured performance from Tovey at FB was the winner for the Blues, along with some decent tight defence in the second half.

When Halfpenny is back, I want to see Tovey at 10 and Patchell at 12.

Patchell's lost his voice, he must have been streaming at his forwards for the last 2 minutes.

sheephead wrote:Risca: is prydie not injured. Amos looks handy but Prydie offers more with the boot so I assumed he was injured

He was named in the extended squad, so shouldn't be.

Fair play. It's really depressing that the Blues are so poor and they've done us twice.

well played dragons. frustrating game to watch, no running, all plodding. both teams did very well with all that mud.

Pretorious is absolute rubbish.

dogtooth wrote:well played dragons. frustrating game to watch, no running, all plodding. both teams did very well with all that mud.

It's a touch wet out, not exactly perfect conditions

Caught the last quarter, wow don't think I've ever seen conditions that bad. Would hate to be the guy who washes the kits!

Think I heard the ref say to the captains (on TV) around 70 mins "up you if you want to cancel the game - just say", or words that effect. 'twas awful out there. Was worried for the Blues player who looked semi conscious and face down in the mud. I feared he was inhaling the brown stuff, but seemed OK after a minute or so.

About the game; as a Dragons fan we should have won. All the possession, especially in the 2nd half. Couldn't capitalise, could kick the points. A game spoiled by the weather. But still exciting form my point of view, bizarrely. Those sort of games are usually rubbish!

Also, on the MS synthetic pitch debate (see other threads); see the Blues pitch vs the pitch at the Liberty Stadium for the Ospreys v Scarlets. Their pitch is 50/50 grass and synthetic and looks perfect. Some great running rugby tonight. Food for thought.

The Liberty does have under soil heating which helps

wales606 wrote:The Liberty does have under soil heating which helps

No use today though as it wasn't freezing. It was the synthetic stuff and lack of mud that stopped it from getting muddy.

Can someone explain to me why Edwards is still there, any coach with an ounce of common sense would have known that a game played in those conditions would be won (or lost in our case) by the odd kick yet he doesn't even have Prydie in the squad.

To be fair to Hodges he did not have that bad a game as ref. However I do think he was a bit afraid of making any decisions that may have swayed the result. The final pen for the Blues had to be called by the linesman. I appreciate that these young refs need to be given the derby matches in order to learn to deal with them, however it seems a bit harsh ont he teams involved to have a novice making the calls.

Bedford, I'm confused by Prydie too. He's been our best player this season (Dan Evans too). Was Prydie carrying an injury or something? He was in the extended squad I think so I really don't see what he wasn't playing unless injured???

bedfordwelsh wrote:Can someone explain to me why Edwards is still there, any coach with an ounce of common sense would have known that a game played in those conditions would be won (or lost in our case) by the odd kick yet he doesn't even have Prydie in the squad.

Edwards was coaching not playing. The players make their own mistakes on the pitch.

Dragons need a flyhalf. Robling and Evans are not up to it.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:To be fair to Hodges he did not have that bad a game as ref. However I do think he was a bit afraid of making any decisions that may have swayed the result. The final pen for the Blues had to be called by the linesman. I appreciate that these young refs need to be given the derby matches in order to learn to deal with them, however it seems a bit harsh ont he teams involved to have a novice making the calls.

He was fairly consistent, but really frustrated me with some of the scrum calls, very strange.

The time it took out of the game to organise a scrum was appalling.

wales606 wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:To be fair to Hodges he did not have that bad a game as ref. However I do think he was a bit afraid of making any decisions that may have swayed the result. The final pen for the Blues had to be called by the linesman. I appreciate that these young refs need to be given the derby matches in order to learn to deal with them, however it seems a bit harsh ont he teams involved to have a novice making the calls.

He was fairly consistent, but really frustrated me with some of the scrum calls, very strange.

I guess that is the problem with him still not being a 'time served' ref. He is having to learn on the job.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

wales606 wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:To be fair to Hodges he did not have that bad a game as ref. However I do think he was a bit afraid of making any decisions that may have swayed the result. The final pen for the Blues had to be called by the linesman. I appreciate that these young refs need to be given the derby matches in order to learn to deal with them, however it seems a bit harsh ont he teams involved to have a novice making the calls.

He was fairly consistent, but really frustrated me with some of the scrum calls, very strange.

I guess that is the problem with him still not being a 'time served' ref. He is having to learn on the job.

It's a bit of an impossible situation then really! You can't have a time served ref until they've 'served time' on the pitch! But if we're not happy for them to do that, then when do they get their experience and 'serve time'? In the lower leagues? I'm sure this ref has done that already.

No ref is going to wake up with 10 years pro rugby experience under there belts until they do the 10 years. Even Nigel Owens had his 1st day on the job in pro rugby. Not sure when, but it definitely happened, obviously.

Griff - what I meant is that maybe a getting to grips with the game in the Rabo by reffing Blues V Zebre at the CAP or Ospreys V Connacht at the Liberty etc would have been better for him. To my knowledge he has reffed three matches in the Rabo now (including a West Wales Derby and an East Wales Derby), but has not been given these easier game to cut his teeth in.

Ah, OK. I see what you mean now! Yes, perhaps some easier ones would be the way forward. But I guess every ref has to learn on their feet in one way or another. Although, it would be funny to see a shadowing scheme in place, with the apprentice following the master and looking over his shoulder at each stop in play!

Hodges reffed us last year at RP in the same game (I think). I remember being a bit ticked off with him then for pinging Nathan Buck at scrum time when their loosehead seemed to be dropping his bind all the time.

Risca - just realised I was getting HOdges and Hennessy mixed up! Please disregard all my comments on the ref etc, sorry total brain failure.

maestegmafia wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:Can someone explain to me why Edwards is still there, any coach with an ounce of common sense would have known that a game played in those conditions would be won (or lost in our case) by the odd kick yet he doesn't even have Prydie in the squad.

Edwards was coaching not playing. The players make their own mistakes on the pitch.

Dragons need a flyhalf. Robling and Evans are not up to it.

Maes,

Edwards picked the team Prydie was in the extended squad has been one of our most consistent performers all season and most probably one of the most reliable kickers in the Pro12 this season yet he wasn't on the bench.

As I said any coach worth his salt would have known a game played in those conditions would come down to fine margins and kicks hit/missed.

Dan Evs did ok at ten to be fair (missed kicks aside). He shouldn't be our goal kicker, but I'm happy enough with him at ten. Our team should be Evans ten, Prydie 15 (and him as our kicker) and I would have Steff Jones as back up. Steff would've nailed that drop kick yesterday.

Not sure what happened to Prydie. He was tweeting during the game. Maybe illness. I watched the game again today and given the conditions I really enjoyed it. I'll take a lot of heart out of the Dragons performance. You could be critical of them not being clinical enough, but they absolutely dominated. I know the Blues are pretty poor this season, but I always thought we were going to miss out on HC qualification, so maybe we'll use this performance to push on.
A lot of positives in that performance for me. A few individuals really stood up and we showed the type of spirit that Dragons teams have been renowned for. Feel gutted for the boys as I know they were hurting, but they can hold their heads up and hopefully get over the line against the Ospreys.

I've been really impressed with the Blues defence this season, one thing Phil has really improved this season. Its just going forward we are struggling. FP to the Blues they stuck on in there at the end against a Dragons side who I thought played some very good rugby in terrible conditions. Thought it would be a horror of a game but really enjoyed it, even the kicking battle which normally get's on my wick. Hopefully this will give the Blues players some much needed confidence going into the new year as we haven't tasted a win in quite a while.

Liam wrote:I've been really impressed with the Blues defence this season, one thing Phil has really improved this season. Its just going forward we are struggling. FP to the Blues they stuck on in there at the end against a Dragons side who I thought played some very good rugby in terrible conditions. Thought it would be a horror of a game but really enjoyed it, even the kicking battle which normally get's on my wick. Hopefully this will give the Blues players some much needed confidence going into the new year as we haven't tasted a win in quite a while.

Impressed with the defence

Did you watch the game in Montpellier? The defence has been dire (unless the weather condition as so bad that nobody can run, and even then we conceded 1 and scored none). They have brought in a rugby league defence coach to help Xavier Rush as they realized a few months ago that he is miles out of his depth.

wales606 wrote:

Liam wrote:I've been really impressed with the Blues defence this season, one thing Phil has really improved this season. Its just going forward we are struggling. FP to the Blues they stuck on in there at the end against a Dragons side who I thought played some very good rugby in terrible conditions. Thought it would be a horror of a game but really enjoyed it, even the kicking battle which normally get's on my wick. Hopefully this will give the Blues players some much needed confidence going into the new year as we haven't tasted a win in quite a while.

Impressed with the defence

Did you watch the game in Montpellier? The defence has been dire (unless the weather condition as so bad that nobody can run, and even then we conceded 1 and scored none). They have brought in a rugby league defence coach to help Xavier Rush as they realized a few months ago that he is miles out of his depth.

Sorry when I say season I should have said recently as like you said, early on its was appalling, especially vs Sale!

Maybe that is the reason for the improvements recently then, a new coach coming in and a rugby league one at that which is interesting. I'd say though vs Scarlets and the Dragons it was superb.

I agree with Liam it has improved remarkably.

A good Scrum coach wouldn't hurt though. Scott Andrews has proved he is good enough and I don't see much wrong with Hobbs or Williams. But they are missing a few tricks as a unit.

maestegmafia wrote:I agree with Liam it has improved remarkably.

A good Scrum coach wouldn't hurt though. Scott Andrews has proved he is good enough and I don't see much wrong with Hobbs or Williams. But they are missing a few tricks as a unit.

Hobbs has shown this season that he is not really up to it - his scrummaging is dire, and none of our hookers are good scrummagers either (neither are our locks to be honest) - we will be much improved if we get Gill and Rees.

606, what do you think of Davies and Reed as a combo? That is likely to be our 2nd row in the 6 Nations.

Also about the game, I just have one question; is Edwards trying his best to get sacked?

Morgannwg wrote:606, what do you think of Davies and Reed as a combo? That is likely to be our 2nd row in the 6 Nations.

Also about the game, I just have one question; is Edwards trying his best to get sacked?

Dragons coach Edwards? - Not playing Prydie was ridiculous if he was fit. The Dragons should have won the game. It is the players who failed to score their penalties and drop goals and who gave away the penalties. But, it was Edwards who didn't select Prydie and who sent on replacement props at a crucial moment who gave away the losing penalty from a easy kick off that they were not prepared to catch as they were unaccustomed to the conditions.


Reed did ok for Wales last time he played, as did Davies - but I would not have huge confidence with them both starting. The Ospreys locks are the ones who have shown they can physically dominate a team, the Blues locks have not been doing enough (hence our bad string of results and why I would quite like a experienced enforcer lock at the Blues next season to help bring through the youngster)

Hopefully Ian Evans will be back and Davies and Evans will be our partnership. James King might also deserve a chance over Reed.

Against the more mobile teams, I wouldn't be against a R.Jones/Evans partnership if Lydiate is fit.

Yes the coach Edwards. And that was a just another blunder after many this season. The guy is coming across as a moron devoid of ambition and ideas.

The stand-in lock for the Ospreys have been doing well actually. I just think they look rather short and lightweight. At least that is how it looks to me. I bet the Ospreys are thankful they kept hold of Goughy.

I have been impressed with King this season - having not been that impressed last season, he has broken though more this season and looks a lot better at lock than 6.

He may be a bit lightweight, but it is hard to tell when he is scrummaging behind Jones and Hibbard - When they went off Lee did a number of the O's scrum against Duncan, it just shows the quality of the O's front row that they completely dominated the region who are probably the second best scrummagers (the Blues and Dragons are just dire in the scrum).

I haven't seen a huge amount of the Dragons games this season, whenever I have seen them they do seem to be pretty dull affairs with Prydie kicking goals - a but different the the Dragons of a couple of years ago, who would at least give an entertaining game when they lost.

As a Blues fan, I am pretty happy with Edwards - he just secured our place in Europe as we are now 10pts clear rather than the 2 pts clear we deserve.

wales606 wrote:As a Blues fan, I am pretty happy with Edwards - he just secured our place in Europe as we are now 10pts clear rather than the 2 pts clear we deserve.

Yeah fair one

Darren would still see you right though, even if that was the gap. He loves throwing obscure selections into the mix if we are still in contention for a competition (see Wasps and Bath away).

Lee did a number on the O's scrum probably because Griffiths came on. I'd rather Johnstone in my squad to be honest.