Preamble
A pleasing sell-out crowd and a Big (Chief) Red Cloud-sponsored Nige reffing augured well for a festive atmosphere and a good local derby contest. Even the weather was fair at the start, favouring the Blues in the first half before turning Newport Docks evil in the second, when the unfortunate Dragons had to play into the bitter wind and driving rain.
The Encounter
After a start almost as bright as the Dragons’ peeled-satsuma away kit, things looked promising. Decent lineout ball and early indications of a strong mauling game, Ashton Hewitt vigorous with and without the ball, Moriarty making a couple of inroads and Taine Basham a whirlwind of energy. After 20 minutes I realized I hadn’t used the fast-forward button, which is normally a technological godsend when watching a recording of a Drags match.
There was even a half-break from The Most Handsome Man in Rugby™, finally getting some injury-free game time for the Dragons.
Perhaps inevitably, the tide slowly turned in the Blues direction. Cardiff’s ‘interesting’ but effective breakdown tactics and the Drags poor clear-out work / sluggish passing combined to slow us down. The Blues defensive line speed and some seasonal goodwill from Nige’s patrolling of the offside line saw us under pressure and getting pushed backwards.
Our attempts to cross the gain line emphasized the poor quality of the Drags front five as ball-carriers, and our 9’s sluggish service meant they often made a standing stand rather running on to the ball at speed.
In contrast to Cardiff, the Drags deployed a more passive gain line defence, spreading across the field like a tangerine daisy chain. Unfortunately, this suited Jarrod Evans’ excellent heads-up with time-to-spare game management. A lovely dummy sent Welsh Legend Wainwright into the wrong player as Evans glided through a gap to send winger Lewis-Hughes in for the opening try.
Cardiff were taking command, and some very poor box kicking from Rhodri Williams who seemed to misjudge the conditions and playing surface (we are not in Rodney anymore, Rhodri), meant the bright start petered out. But lo, against the run of play the Drags executed a good driving maul from a lineout, and that man Basham bustled over for the touchdown. 10-5 at the, ahem, oranges.
Cardiff started the better at the outset of the second half, unsurprisingly with all the elements in their favour. But some dolly-drop passing on the Drags 22 saw an intercept from Basham, who sprinted towards the Cardiff line chin-on-chest, like a ram looking for a gate. Evans caught up and made the tackle, but Basham kept the ball alive, and after a couple of surge-and-fumbles Screech scorched over at lightspeed..
That was as good as it got from a Drags perspective. The Blues forwards further dominated the collisions and started to push our boys backwards in the tackle. The Drags bench didn’t really make an impact, and after a poor clearing kick from Williams Josh Adams went on a typically surging run. Lane was unable to gather the resulting cross-kick, but Nige yellow-carded Hewitt for I think loitering in his own 22, and a tired Drags team started to leak penalties. The Blues eased to a 16-12 victory.
Pastries and Crumbs
Although the set-piece forward battle was well contested it underlined how both teams have underpowered packs, with neither side really getting the upper hand. The Blues defence was quicker and better organised, and the Drags suffered throughout from slow ball and a lack of forward power. Basham is a fierce competitor and earned his Player of the Match status, and he seems a good leader by example.
Cardiff’s ancient warriors Gill, Andrews and Turnbull seemed to be enjoying themselves, but their Welsh Legends had quiet games, as did our lads Dee, Wainwright and Hill. Amos and Adams seem good acquisitions for the Blues, and Tovey’s last quarter kicking game (the best one of the 3 fly-halves on show) complimented Jarrod’s earlier passing and running work to close out the game.On a positive note, I always thought the Dragons has a squad good enough to compete rather than capitulate as was the case under Blarney Jackman’s peculiar tenure, and so it seems to be. We need more front five oomph which would hopefully speed the half-backs up, but otherwise matches are now bearable to watch. Marvellous.
As reported by OvallyBalls operative MisterIks.
On the telly this week
Friday 27th December
| Ulster 35 – 3 Connacht | 19:35 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Bristol 21 – 26 Wasps | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
Saturday 28th December
| Treviso 36 – 25 Zebre | 13:00 | Freesports |
| Northampton 33 – 26 Gloucester | 14:00 | BT Sport 2 |
| Edinburgh 29 – 19 Glasgow | 15:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Harlequins 30 – 30 Leicester | 16:30 | Channel 5 / Premier Sports 2 |
| Munster 6 – 13 Leinster | 18:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
Sunday 29th December
| Exeter 14 – 7 Saracens | 15:00 | BT Sport 1 |
Ovally Balls 
More a Test Match Animal than a Premiership Animal.
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Now Exeter are getting a lecture from Barnes, due to White having a paddy over a (correct) decision.
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How did Simmonds (the little one) keep George from grounding the ball there? Mighty impressive.
7-0 at the break.
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Very good by Woodburn and Simmonds, J. but Sarries messed that up leaving George isolated.
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Try Chiefs!
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I thought I remembered something about this:
Sam Hill is an American English slang phrase, a euphemism or minced oath for “the devil” or “hell” personified (as in, “What in the Sam Hill is that?”), the “Sam” coming from salmon(sal(o)mon an oath) and “Hill” from hell.
[from Wikipedia]
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You’d think someone who’s had a pub named after them would have the gumption to pop in for a pint.
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For Saracens:
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Oh Thauma, I think that in It’s a Wonderful Life Ward Bond’s Burt the cop utters the phrase ‘What in Sam Hill…’ to Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey.
Have I watched the film too many times? Probably not as I skipped it this year.
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Iks – once is too many times. That’s one that definitely brings on the gag reflex.
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Liquid Crystal Display going off after a good match.
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My dear Thaumaturge I must beg to differ, and it is probably for the best that we leave it there.
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Bandhags!
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My dear Iksy, you are probably right.
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Harry Williams gets a second yellow, from the subs bench, or charging into a dust-up on the side lines.
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Billy close to getting himself sent off as well – Barnes told him to get back to the half way line about 3 times and still wouldn’t move until one of his team mates moved him away.
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Dammit! Was hoping for a nilling.
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Ewers gets a yellow and it’s a pen try for Saracens (side entry in a maul). Sarries will not be pointless for the first time in a decade.
14-7, 1 min to play.
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Barnes has had s good game, though I’ve been drifting in and out of sleep for most of the game
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Ach well, that was well worth the watch.
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He did Ticht, he was very decisive and not shy in dishing out cards when needed.
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And having just checked I was right, he says ‘What the Sam Hill…’ on the bridge to our George Bailey just before George finds Zazou’s petals in his trouser pocket, *sniff*.
I refrained from posting the clip out of respect for Thauma’s gag reflex!
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Saracens are only 18 points behind Leicester(!).
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“Barnes has had s good game, though I’ve been drifting in and out of sleep for most of the game”
Not enough scrums and scrum resets I’d wager. Too much pointless running about is enough to send anyone to sleep, as we say down in Rodney Parade.
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Meanwhile the Mighty Wolves are 1-0 down to Liverpool at half time, with half their reserve team on the field. AND they’ve been stitched up by a very technical offside VAR decision ruling out an equalizer.
Homer VAR-ing is a thing now?
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Nope.
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Ticht, this may be of interest to you: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/dec/29/is-veganism-as-good-for-you-as-they-say
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If it has Gethin on the door to keep the riff raff out, Terry Holmes behind the bar, Barry John at the bar, Mike Rayer and Mark Ring playing dominoes in the corner below a painting of Jonah Lomu while Navidi and Big Nick are having an arm wrestle one table over, then I’m there.
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Gethin will be too busy grazing in his woodlands to work the door.
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Cheers for the link, Thaum.
I tend to shy away from discussions on the subject, but I would say that it’s a lot easier to be vegan now than even a couple of years ago and the difficult vitamins such as B12 are easily found elsewhere.
I’m not even near vegan but I’m considering having a go at Veganuary, as much as anything to try and “detox” for a month, as well as going dry for the duration.
Burns night might well prove too much, I don’t like vegan haggis and you can’t do Burns without whisky so either I will relapse or give the 25th a miss altogether
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“Why Are There So Many 17th Century Paintings of Monkeys Getting Drunk?”
https://resobscura.blogspot.com/2017/05/why-are-there-so-many-17th-century.html
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I can’t believe it’s 9 weeks until pancake day and already the shops are selling flour and milk.
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Ticht – I think most of us could do with eating less meat and more veg, and obviously industrial farming is a problem (even for veg). I respect vegans and vegetarians for doing their bit for the planet and animal welfare.
However (I’ve probably said this before), having suffered from B12 deficiency anaemia, it is no laughing matter. Sure, you can take supplements, but a diet that requires supplements is probably not an ideal one, and as far as I’m aware, all the supplements are non-vegan in their production anyway.
The article makes the point that the Mediterranean diet seems to be the best according to current research. Mostly plants, a very little meat (preferably ethically farmed), some fish, a bit of dairy/eggs, some starch too. It’s certainly what makes me feel at my best.
I know a bloke (partner of a family member) who had never eaten a home-cooked meal until he joined the family. That’s just mind-boggling. But I suspect that there are a lot of kids growing up that way these days.
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OT – as per my previous post, possibly some people might be flummoxed by the connection between flour, milk and pancakes!
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Also, if I were going to do a month without booze / meat / whatever, I’d do February – and preferably not in a leap year!
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“if I were going to do a month without booze …, I’d do February”
6 Nations starts. Need to have some booze to celebrate.
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possibly some people might be flummoxed by the connection between flour, milk and pancakes!
What?!?
Today I learned…
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I have the keys to my new rental. I have moved a fair bit of my stuff in, and I’m staying here tonight.
Lake Ontario is a little choppy this evening, and is making a bit of noise. Noise that I can only hear because I have the balcony door open. It’s grey and overcast, so I can’t see Toronto on the other side of the lake.
It’s small, (the condo, not the lake,) but I think it’s suits me for now.
(Researching surfing on Lake Ontario at the moment…)
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I’m also exploring different French Canadian tunes;
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It sounds idyllic, DogBone.
*Sends mosquitoes*
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Thaum, B12 supplements now come mostly from bacterial fermentation and are a better, more reliable, source of B12 than meat
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I pressed post too soon, when one takes the supplement as a vegan one usually does so in a form whereby it has already been added to, say, a breakfast cereal, just like calcium is added to soy milk or whatever.
You/one is guaranteed 100% of the rda of these nutrients this way, if you are diligent, but you only need to be diligent to start with, after a while it becomes just normal every day practice.
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I was gifted The Scottish Vegan Cookbook for Christmas.
Cat would have weeks of posting out of that, I’m sure. For now I’ll just say, “chips” on his behalf.
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LaDoaB, Russia lost again at the World Juniors. America with a foot in the quarters.
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TomP
6 Nations starts. Need to have some booze to celebrate.
Good point! I’d designate some other month as a 28-day one.
Ticht – are bacteria vegan? ;-)
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Its a Wonderful Life. How can Thaum not like it ??
Vegan diet update:- diet almost exclusively Bambi at the moment, pesky critters eating all the crops and low growth nibbles for other loveable woodland creatures, so welding/machine shop guys next to me are keeping freezer stocked. Both been out with their black powder muzzle loaders to get one each last week. Bonus for me, as its illegal to sell wild game here, so surplus gets given away. Yum.
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Thaum – “are bacteria vegan?”
No, bacteria eat meat, the bastards :-)
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SBT, one of my motivations for moving away from eating meat is that food standards are about to be chucked oot the windae in any deal made between Bozo and Trumpo, so long-term I’ll eat poached game as and when, but never farmed meat
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It sounds idyllic, DogBone.
It is a strange oasis considering where it is, MrIks.
Thank you for the mojitos!
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You probably wouldn’t coach this, but …
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