Austria 0-2 Wales

UEFA European Women’s Under-19 Championship qualifier

Wales’s bid to qualify for this summer’s UEFA European Women’s Under-19 Championship qualifier with a 2-0 triumph over Austria in North Ferriby, Lincolnshire, this afternoon.

First-half goals from Cardiff City‘s Lauren Price and Arsenal midfielder Hayley Ladd helped Wales move to an early lead in qualifying Group 6.

It is the second and final qualifying stage before July’s finals, to be held in Turkey. The Welsh side will be keen to impress, particularly as they will be hosts of the 2012/13 edition of the tournament.

Lincoln City's Sincil Bank stadium, where Wales Women Under-19 face England on Monday night. Picture: Flickr, blogdroed

Wales finished second in this season’s first round-robin qualifying round last autumn, behind Iceland but ahead of Slovenia and Kazakhstan.

And it meant they were put in a group with Austria – as well as Finland and England, which hosts the round-robin. Wales face the hosts at Lincoln City’s Sincil Bank on Monday night, before rounding off their qualifying campaign against Finland at Scunthorpe United’s Glanford Park on Thursday afternoon.

Saturday’s Group 6 other result: England 1-0 Finland

Wales’s Dan Lydiate storms to Six Nations’ best player award

Dan Lydiate was the overwhelming choice for the best player of the 2012 RBS Six Nations Championship.

The Wales flanker and tackling demon received a quarter of votes cast, more than twice as many as second-placed Irish outside half Jonathan Sexton.

Italy’s Number Eight and captain Sergio Parisse finished third.

Dan Lydiate (centre of picture), player of the 2012 Six Nations championship, in training with Jonathan Davies, Lloyd Williams and Adam Jones (pointing). Picture: Flickr, Sum_of_Marc

Lydiate picked up the man of the match gongs in the Millennium Stadium victories over Scotland and France, and was particularly instrumental in the Grand Slam decider against Les Bleus. His tackle on Thierry Dusautoir led to a turnover which provided the platform for the only try of the game, via winger Alex Cuthbert.

He also brought down Wesley Fofana at a crucial stage in the second half which earned his side a penalty, converted from inside his own half by Leigh Halfpenny to give Wales a crucial seven-point advantage.

The official Six Nations player of the tournament voting was deemed by many to be flawed, based as it was on a shortlist made up solely of those who gained man of the match awards during the first four rounds of games – meaning neither a single Englishman nor stars such as Wesley Fofana (France), Halfpenny and Tommy Bowe (Ireland) featured.

But in An Early Bath’s separate poll, Lydiate is also on course to storm to victory, having already won more than 80 per cent (87 votes) of the total number of votes cast.

Halfpenny is second on 10 votes (9 per cent) while another Welshman, Cuthbert, is in third on 3 votes (3 per cent).

You can still vote here:

Who is your player of the Six Nations?

The Six Nations announced – before the last round of matches – a shortlist of 12 players to be considered for the player of the tournament accolade.

The dozen, those who TV pundits had given (let’s face it, subjective if not arbitrary) man of the match awards to, included four players from Grand Slam-winning Wales and not a single Englishman.

Alex Cuthbert crosses for Wales's only try in the 16-9 win over France - was it enough to make him the Six Nations' best player in 2012? Photo: Flickr, Sum_of_Marc

Even England’s away wins in Rome and Paris did not earn any of their player’s the MotM award, with Stuart Lancaster’s men likely to have suffered from a certain insularity on behalf of the host broadcasters there.

So, just before voting in the Six Nations’ official poll closes tonight, I have created my own shortlist of 12 players, including at least one from each nation as well as some of the more glaring omissions from the official dozen.

Only the five players marked with a double asterisk** were in that original 12.

Well-rounded squad brings Six Nations Grand Slam glory to Wales

The final five minutes of Wales’s third Six Nations Grand Slam in just eight seasons were marked by as fervent a sporting atmosphere as you will witness.

Wales played out the last few moments of the game competently and patiently, making sure possession was secured without attempting to embark on anything spectacular as Hymns and Arias reverberated around the Millennium Stadium.

Cardiff's Millennium Stadium in party mood as Wales celebrate winning the 2012 Six Nations Grand Slam

Trailing by seven points, France could have denied their hosts the Slam – although not their 25th championship – with a converted try, but Wales dug deep to frustrate a French side which had been largely rudderless from the opening kickoff.

Wales hardly offered much in attack, but barely had to, just about weathering any occasional outbreaks of French fight (helped by a bizarre decision late on by the usually imperious Imanol Harinordoquy not to pass out wide when a try was surely on.

But as throughout this Six Nations, Wales’s defence carried them to victory. The back row of Toby Faletau captain Sam Warburton – who again left the field at the interval, this time with a shoulder problem – and particularly man of the match (and possibly the tournament) Dan Lydiate were again immense.

Lydiate’s tackle on Thierry Dusautoir had led to a turnover from which Alex Cuthbert scored the only try of the game. One in the second half on Wesley Fofana, when the Welshman, in his preferred style, went super-low in order to prevent the attacker gaining any momentum, led to Leigh Halfpenny’s 52-metre penalty to extend Wales’s lead to 13-6.

The flanker was slow to get up, exhausted after another huge effort. That he was given the match accolade was no surprise, his workrate summing up the commitment made by the whole squad.

Under Shaun Edwards’s expert tutelage, Wales conceded just three tries and 58 points all tournament, the lowest points total against in the Six Nations since England in 2003.

And while the back row was tackling everything which moved, the scrums were steady and Wales’s lineout was not quite as bad as it has recently been.

The Welsh side emerges on to the Millennium Stadium pitch before their 16-9 win over France. Photo: Flickr, Sum_of_Marc

Meanwhile, the Welsh backline was exciting, physical and clinical. The side scored 10 tries in their five matches, but all 10 came from backs (three for Alex Cuthbert, two each for Jonathan Davies and Leigh Halfpenny, and one for George North, Jamie Roberts and Scott Williams).

It was the first time since England’s Five Nations success in 1996 – albeit when they only scored three tries in their four games – when a team has won the championship without a forward scoring a single point.

Not that the forwards weren’t an integral part of a victorious Welsh side this time around. Indeed, every member of the squad played a vital role in Warren Gatland’s second Slam as Wales coach.

And with the youth throughout the side – particularly among the backs – all the signs are positive for the Principality.

“Merv the Swerve” Davies dies at 65

Mervyn Davies, a key member of Wales’s triumphant 1970s side, died this morning at the age of 65 after losing his battle with cancer.

Davies, nicknamed ‘Merv the Swerve’ throughout the rugby world, was widely regarded as one of the standout players during the heyday of Welsh rugby.

The number eight, who was today described by the Welsh Rugby Union as “one of the greats of the modern game”, also toured twice with the British and Irish Lions, travelling with the series-winning squads to New Zealand in 1971 and South Africa in 1974 and playing all four tests on both tours.

He captained his country in 1976 as his Welsh side secured another Grand Slam, and he was widely tipped to be made Lions captain in 1977.

But his playing career was cut short in 1976 when he suffered a brain haemorrhage during a club match and was forced to retire.

The WRU this morning announced Davies’ death will be marked by a minute’s silence before all Wales’s Six Nations clashes tomorrow , including the senior side’s showdown with France. Flags at the Millennium Stadium are already flying at half mast to honour him.

WRU president Dennis Gethin paid tribute to Davies, whom he called a called “a great player, a wonderful ambassador for the game and a true gentlemen”.

He added: “I played against Mervyn many times and knew just how good he was but I also grew to appreciate him as a true friend”.

Meanwhile David Pickering, chairman of the WRU, said Davies was the epitome of Welsh rugby. “He was a giant of the game both on and off the field for London Welsh, Swansea, Wales, the Barbarians and the British and Irish Lions,” said Pickering.

“He bore his illness with courage and his memory will undoubtedly live on within our game for all time.”

Davies began his career at London Welsh in 1968 and made his debut for Wales the following year in a 17-3 win over Scotland at Murrayfield, a game in which fullback JPR Williams also made his maiden appearance. He went on to play for Wales 38 times, with all those caps coming in consecutive matches.

He grew a moustache and also sported a wide headband, making him familiar component in the red of Wales and of the Lions. He scored two tries in a remarkable international career, which – including Lions tests – saw him on the losing side just nine times. With Davies on the field, his sides won a further 31 matches and drew six.

Davies’ Wales racked up more than 100 points on their way to completing their Grand Slam in 1976, but the captain remained hard to please. He warned against complacency even after a 21-9 opening weekend win over England, Wales’s biggest win over their biggest rivals at Twickenham.

Speaking of the game’s two-try hero, Davies said: “Only in one respect was it the best – the phenomenal performance of JPR Williams.”

Just three weeks after leading Wales to a 19-13 win over France and their second consecutive Five Nations Championship title in March 1976, his career was cut cruelly short by a brain haemorrhage. He collapsed during the WRU Challenge Cup semi-final when playing for Swansea – to whom he moved in 1972 – against Pontypool.

In 2001, he became just the seventh Welshman to be inducted into the IRB’s International Rugby Hall of Fame. He joined fellow 1970s legends Gareth Edwards, Barry John, JPR Williams and Gerald Davies, along with his 1971 Lions coach Carwyn James.

His reputation went before him and he was widely acknowledged across the rugby world as one of the best number eights ever to have played the game.

The late Scottish commentator Bill McLaren, known as the Voice of Rugby, included Davies as one of four Welshman in his all-time top XV, while New Zealand’s Colin Meads picked him alongside Irish centre Mike Gibson as the key threats during the 1971 Lions tour.

He was also voted Wales’s greatest number eight and greatest captain in a 2002 poll of Welsh fans.

WRU Group Chief Executive, Roger Lewis, said Davies was a giant in all senses of the word.

Mr Lewis said: “His loss will be felt across the rugby world because of the huge impact he had as an icon of the game. He stood out in one of our great Welsh teams but remained a modest and gentle man off the field of play throughout his life.

“He truly earned his place in the Hall of Fame and it is right and fitting that this weekend his memory will be honoured by everyone involved in Welsh rugby.

“I want to send our condolences to all his family and friends because Mervyn Davies was a true great.”

Conducting Wales to another Grand Slam?

On Saturday, Wales’s rugby players will try to prove they are the dominant force in European rugby.

But, according to one Millennium Stadium stalwart, the Principality already leads the world in one aspect of the game – crowd singing.

Haydn James has conducted the massed choirs on the pitch before kick-off at every home international since Wales played their home games at Wembley in the late 1990s.

“The rugby connection really started when they were building the Millennium Stadium,” he explained. “The WRU approached the London Welsh Male Voice Choir whom I conducted for 30 years, and said they wanted a bit of Welshness in Wembley. I conducted all six games there.”

The association proved enough to ensure Haydn was invited to Cardiff by the WRU on the team’s move home.

Standing on a red box, energetically leading both his choirs and the crowd in song, Haydn quickly became a permanent fixture at the newly built stadium.

Conducting, which Haydn describes as a “time-consuming hobby” – he has a PhD in Physics and worked in industry throughout his time with London Welsh – has taken him around the world on tour.

He travelled on the last three Lions tours to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and has performed at the Sydney Opera House on four occasions, twice with the Lions Choir. He has also already begun preparations for the 2013 Lions tour.

In the last year, Haydn has taken choirs to Barcelona and South America, with trips to Verona, Krakow and Los Angeles lined up.

But it is his association with rugby which has made him a familiar face on these shores, as he seeks to inspire the theatre of Welsh rugby into song.

He said: “A big difference between ourselves and many of the other countries is that the crowd will sing – and sometimes in four-part harmony. You don’t get that at any other stadium in the world.”

He believes the Welsh chapel tradition still drives enthusiasm for choral music today, and why the repertoire of the Cardiff crowd is so much broader than anywhere else.

“England? Swing Low – they don’t know anything else. Scotland? The only thing they really do now is Flower of Scotland, which is effectively their anthem anyway. It’s like us singing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau all the time.

“You go to Paris, they only sing the Marseillaise. Ireland? They sing Fields of Athenry and that’s about the only thing.

“In Cardiff you will hear them singing Calon Lan, Delilah, Cwm Rhondda, Hymns and Arias and many others.”

The Cardiff crowd is supposed to have begun the tradition of pre-match anthem singing when spectators were led in song in response to New Zealand’s haka before Wales’s controversial 3-0 win in 1905.

Indeed, according to Haydn, the atmosphere today is returning to the tradition of bygone days, albeit with the help of choirs and a band. “I go back far enough to remember the days when we didn’t need a choir – the crowd just sang,”

“But what the WRU found was that over the years – and probably because of the demise of the chapels – there was not that automatic community singing.

“One of the reasons we were invited to Wembley was to try to get the crowd singing.”

Haydn argues music is also a tool for Welsh fans to show hospitality to visiting fans and as well as favourites like Loch Lomond and Fields of Athenry his choirs also learn the national anthems of all away sides.

The anthems I treat very, very seriously and will not mess about with them. My aim is to treat every anthem as seriously as I hope they treat the Welsh anthem when we go abroad.”

During the early 2000s, Wales followed most other nations by having soloists lead the anthem singing.

“Many of our top singers came along to perform the anthems, but we felt the crowd were listening rather than singing, so the decision was made to rely solely on the choirs and band to get them singing again.”

And he believes a passionate, sell-out crowd will have a vital role to play in spurring Wales on to beating the “dangerous” French this weekend.

“What we want is that, even if they are behind, [we] try and lift them with singing. When you get Hymns and Arias and Cwm Rhondda around the stadium you can’t miss it, however focused you are on the game.”

Haydn is optimistic the team, with the crowd in full support, can finalise a Six Nations clean sweep.

“The Welsh team take nothing for granted but they are on a roll. I supported the team during that great era in the early 1970s when there was clearly an immense pride and confidence in pulling on that red jersey. That confidence has now returned and it’s great to see.”

“With the home advantage it ought to be another Grand Slam.”