In all the weekend’s excitement (not to mention work…) I almost completely forgot to write something about Wales’s extraordinary run to the final of the Hong Kong sevens.
Wins over Australia and Argentina in the pool stage (as well as a heavy defeat to South Africa) saw Paul John’s side top the group, and they easily saw off first Canada in the quarterfinals and then top sevens side Kenya in the semis.
Wales came so close to being crowned champions of Hong Kong
There is surely no better sporting weekend than the first one in February.
First off, the Six Nations. My favourite annual sporting tournament, even (as this year) when Wales look set to struggle. A combination of rivalry, passion and high quality rugby makes for a wonderful seven weeks.
And it got off to a pretty good start, at least for the neutral. Wales-Ireland was a thriller, the ultimate example of the proverbial sporting rollercoaster. For a few fleeting moments, England-Scotland looked like it might be close, but in the end the hosts put on a masterclass.
Ireland beat Wales at the Millennium Stadium
And yesterday, Italy-France. The French were poor, certainly, but Italy were excellent, and in areas like defence and at outside half which have often been such an Achilles heel. Both their tries, but particularly Sergio Parisse’s, were magnificent – this was no fluke.
It is good to see Italy progress. It’s just a shame the sport is taking so much longer to develop in other emerging nations (notwithstanding Kenya’s incredible performance in the Wellington 7s this weekend), but it hasn’t been helped by the IRB. That decision to award the 2011 World Cup to New Zealand instead of Japan still rankles.
Wellington 7s, 2008
The other part of the sporting weekend was, of course, the Super Bowl. And what a game it was. I have to admit, I was close to switching off and heading to bed just after the start of the second half, when Baltimore extended their lead to 28-6. Nobody has overturned such a deficit in the Super Bowl (a stat which still holds true), but San Francisco could barely have come closer to doing so.
It was a fightback not dissimilar to Wales’s against Ireland, and made for compelling viewing. The battle between the head coaching brothers, John and Jim Harbaugh, took a back seat as the 49ers ate away at the deficit, possibly helped by the momentum-changing 34-minute power outage during the third quarter. If the Niners, who were eventually defeated 34-31, had completed the comeback, it would have ranked among the most amazing sporting turnarounds. Still, it wasn’t to be, but the Super Bowl again proved to be compulsive viewing – since I started watching the NFL in 2007, only one Super Bowl has been won by more than a single score.
And, to cap off the weekend, Newcastle won. Yes, I’ve admitted football’s headed towards the backburner in terms of my interest of late, but it was very satisfying to see le Toon come from behind to beat Chelski.
An Early Bath 