Wales v england

[Dai 55]

Gwyn totally agree representing your country is as good as it gets, and one of my proudest moments was watching my brother win a gold medal for Wales in 1986 i am sure you remember 29,i am Welsh through and through,yes i have made my opinions on the football but they are just my opinions case closed on this one for me,
Take care
Dai 55

[Gwyn Nicholas]

England (no6) 1 - Ghana (no 16) 1 . Pretty much shows the ranking system is quite accurate. England on paper should win the match but with only ten places between them it should be close - and it was. England on paper should beat Wales(no116) comfortably - and they did.

[Dai 55]

On rankings yes i agree it should be close,look at how many minnows have knocked big teams out of the fa cup,and i think this topic was down to Wales playing England only happens once in a blue moon and we did not perform,along with no passion,heart,pride etc,i just feel we went onto the pitch knowing the game was lost were was the HEART,
And what really baffles me is how England are ranked 6 in the World?

Dai 55

[Gwyn Nicholas]

Dai, you are right minnows do occasionally knock out bigger clubs, just as in horse racing terms, odds on favs lose to outsiders for no apparent reason. The mighty Man utd lost to stuggling West Ham this season, it happens albeit on rare occasions. Sometimes heads just go down when the going gets tough and as proud as you are or as passionate sometimes on the day you cant give your best. England have been slated by their fans in the same way, lack of pride lack of passion when the truth is, they just didn't perform on the day. Rooney is a prime individual example, because his form has been as flat as a washer, he has been accused of not being passionate enough about playing when the truth is, he is so disappointed with his own form that it has affected his game.

The point you made about it being a rare thing England playing Wales is perhaps another reason why there was a lack of self belief(I prefer that to lack of pride and passion) in the team. When teams play each other on a semi-regular basis such as England and the old enemy Germany, they have an idea how each other plays and know that class divide between them is so small that a win or lose is down to the odd error or stroke of luck. I suppose they could have kicked the English players off the park and done a Vinny Jones or Robbie Savage make-over on them to show their passion but with reffing today they would have had their marching orders P D Q. The fact is, we are a small nation, football is not our number one priority as a sport and we dont have enough players playing in the top flight to be able to compete at international level and expect to win any major trophy. For Welsh football, the "taking part" element of sportsmanship is about as much as they will ever achieve.

[jase hill]

Have read with interest what already has been written here and feel I must comment. Allthough I would rather try to lick my own elbow before watching rugby my aim is not to bash the sport but to remind you that Rugby is a minority sport. To compare the Welsh rugby team with the Welsh football team is unfair. The rugby team competes with a far smaller talent pool. Take for instance where Wales came in the recent 6 nations, 3rd I think. That puts them half way down a list of 6 competitors so 50th out of 100 and so forth, the Welsh football team are 160 something in a global sport, the worlds best most watched most popular sport. Comparisons are therefore unfair. Love your sport but dont knock the football because like it or not Rugby is way behind and always will be, just look at the fan base. And did Englang not beat the Welsh Rugby team as well recently. I suppose you rugby fans can justify a Welsh defeat to the old enemy in more simple terms.

[dutchman]

at the end of the day it is "just" a game albeit well paid players playing it both soccer and rugby (obviousely not as much in rugby ) but as my mrs tells me when i get peed off watching the rugby or the football "noone died so stop crying and go and do the dishes "

[jcj]

If you want passion rivalry and a fair deal of skill you should have watched the varsity rugby match last night on S4C. Cardiff UNI v Swansea Uni, I really enjoyed watching what I thought was an excellant game and well reffed by Nigel Owen.