Dream Team on Tour - Welsh Edition

Hello #DreamTeam,

Last weekend saw the second round of the Rugby World Cup. Opening games had been and gone, nerves had been settled (for some), and fans can now say ‘it’s here’ instead of ‘it’s coming’. After Chris’ trip across to Marseille last weekend it was time for me to brave a trip across the channel to see Wales take on Portugal in Nice.

Change of Plans

The original plan saw me having tickets to watch France vs Uruguay on the Thursday night in Lille, drive to Nice on the Friday ready to watch Wales v Portugal on the Saturday, and then up to Saint Etienne for Australia vs Fiji on the Sunday. A full weekend of unadulterated World Cup rugby. Unfortunately, due to the recent passing of my godfather and rugby hero, Dave ‘Smurf’ Smirthwaite, and subsequent funeral set for the Friday 15th, my plans had to change. The original thought was to cancel the trip. I managed to sell the France vs Uruguay and Australia vs Fiji tickets easily through the resale site, but the Wales tickets weren’t selling. Come the Thursday night and the frustration of watching the game on TV that I should have been at, I looked again at possible last-minute flights as I didn’t want the Wales tickets to go waste. To my amazement, I found flights to Nice for early Saturday with a return the same night for a few hundred quid, albeit from London Gatwick…Queue the frantic taking down of tickets from the resale site and the attempt to remember my password for the airline app to book the flights. A ray of light was back into an otherwise sombre and emotional weekend.

Jump forward to the early hours of Saturday and the 01:30hrs alarm. Up, showered, passport checked and attempting to escape the house whilst leaving the kids and dogs blissfully asleep. The kids we got a way with, the dogs we did not! And while I’m at it, a big hand to Nanny Viv for looking after them (We did buy her a souvenir tea towel to say thank you). Now just the 3hour drive to London Gatwick from South Wales on the traffic free bliss that was the early hours M4. Car parking booked on route and before you know it were through security with nothing but a Welsh flag and a backpack. The only issue at this point was my wife’s disdain for my attempt to get an obligatory airport beer at 0500hrs.

We arrived at Nice ready for a full morning of exploring the city before kicking into full rugby mode for the game later on. A dedicated RWC Tourism information kiosk right outside helped us get the tram tickets we needed both back and forward the airport and for the different line up to the Stadium later.

As we entered the city by tram, I tried to ignore my wife’s biscuit-based humour as she chuckled when insisting we left the tram at Garibaldi station. In need of breakfast and coffee, we found a lovely little café in the middle of Old Nice and settled into my second favourite pastime, after rugby, people watching. I knew it wouldn’t be long before I’d find someone I knew as the passing of people in Welsh shirts intensified. Now fully caffeinated and despite the short amount of time, we decided to brave the walk up to Colline de Chateau.

Quickly tiring feet and rising heat almost making us regret the decision, however the views over the coast and city, plus the spectacular waterfall more than made up for the climb. Not included in this was the unexpected and very loud midday cannon they fired off just behind us!

As we descended back down into the narrow city streets it was clear that the match day excitement had started taking over. The tables outside every café and bar were filled with red shirts, both Portuguese and Welsh, all enjoying the building atmosphere. We followed the hustle and bustle of the crowds and found ourselves inside the Fan Zone after a quick security check. We found everything you would expect to find, from official merchandise stands to bars, food, and games to keep you entertained. The DJ and MC did well to get the crown involved and entertained even if the European poptastic playlist wasn’t to your liking.

As a dark cloud suddenly loomed over head, we headed out of the fan zone to the dedicated busses that were running to and from the stadium. As the heavens opened just as we made it on, we were content with our decision. Able to see the impressive stadium as we arrived, the bus dropped us off a short walk away. As it was still raining, we were happy to find out the stadium also had a small shopping village underneath the concourse. Plenty of food vendors, bars, and cover to escape the weather and refuel.

The gates opened into the stadium and after a quick scan of the e-ticket on the phone, we were in. There were plenty of volunteer staff round to help and we were quickly shown down to our seats on row 2, right on the corner flag. No complaints! With tickets still available on the resale app, there we noticeable spare seats across the stadium including the whole front row in front of us. So naturally, my row 2 ticket became a row 1 ticket, and the Welsh flag was proudly placed on the barrier in front of us (this will become important later!). Due to the England vs Japan game the day after, there were a noticeably large amount of English and Japanese shirts in the crowd. This made for an interesting fan base with a large mixture of chants and calls. I’ll even admit to hearing a subtle ‘Swing low’ creep around the stadium at some point as well. This was quickly dulled by the anthems and the whistle blast to get the game underway.

I think the less said about the actual game the better at this point. Ultimately a frustrating Wales win against an unknown but surprising Portugal. Poor discipline and cards again featured heavily but well needed game time for some players and the all-important Group C bonus points were in the bank for Wales. Honourable mentions to the Portuguese trick line out play, sublime to see on the world stage, and the one and only LRZ going over in the corner right in front of us! The SIU celebration is still up for debate, but I did manage to capture both on my phone and let the press take care of making my Welsh flag famous. Not annoyed at all that they couldn’t just fit me in as well.

That's MY Flag!

An early departure time meant no time to stay around after the final whistle and a quick exit from the stadium was needed to beat the crowds onto the waiting Tram back towards the fan zone. An early hop off and a quick 15mins walk across to the airport and we made the 1hr before check in time. After checking in and our take off time looming, the appearance of a 2hour delay was not what we wanted to see. Regardless, the plane arrived, and I think my eyes were shut by the time it took off.

Out of Gatwick and into the car, hoodie back on and straight on the road towards the desolate M4 for a cruise-controlled drive back to Wales. Arriving back where started 25 hours ago and in the hopes of sneaking back into the house like we snuck out. The dogs however were more than happy to announce our arrival. A whistlestop and tiring Rugby World Cup experience but one that we won’t be forgetting anytime soon!

For a more visual journey, head over to our Instagram where there is a highlight from the day. #WALvsPOR

Business Week In Review

Not much to tell this week. Work has begun on branding, our design agency have been fantastic and tolerated our design-zilla approach so far, we want to make sure the game is as good for the fans as possible! With that in mind you can expect to see some changes to logos and the site in the next month or so, so do keep an eye out!

Fantasy Rugby Week in Review

Where do I start!? I had such high hopes for my team last week, Jaminet had come out against the All Blacks and scored a last-minute try, surely that plus his kicking points would be a shoe in this week…it would appear not! He totalled 66 points with the triple captain applied, not the score I was hoping for. That coupled with the fact I was debating between him and Damian Mackenzie for the triple captain spot and it would appear I chose wrong!

In total for round 3 I came away with 531 points, not bad but nowhere near the numbers some of you were posting…if you had Cam Roigard in your team, take a bow! That leaves me now in 383rd in the Dream Team League, just outside the top 10% and 8,812th out of the English league top 10% (As much down to growth in the game as it is my own performance).

Fantasy Rugby Week Ahead

First of all, sorry we’re a bit late getting this out to you. It’s been a bit of a rush with games starting on a Wednesday but we’ll do better next week.

This coming week, following the strategy of selecting from mismatched team but I’m going to take a bit of a different approach this week and give you a selection of players I think might be good choices. I’ll omit the Italian and Uruguayan players given they’ve already played. If you want to know who I've gone for, message me and we can go through it, I can talk rugby all day every day!

Mis-matches this week

1. Fra (3rd) v Namibia (21st): France have gone for a full-strength team and this should be a BIG opportunity for point scoring!

2. England (6th) v Chile (22nd): A-lot of changes for England this week so maybe a bit of a risk there

3. Scotland (5th) v Tonga (15th)

Given that there aren’t enough games there to choose from you’re going to have to choose from outside those and I have some ideas of where!

Players to watch

Props: Gigashvili (Geo), Nariashvili (Geo), Schoeman (Sco), Fagerson (Sco), Rodd (Eng): Any of these are a solid choice. The Georgians are sure to rack up the scrum points. Schoeman and Fagerson are both solid and do a lot of work around the park and are excellent carriers. Rodd get’s a start against Chile and while maybe not the best scrummager is nimble around the field and strong over the ball.

Hooker: Dan (Eng), Mauvaka (Fra), Kelleher (Ire), Mbonambi (RSA): Mauvaka is one of my favourite Hookers (feels odd even writing that!) really good carrier and also has some crazy pace for a man of his size! Kelleher comes in despite the most difficult game of their pool due to the Irish love of a Maul and their excellence at it’s execution and Mbonnambi is the same. I’ve been a fan of Dan since I saw him play for Saracens, quick, good over the ball an all around strong choice.

Locks: Ribbans (Eng), Mcfarland (Sam), Woki (Fra), Flament (Fra): The French contingent here are easily some of the best 2nd row players in the world even against strong opposition, I’m optimistic against Namibia. Mcfarland is consistently impressive and will undoubtedly put in a good amount of work against Argentina. I’m a big fan of Ribbans, a great carrier in heavy traffic and with decent offloading ability as we saw against New Zealand last summer.

Back row: Ollivon (Fra), Ludlam (Eng), Morgan (Wal), Willis (Eng): I’d love to include some Scottish players here as they have quality across the backrow so any of Darge, Ritchie, Dempsey would be an excellent choice but given they have not chosen their squad yet I’m not sure I’d risk it soooo much quality elsewhere. Ollivon is consistently excellent, and Willis is a workhorse with power and decent pace for a back-rower. Willis is fantastic over the ball and is a strong carrier, he’s also developed his off-loading game since moving to Toulouse. Morgan is my sneaky one here, his quality is almost undeniable, and this might just be he time to stick the defensive king booster on him given the importance of the Wales V Australia game I expect some big defensive points!

Scrum Half: Care (Eng), Dupont (Fra): Dupont…need I say more? The only reason he didn’t make my squad was due to budget but my god that man is good. Care is also an excellent attacking 9, with both him and Smith on the pitch I’d be fairly confident of some decent points.

Fly Half: Jalibert (Fra), Smith (Eng), Russell (Sco): Ok, I know what I said about Scotland but Russell is about as close to a shoe in as it gets…surely! An excellent player who can create absolute Magic. Smith at FB and with Farrell on the pitch he’s unlikely to get the kicking points we’d traditionally choose a 10 for but I reckon he’ll be hunting a try or two and with another kicker in your squad he might be a smart choice. Jalibert is similar to Smith in his attacking ability and that you’ll miss the kicking points but a decent choice.

Centres: Huw Jones (Sco), Lawrence (Eng), Daly (Eng), Danty (Fra), Fickou (Fra): Honestly choose from any of the centres playing this weekend they are all excellent. I’ve gone with Lawrence and Huw Jones but Daly would be a great choice with how he works with Farrell and it will be interesting seeing him back wearing 13. The French have quality in both positions and I just couldn’t choose between them if I’m honest.

Back 3: Penaud (Fra), Arundell (Eng), Malins (Eng), Ramos (Fra): I mean again just quality everywhere, this doesn’t even account for DVM or Darcy Graham or even Blair Kinghorn! Ramos is a decent shout if you’ve gone Smith at 10 for the kicking points and frankly if you don’t have Penaud in as captain this week I question your sanity (He’s also a REALLY strong shout for Captain and triple captain this week). Arundell is a man who has almost as many Trys as he does touches of the ball…I’m not sure whether that’s exciting or depressing but either way he has electric pace and real power so is a decent shout against Chile, I think.

Thanks for reading,

Ni