History Makers?

A nation was united in anticipation, excitement and nervousness this morning, and then in grief when our Super Captain, Sam Warburton was sent off.

This week has seen a nation united in its support for our rugby team, and there has been tremendous support from around the country and the world for our boys. We all woke up this morning excited at the opportunity we had to make it to the Rugby World Cup Final, we all believed and we were all looking forward to it.

It all changed though in the 18th minute of the match when Sam was sent off, the course of the game and both team's approach changed forever. Sam made his tackle, the French player rolling on the ground and his colleagues throwing hand bags at dawn, we all thought "phew that was a hard tackle." Then 'He who shall not be named' showed the red card, Sam, the team, the fans, a country were stunned, suddenly the dream had become a nightmare.

France went ahead but never looked like troubling our try line, half time came and the boys came out determined not to be denied their moment in history. The fight back was on, Mike Phillips broke the line and scored but sadly the conversion was missed. Don't worry though because only one team wanted to win this match, and that was Wales! A long distance penalty, could this be the chance? Its up, it's long enough but agonisingly drops under the bar, a chance missed. But still Wales are not dead, possession, multiple phases; can we set ourselves up for a drop goal?

Such a range of emotions this morning, from the anticipation, excitement and nervousness shown before the game, to the stunned disbelief after the sending off, to the hunger and desire shown during the comeback, and then the grief, the sadness, the anger after the final whistle has blown. And now the recriminations!

The sending off changed the match, Wales all of a sudden had their backs against the wall, their game plan ruined. France on the other hand now just needed to pick up points and get ahead by a decent margin and hang on in there. People look at the kicks missed; people question the selection of some players, fine go ahead but it all hinged on that sending off, if that hadn't happened we wouldn't be talking about a referee.

Sadly in this World Cup we've been talking too much about referees, and not enough about the rugby being played, I think that in itself tells a story. A good referee is one who does his job and does it so well you don't even realise he is on the pitch, sadly I think some of the referees these days think they are the stars.

One more match for the lads on Friday against the losers from New Zealand and Australia tomorrow, lift your heads and go out there and win it! We play Australia on Saturday 3rd December and then the Six Nations returns in early 2012, let's strike on and make a bit of history; this team is too good to give up.

Wales we are proud of you! The whole squad have been magnificent on and off the pitch, and you have been a credit to your country!