Having kicked off the World Cup with a fun weekend in a buoyant Paris with my good wife, I binned the trip to Saint-Etienne for the big Fiji clash purely because I’d spent enough to lock in the matches I planned and also that I lacked a partner for my second ticket.
With the benefit of hindsight, it was probably a good call but now my enthusiasm for Wales in Lyon has waned. I’ve reviewed the various likely outcomes and the points needed to advance but the reality is, I’m in a funk from the performance against Fiji and am toing and froing between getting on the Eddie train because it’s the only train going and rationalising the choices he’s made, many of which I hate. And have hated from the moment he made them.
I shall never forgive leaving Len Ikitau, Quade Cooper and Michael Hooper at home for players who have only their youth to recommend them. Or not finding a way to get BPA, Sam, and Scott on board to bolster a front row lacking experience and fitness. But I might just forget it this week.
I’ve mates and their good, nay great, wives waiting in Avignon when I arrive on Saturday morning and a week before my wife and daughter join us. There will be fun and reminiscing and two trips to Lyon and St-Etienne for rugby matches bookending the time.
Australia and Wales contest a lineout. (Photo by Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images)
Why let one loss to a fine Fiji team (which every other rugby fan in the world enjoyed) dampen my spirits? Eddie, for the moment, all is forgiven, and I am on board.
In the absence of any sensible alternative, we have a designated driver for the match and hope to make the Geoff Parkes hosted lunch at Kabestan in Lyon…
Turns out we didn’t make the lunch. The drive from Avignon is 2.5 hours and I was co-opted into doing the driving because the guy who put his hand up spent 29 hours travelling from Split to Avignon the day before and was a busted flush. We left later than originally planned and drove straight to a parking spot booked at the ground. Out of the car park, past a bar full of drunk and getting drunker Welshmen, up the stairs and into the outer ground which was just starting to fill up.
I’d hyper-extended my dodgy knee and I have been struggling with it now since that day. 9 hours of being scrunched up in the game or at the wheel meant I could barely walk for a few days after and am still suffering. Lucky for me, both mates have similar problems and are scheduled to go under the knife to have meniscus replaced by plastic before the year is out. They both consider themselves specialists now so have diagnosed my problem even before I visit the doctor this week in London.
The game against Wales? Where to start. We seemed relaxed and confident in the warmup, and I sang the anthem loud and proud. And then it went downhill. Penalties immediately from both kick-offs, comical stuff-ups at lineouts, players off their best. Depressing.
Jordan Petaia, Mark Nawaqanitawase and Andrew Kellaway. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
I actually felt sorry for Donaldson, whose over-promotion I have resented for a while, as he failed and failed again at basic flyhalf tasks. You could see the confidence being sucked out of him until the inevitable and merciful hook finally came. A good club player who, on his best day can play Super Rugby, promoted to run his national team in their most important match in a decade.
Add in that none of the players seemed to understand their roles, we’d picked a young 6 out of his depth at 7 so he was guaranteed to fail, and we chose TH props in the squad who couldn’t execute their core skills, and we were toast by 50 minutes.
The last 30 minutes were the worst I have ever experienced as a rugby fan – and I support the Tahs, and the Rats so know a bit about gormless losing. We hadn’t a clue. Didn’t fire a shot. We were completely flogged by a well-coached, mostly average Welsh side who had a few senior guys who knew their roles well and what they wanted to do. We were scrummed and mauled off the park. Add in a couple of nice touches and, presto, a 40-point pumping.
We left straight after the game for the long haul home. Got back to Avignon at 2am and, between crying about my Wallabies and the bloody knee, I didn’t sleep a wink.
The week in Avignon was wonderful. We stayed a short walk (drive for the cripples among us) from Villeneuve-lès-Avignon town which edges the main town and is a beautiful old town recently tarted up so that all the old sandstone is clean and in good order. Downtown there are loads of great restaurants and coffee shops. The French mostly do rubbish coffee. Why is that? We found a place that was better than average, but it’s mostly a disappointment.
My restaurant highlights for anybody heading to the south of France were as follows:
– Orso, Rue de l’Hôpital, Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. Tiny place in the old town. Recently moved from a fancy hotel in town and doing two starters, two mains and a choice of cheese or one dessert. Simple, reasonably priced, and delicious. Casual dining at its best
– Le Verger des Papes, Rue du Château, Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Top of the hill over-looking Châteauneuf-du-Pape and with the Rhone meandering into the distance. A sunny day, delicious food, brilliant waiting staff and a wine-tasing after. We nicked a small bunch of grapes as we left – delicious, sweet, and fruity.
We ventured to a nearby winery, Château Mont-Redon on spec after because we had one of their whites after. Brilliant place, great wines. The owner had a busload of 40 Swedes arrive as we landed so gave us 3 bottles and said to help ourselves. We did buy a case, so he didn’t waste his time.
– Maison Chenet – Entre Vigne et Garrigue, 600 route de Saint-Bruno, Pujaut, 30131. Michelin starred place where we sat outside on another beautiful day and did their degustation menu. Blew our socks off. Again, super friendly wait staff and delicious wines and food. The bill was a little tastier at this place, it needs to be said.
After a week of hobbling around, ice packs, over-eating and drinking and short swims in the pool, I was looking forward to the arrival of my family to join for the last weekend. The kid has just gone into High School so couldn’t be taken out for the week. She and her mum came down to join me as we watched our procession into the QF complete with a thumping win over Portugal in St-Etienne. Or that was the plan.
We still headed to St-Etienne, but we knew we were watching dead men walking and their play indicated they knew it too. We were mostly out-thought and out-played by Os Lobos, although some of our individuals showed their quality as we did enough to get the bonus point win, we needed to retain a tiny breath of hope to qualify. Our lineout continued to stand up, but the scrum was a problem again. We lacked cohesion with our attacking play and the Portuguese found space everywhere against our new defensive patterns.
Portugal’s Francisco Fernandes celebrates scoring against Fiji. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
A quick comment on Portuguese fans. They undoubtedly lift the atmosphere of rugby matches multiple fold before, during and after and this game was good mostly thanks to them. As an old bastard though, whistling madly whenever you feel hard done by for any call from officials that goes against you grates after a while.
And French fans? Starting up a Mexican wave at the game’s kickoff lacks class and irritates old buggers very much.
Another dispiriting performance, followed by a long trip home. The local cops thoughtfully turned everybody away from the easy access to the A7 and a direct route home. An hour after leaving the car park we were still within 10km of St-Etienne and a long way from Avignon. The 2.5-hour journey took more like 4 hours. The kid slept soundly but the parents had a long time to moan about the problems of Australian rugby. Still not enough to cover it all, mind you.
We packed up the next morning and headed to Marseilles to fly home. I spent the first day cancelling flights and accommodation for Marseilles and can only now, with the QF matches confirmed, sell my tickets. I shall be enjoying the rest of the tournament from here in London.
Special mention to Portugal for providing me with a World Cup memory to last a lifetime with their win over Fiji. What a team and what a spirit.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
After being yellow-carded by referee Karl Dickson in the first half, the official looked to be reaching for his pocket when Danny Care contentiously…
Jeffery Toomaga-Allen is trying to promote rugby in Queensland and bring crowds back to Reds games.
In 15 minutes, Tim Ryan didn’t just put a smile on Joe Schmidt’s face, he announced himself to the Australian public by scoring a…
Queensland have pushed the Hurricanes and the Blues giving the Reds coach confidence they can match it with the top teams.
Queensland led by seven late in the game, but conceded two late tries to the Kiwi side who claimed a late victory.
The Queensland winger was making his starting debut and he made his tries look like he was a veteran in that position.
