If I was a churlish oaf I could possibly say that the boys let me down today, especially when you consider it is my birthday and I had high hopes of a victory in Cardiff against Italy.
I am not, however, churlish or an oaf and I can honestly say that Wales made me proud with those three tries, all converted, three tries equal to those of the opposition, who remained just that penalty ahead at the end.
Mind you the penalty was just one of many awarded to Italy and the referee treated that whistle the way a youngster would treat a brand-new toy they had been given for birthday or Christmas.
I am not suggesting that the Italians were not the better team. On the day they played good rugby and, certainly in the first half, were no real match.
Yet the signs were there.
Rather than playing the kicking game they had played early in the championship the relatively young Welsh team were passing the ball the way we saw in the 60s and 70s. The instinctive passes, made without looking, were based on a team who trusted to the knowledge that there was a safe pair of hands to receive it.
It didn’t work all the time, occasionally the receiver would fumble, but the idea and the trust were there.
Even after the interval the Welsh side did not immediately notch their game up and take the play more fully to the Italian half.
In the final 10 to 15 minutes, however, they came roaring like the dragons they are and with their final conversion they came within a single score of a draw or even a possible victory.
Many people will see this Six Nations Championship as a tragedy but you have to remember that from a position such as this the only way is up.
Warren Gatland did not come in as head coach to give us a Grand Slam in 2024, not even a Triple Crown. He came back to Wales to build a squad capable of winning the Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2027.
As happens quite often there comes a time when the top players in any nation’s team will hang up their boots, just as George North has done today. That is when you start looking around for new blood for the next contest and in this case Warren is looking at that World Cup rather than at the Six Nations in ’25 or ’26.
Not that he, or we, would be happy with any more wooden spoons, even though the Welsh look upon such implements as tokens of love.
No, we would like to see a Grand Slam or a Triple Crown, or even just a top of the table (preferably having defeated England on the way), but second or third would still show that Warren’s investment in young new blood was paying off.
That is the thing about Welsh supporters, we trust a good head coach.
Robin's Nest 