Reflections on the Ashes 2013 so far from Chester-Le-Street

I was lucky enough to have very good seats for days 3 and 4 of the 4^th Ashes Test at Chester-le-Street last Sunday and Monday. It gave me a chance to assess properly how these teams are doing at the moment, so I thought I’d share some thoughts on the matter.

 

Australia

 

On Watching the 1st test: Australia vs British and Irish Lions 22nd June 2013

Second Half.

Stomach-gripping tension.
Do we trust the fates too much to believe
this lead will hold?
Could half-perfect Halfpenny’s half-freakish, half-time miss
be the code for the way this will unfold?

Nerves seem to have got the players too.
Bodies fly into bodies round the fringes of the breakdowns.
Errors abound:
an overcooked kick, a pass spilt
a rolling maul driving headless into touch
and then relief.

Australia 6 v New Zealand 20 16th October 2011

Southern Hemisphere rugby once again less exciting than (England aside) Northern. New Zealand, my perhaps not very interesting prediction as eventual world cup winners, grind out a hard, frenetic, highly competitive but essentially attritional victory over Australia.