New Zealand v Wales

New Zealand 6 - 2 Wales

The day started with an air of excitement and nerves flowing throughout the camp. The traditional pre game activities went ahead without a hitch and following an inspirational team talk held by Zack ‘I wish I was still playing’ Jones, the teams concentration was firmly set on the challenge ahead. Prior to entering the windy and atmospheric hockey arena, the group huddled together and experienced Matt ‘I am prince charming’ Ruxton at his finest, with a speech of such passion and belief, it probably would of convinced the New Zealanders to run and hide had they heard it. However come push back the time for talking the talk had long gone, and it was time to walk the walk.

For all those who have just read the score above, you would be forgiven for thinking that the we were on the wrong end of a good hiding. The first half was a shock to the system as New Zealand were allowed to show their class as the welsh possessions were short lived, goal scoring opportunities hard to come by and without the world class defending on show there could have been real trouble. Wales entered the changing room at half time less concerned with the score or anything the opposition was doing, and more concerned with the lack of Hwyl shown and a frustrated agreement that we were gifting them the game. With 2 of the goals conceded coming through the well drilled short corner routines, and a cheap turnover in our own 25, the belief was there that if we stopped giving them the chances then we could get back into the game.

The anger and passion built up over half time transpired into a fantastic start to the second half by the welsh boys. 2 superbly executed short corners later and Wales were on course to gatecrash the New Zealanders party. For about 20 minutes of the second half the teams locked horns and a fierce battle raged on with both sides showing their abilities both in defence and attack. The final 15 minutes saw New Zealand run out the victors through perseverance and good individual skills, resulting in a disappointing end to the game and a further 3 goals.

Wales now move on with the knowledge that when we play to our potential, with the Hwyl and passion that is unique to the squad, then we are world class. The team now has one eye on tomorrow’s match against Malaysia….and the other on the Millennium stadium.

Reesy

Opening Ceremony with the Maori

Squad Photo


Team Captain Ruxton nose greeting the local dignitratries


Maori Leader welcoming speech


Maori Leader's symbolic pointing of the stick


Local Maori school children sing local Maori songs while the teams enter

Wales V Austria

Wales can take lot’s of positives out of today’s game and with the result not being that important can feel they have blown the cobwebs out of the system . In what can be only be described as some interesting weather conditions Wales controlled long periods of the game and ran more of the journey out of their legs. The Austrians played half court for most of the game and looked to hit Wales on the break with some success although Wales will feel slightly aggrieved by some of the umpiring decisions. Wales broke down Austria’s half court press with ease at times and on another day could have been 2 or 3 goals up by half time.

All in all Wales can take lot’s of positives out of the game and still have time to fine tune their game before Saturday and New Zealand.

The journey of a lifetime......... literally

Welcome to the Welsh Senior Men's World Cup Qualifiers Blog, a place you can read whats going on from within the squad.

To the shock of no-one in the team, the journey to New Zealand was in all terms, epic! All the team departed Heathrow looking dangerously handsome and spirits were high. A coach, 4 planes, a mini bus and a 47 hour journey swiftly changed this as the team limped into the remote town of Invercargill in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The journey was not as smooth as some may of imagined, Huwy ‘little ears’ Jones experienced Bangkok at its finest, purchasing duty free only to have it taken off him 2 minutes later when boarding the flight…they saw him coming!

Thursday morning was a confusing one, mainly because no-one really knew what was going on, what day it was and why we were not still sleeping! This was the time for the ever heroic Mathew ’goldy locks’ Ruxton to send shivers down the spine of the team, with the words “lets go for a run”, all those who know Matt understand that what some people call a marathon, he calls a run, and he didn’t fail to disappoint, leading us on a trek across middle earth.



After a long hard day of watching TV and relaxing in the hot tubs, the first training session commenced. Initially the standard was worrying as simple basics such as stopping or passing a ball became seemingly impossible due to the jetlag, however once the journey had been run out of the legs the session proved worthy with high spirits and confidence. The evening meal was kindly organised by Naz ‘all sorted’ Mohammed, however ‘all sorted’ would be the last way to describe it! The restaurant was unique to say the least, almost faulty towers like if you will, as you could order any pasta on the menu, as long as it was fettuccine!

The boys are now looking forward to facing up against the Austrians in a warm up game which will allow us to get some vital game experience and evaluate just how far this squad has come. Check out the blog soon for an update and more stories.

Reesy

Coverage throughout the WCQ

Ben Croxall will be providing information throughout the tournament with full match reports and scores being available on the WHU website at welsh-hockey.co.uk as soon as possible following completion of the matches.