The Welsh rugby team were beaten well last night, but there was a great piece of marketing by their main sponsors, Brains and Co, brewers in Cardiff which has to go down as a victory.
For those not aware of advertising regulation in France: it is unacceptable for a sport to be supported by booze. As a result the Heineken cup is known in France as the “H Cup”, and last year the Wales rugby team removed the word “Brains” from their shirt and replaced it with “Brawn”.
Last night however they were in bilingual clever marketing when the shirt front read “TRY Essai” and Essai, as far as I recall is French for Try.
Sounds OK so far: but the really clever part is that one of Brains’ beers is called Brains SA (locals in Cardiff think that SA stands for Skull Attack) so the sponsors were encouraging their market to “try SA” – a very neat juxtaposition. Well done Brains.
In retrospect, maybe they should have stuck to the Brawn for last night in what was a tough bruising encounter.

Not only is Martyn Williams a great flanker, possibly the best No 7 in the world at the moment, but he is also a really nice guy. I had the pleasure to meet him recently at a small reception in Cardiff and was really impressed with his sense of fun as much as his brilliant rugby which I had seen over the years.

It’s therefore marvellous to see that he’ll become the most capped Welsh rugby player on Friday when he steps out against France in Paris. We are slowly getting rid of the memories of the golden 70’s and this significant record will push those sweet, but truly irrelevant records to one side.

Martyn is also one of the few players to be certain of a starting position for the Lions this year, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if he was also a candidate for Captain.  A true rugby giant, with a great sense of fun.

I love rugby, rugby union that is, a team game played with tremendous determination by men who control their aggression.

For me the key attributes of rugby are a sense of fair play, teamwork and respect for the opposition (and referee).

Today 8 Feb 2009, sees Wales’ first match in the annual 6 Nations Championship against a re-emerging Scotland. It will be tough match, but one that both sides are capable of winning. I’m only sad that I’m not there to enjoy the other benefit of Rugby: the socialising.

For anyone who has not experinced it, the way that the supporters of rugby teams can integrate, socialise and have a load of fun before, during and after a match has always provided me with great pleasure.

90 mins or so ’till kick off, so it’s now time for some lunch. More after – especially if Wales win.