tag:,2008:/199 2008-04-22T11:15:22Z Reaction from the expert... and the fans Movable Type 3.31 tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.44827 2008-04-22T11:04:58Z 2008-04-22T11:15:22Z

I travelled home from Las Vegas on the same Virgin Atlantic Plane as hero Joe Calzaghe....

Delme Parfitt I travelled home from Las Vegas on the same Virgin Atlantic Plane as hero Joe Calzaghe. Imagine my relief when he turned up at the airport in Vegas - it meant the plane couldn't possibly crash now! Joe was roared on board by hundreds of Welsh fans as he made his way through the crowd with his girlfriend Jo-Emma, dad Enzo and two boys Conor and Joe. He sat in first class - obviously - and as we came in to land at Gatwick, the captain made a special announcement congratulating our man, which was greeted with yet another round of applause. Then going through customs he was mobbed by media, trying to get a piece of the action when they hadn't bothered going to Vegas themselves - typical! One BBC Wales reporter asked Joe if there was "any chance of doing something back in Newbridge?" I know what I would have said to him after a 10-hour flight and a billion press interviews already done. Fortunately there was one crowning glory left for me personally - and I know you'll all be so pleased for me. As I wheeled my case through arrivals I made a point of catching Joe's eye. Having, like all my media colleagues, been so impressed with his willingness to co-operate all week under the most extreme pressure, I just wanted to say a quick thanks and well done. I had no intention of asking him for yet another interview. I managed to do just that. "Hey Delme, thanks," said Joe. Now that's what I call a legend. ends tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.44652 2008-04-21T08:04:22Z 2008-04-21T08:30:28Z

There's sour grapes, and then there's rotten stinking Philadelphian grapes....

Delme Parfitt There's sour grapes, and then there's rotten stinking Philadelphian grapes. Those were the variety on offer after our Joe had dispatched street urchin Bernard Hopkins on Saturday night. Hopkins was a disgrace in defeat, he gave an object lesson to kids the world over in how not to behave when you have been beaten in sport. I was at Planet Hollywood in Leicester Square, London in February when Hopkins came over for a press conference to publicise his fight with Joe. When Joe was asked if he feared a home decision from US judges if the fight went to points, Hopkins butted in and insisted passionately that whoever won would be the best, and there would be absolutely no excuses on April 19. Well, guess what? Hopkins lost on Saturday and what was the first thing he did? Made excuses that he had been robbed by a wrong decision. He calls himself a legend. The bloke is absolutely pathetic. B-Hop? B-Flop more like. About halfway down the Las Vegas Strip is the Bellagio Hotel which features a giant expanse of water with thousands of fountains outside the front of the building. Every half hour they do a display which has to be seen to be believed. Yesterday afternoon, I was walking past and chanced upon the whole thing. It was breathtaking. The spurts of water were timed to the accompanying music. Take it from me, it was awesome, the sort of thing you would only see in Las Vegas. As the post-fight press conference was in full-flow on Saturday night, Enzo Calzaghe's mobile phone went off. It wasn't deafening by any means, but loud enough to be heard by yours truly, who was sitting in the front row. "Turn it off," whispered Joe to Enzo, with a look of disgust on his face that simply epitomised the classic "dad, you're embarrassing me" scene. It was a priceless little moment that reminded me that Joe, even while on the biggest stage of his life, is as down to earth and downright normal as they come. At the Thomas and Mack Cntre yesterday, the fight venue, a robot dog - that's a hot dog to you and me - was a mere three dollars, that's £1.50. And it was a big 'un aswell. What value. If that had been at any stadium in the UK I guarantee the price would have been a total Mickey take. Take some advice from me the next time you attend a match in the UK - take the time to make some sandwiches and take them with you. It's the only way to stick two fingers up at the mercenaries who have been getting away with murder for years. end tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.44619 2008-04-19T00:16:41Z 2008-04-19T00:31:04Z

Rocky Balboa and Marty McFly were at the Joe Calzaghe-Bernard Hopkins weigh-in yesteday, aka Sylvester Stallone and Michael J Fox....

Delme Parfitt Rocky Balboa and Marty McFly were at the Joe Calzaghe-Bernard Hopkins weigh-in yesteday, aka Sylvester Stallone and Michael J Fox. The pair were introduced onto the stage for a massive contingent of Welsh supporters to cheer them on. "Rocky, Rocky," they chanted when Sly appeared. And the whole atmosphere was electric. Thousands packed the Planet Hollywood Theatre, roaring on Calzaghe and - jeering Hopkins. And the coup de grace? Joe walked on stage in a Cardiff City shirt! Both fighters weighed in at 173lbs, two pounds inside the limit. Let battle commence. The Las vegas Strip is primarily about the mammoth hotels that line both sides of it from one end to another. They are not hotels as we know them in the UK, they are more like little towns under cover. If you weren't that bothered about seeing the rest of Vegas you would never have to leave them. And more are on the way. Just down from my hotel they are constructing a new place. I don't know what it will be called, but it is an absolute monster. It makes the Celtic Manor look like a little country guesthouse. It's like a permanent re-run of the old Barratts advert every time I look out of my hotel bedroom window - it's helicopter after helicopter. I'm told most of them are either going to, or on their way back from, the Grand Canyon. Trips to the world famous landmark are all the rage here, with hundreds of street vendors trying to sell you tickets to go. It's either helicopter or a three hour bus ride. But the chopper ride will cost you a couple of hundred quid. It's a small world. Rod Woodward, son of former Western Mail football writer Karl, did a stand-up routine at the Planet Hollywood Hotel yesterday afternoon a couple of hours afetr the weigh-in. Rod went down well, he's got a gift for comedy and could go far. Just like boxers, comics are entitled to be chuffed at an appearance in Vegas. end tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.44511 2008-04-18T05:45:10Z 2008-04-18T06:03:07Z

For a split second Joe Calzaghe had me worried....

Delme Parfitt For a split second Joe Calzaghe had me worried. "At times like this, do you remember the days you spent training in your shack at Newbridge?" I asked him, referring to the old ramshackle gym in which he learned his trade. "Don't call it a shack," he said, before flashing that grin at me. "That shack got me where I am today. "I can still remember the smells of the place." That was me told! Joe has more of a reverence for that place than he will ever have for some posh Las Vegas venue. You can take the boy out of Newbridge..... I know people are going to think me sad for saying this, buut since I've been here I haven't so much a put a dime in a slot machine. It's not that I'm tight (stop sniggering at the back) it's just that I have no interest whatsoever in gambling. I just don't. I have one vice - the ale. I don't smoke. Come to think of it, perhaps this trip was wasted on me. Tell you what, I might have a go on the roulette wheel before I leave. I'll do what I have always done on the odd occasion I have been in Les Croupiers on St Mary Street. Buy two chips, study the red-black sequence for half an hour, conclude via the law of averages that the next roll has to land on red, place my bet with trepidation, then watch the ball settle on black. No wonder I don't gamble! I have learnt in the past, almost to my cost, not to try to cross an American road while the sign reads "Don't walk". But the lesson hasn't sunk in. Yesterday I got fed up of waiting while there appeared to be no traffic movement and set off across the tarmac. Big mistake. Next thing I'm nearly wiped out by a silver Buick whose driver hit the horn with gusto. Then it struck me, I have never seen a zebra crossing in America. end tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.44413 2008-04-17T03:47:03Z 2008-04-17T04:07:12Z

You have to hand it to the Yanks, they're a thoughtful bunch - especially when it comes to grub....

Delme Parfitt You have to hand it to the Yanks, they're a thoughtful bunch - especially when it comes to grub. At the main Joe Calzaghe-Bernard Hopkins pre-fight press conference I was glad to see several troughs of fresh food on offer to the media. But nothing could have prepared me for some of the things that were there: Leek and potato soup, Welsh cakes and, get this, bara brith as well! The only disappointment? No laver bread. I paid a visit to the New York, New York Hotel last night. Just like every hotel here in Vegas, it takes your breath away. I headed straight for the Irish Bar, called Nine Fine Irishmen, and got several pints of the black stuff down my neck. A band was playing diddly-diddly in there and they went down a storm. I was gutted when they went off stage and decided to head off as the run-of-the-mill music started to play. Then just as I was leaving I heard one of my all time favourites come on the speakers..."Pack it up pack it in, let me begin..." What else was there for it, but to run back in and jump around, jump around.... It's been cooler here the last couple of days, which has been a welcome relief. Vegas can be scorching, as I discovered the first couple of days here, but funnily enough there is still snow on the mountains visible in the distance from my hotel room window. What's more, while it's shorts and tee-shirts during the day, it is different at night time. I made the mistake Tuesday evening of heading out in a short-sleeved linen shirt. Bad move, I scurried back in for a pullover - it's a hard life! I was invited to the world premier of Al Pacino's new film 88 Minutes at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino on Wednesday night. The sponsors even offered us "free popcorn and candy" - died and gone to heaven or what!!! Pacino himself was there and I know a couple of my colleagues from ITV Wales were hoping to get a couple of words from the screen legend about Calzaghe's prospects. In the end I never made it, but I heard he did stop and talk to a couple of my colleagues. I asked them what Al said. "Where's Delme?" came the reply. end tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.44330 2008-04-16T00:03:06Z 2008-04-16T00:08:34Z

I'm staying in an absolutely incredible hotel at the southern end of the strip here in Vegas....

Delme Parfitt I'm staying in an absolutely incredible hotel at the southern end of the strip here in Vegas. The Luxor is a giant black glass pyramid and beams a shaft of light from it's tip that is apparently visible from outer space. But it's the sheer scale of the place that takes your breath away. There is, of course, a giant casino, but also about six different bars and restaurants - it takes me 10 minutes to get down for breakfast each morning. And that by the way is not your choice of full English or continental, it's everything under the sun you could possibly imagine eating at the start of thr day. If you wanted a rib-eye steak they'd do it for you. * Strangely in such a notoriously health conscious country, smoking is not banned indoors here in Nevada. It's a shock to the system to see the guy next to you in a bar light up, with puffing under cover having been banned in the UK for some time. I've got used to seeing people having to go outdoors to shorten their life expectancy back home and so when I first saw it here I was appalled. Like everything else though, you get used to it. * Now I'm not fattist in any way, but the accusation that Americans are the worst offenders for obesity rings true in Vegas. I have never seen so many, shall we say cuddly, specimens in one place in my life. It's hardly surprising though. You can't so much as order a ham sandwich here without it arriving at your table looking like the side of a house. The only way to get a meal approaching the size you would normally eat for tea at home is to ask for the children's menu and opt for an appetizer - and of course, real men don't do that. I've been sitting next to plant pots in quiet corners.... * The price of clothes here in the States puts the UK to shame. Over the road from my hotel is an addidas shop. As well as a giant poster of David Beckham in the window and a shed-full of LA Galaxy replica gear, there are trainers which would set you back at least £60 in Cardiff shops. The price here? $65, about £32. It makes you want to weep. * Joe Calzaghe says he has been going on seven mile runs over here in Vegas. All I can say is that he must be getting up very early in the morning. You cannot underestimate the scorching heat here, even in spring time. On Monday this week the temperature was 84 degrees at one stage, and it's a dry, burning, dessert sort of heat. I had to apply copious amounts of my Factor 40 just to walk 100 metres down the road and still I swear there was a bit of pinkishness about me when I returned to my room. ends tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.41752 2008-03-19T11:57:49Z 2008-03-19T12:04:31Z

You can't help bu wonder just how Wales' success can be transalted to the regions before the end of the season....

Delme Parfitt You can't help bu wonder just how Wales' success can be transalted to the regions before the end of the season. I'm talking primarily about the Ospreys and Blues here as we head towards the buisness end of the EDF and Heineken Cup competitions. If the Wales players in the Ospreys set-up take their international form back to the Liberty Stadium with them, then I would give them one hell of a chance in the Heineken Cup. What a season that would represent for Welsh rugby if they were to go on and win it. But I'm also starting to fancy the Blues' chances away at Toulouse a bit more too. When the draw originally panned out I didn't think they stood a dog's chance. Yet for me the Six Nations has shown us that perhaps we have less to fear about French players than we've always thought. For me it is important that the Blues try and get Nicky Robinson fit for their Magners League clash with Edinburgh, so he can get a game under his belt before they head to the Stade Ernest Wallon. Robinson will be pivotal to their progress I think. What do you think of the Blues and Ospreys' chances? tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.40910 2008-03-10T11:08:15Z 2008-03-10T11:12:28Z

Of course we can do it....

Delme Parfitt Of course we can do it. In fact, I'll stick my head on the block and say I fully expect Wales to clinch the Grand Slam by beating France in Cardiff. The most pleasing thing about the win in Ireland for me was the hard-nosed ruthlessness of it. In a way it was brilliant to see the team do it in that manner rather than just with the Champagne sort of stuff because it shows they can. You need to be streetwise in modern Test rugby and that is what Warren Gatland and his coaching team appear to have instilled. Mark my words, as sure as wine follows grape France will capitulate at the Millennium Stadium. Wales will have the backing of a nation - and a runaway train momentum that will not be halted now. Do you agree? tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.40731 2008-03-07T09:49:51Z 2008-03-07T10:01:43Z

I've read an awful lot of guff about Danny Cipriani being hard done by after being axed from the England squad over his isit to a nightclub on Wednesday night....

Delme Parfitt I've read an awful lot of guff about Danny Cipriani being hard done by after being axed from the England squad over his isit to a nightclub on Wednesday night. My view is that the player can have no complaints. We see so many stories about how players have been stitched up in these sorts of situations and were "actually doing nothing wrong". But why put yourself in the situation in the first place? The bottom line is this: Three days before a Six Nations match - his full debut at that - Cipriani should have been nowhere near a Mayfair nightspot, he should hae been tucked up in bed at the team hotel dreaming about how he was going to score tries against the Scots. I've heard he was delivering tickets for the game to friends. Sorry, it doesn't wash. He should have made his mates come to him. Did Cipriani have permission for the visit from Brian Ashton? Obviously not, which begs the question why did he not seek that permission? Probably because he knew it would have been denied. Therefore, enough said. No, players are not children, but that doesn't make a central London nightclub at midnight an appropriate place for a young England hopeful to be seen so close to a massive Calcutta Cup match. My advice to Cipriani and his bleating Wasps mates - yes, you as well Shaun Edwards - is to take the rap on the chin and learn from it. Cipriani, if he really is as good as they say, will have his chance again. And when that comes he will know where he musn't be three days before the game. Are we in agreement? tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.40497 2008-03-04T15:43:35Z 2008-03-04T15:52:12Z

I'm not the type to blow my own trumpet, but my selection of the Wales team to face Ireland at Croke Park in the pages of the South Wales Echo a week ago was exactly the same as Warren Gatland's...

Delme Parfitt I'm not the type to blow my own trumpet, but my selection of the Wales team to face Ireland at Croke Park in the pages of the South Wales Echo a week ago was exactly the same as Warren Gatland's on Tuesday lunchtime. Well, they do say great minds think alike! You won't be surprised to know that I still agree wholeheartedly with his choices. I'll be particularly keen to see how Stephen Jones and Mike Phillips function as a half-back partnership. For so long now Jones has seemingly come as one half of a pair with Dwayne Peel, but that's not to say he can't flourish on the promptings of Phillips. I was pleased to here Warren Gatland say at the announcement of his selection how important it will be to stop Ronan O'Gara playing. There is only one way Wales can do that - by preventing Ireland from winning the go-forward battle. O'Gara's great when he's in his armchair behind his pack, but we've seen in the past he is as fallible as anyone when his team are under pressure. Give us some of your thoughts on the selection. See you in Dublin! tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.40136 2008-02-29T11:02:09Z 2008-02-29T11:12:52Z

Personally, I don't think so....

Delme Parfitt Personally, I don't think so. There will be nobody happier tham myself to see that prediction proved wrong, but I just have a feeling that beating Ireland in Dublin will prove a step too far. If we were to pull a win out of the bag at Croke Park, I believe Wales would indeed then go on and complete the clean sweep. But as I say, there is something in the back of my mind that says we'll just come up short, with home advantage edging the Irish over the line. By the way, my team for Dublin would be: L Byrne; M Jones, T Shanklin, G Henson, S Williams; S Jones, M Phillips; G Jenkins, H Bennett, A Jones; I Gough, A Wyn Jones; J Thomas, M Williams, R Jones (c). Do you agree with this selection? I have to say the ones I had most difficulty with were Mark Jones on the right wing - I was sorely tempted to go with Jamie Roberts because of the cross-kicking threat of Ronan O'Gara - Huw Bennett, because of the lack of strength in depth at hooker, and, believe it of not the captain Ryan Jones. Jones is a good player and has had a good championship. I think it would be silly to have axed the skipper for a game of such magnitude. Yet I reckon the size, strength and ball-carrying ability of Gareth Delve would be a huge asset against Ireland. They are a side that you just have to put on the back foot and to do that you need guys who can get over the gain line and make the hard yards. Nobody makes more hard yards than Delve and I would have loved to have seen him going full pelt at O'Gara on a regular basis. Anyway, it was just a thought, just an opinion. What's yours? tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.38509 2008-02-13T11:12:01Z 2008-02-13T11:18:38Z

The selection of the Welsh team to play Italy was unprecedented in its timing and just shows the confidence of the Welsh camp at the moment....

Delme Parfitt The selection of the Welsh team to play Italy was unprecedented in its timing and just shows the confidence of the Welsh camp at the moment. It's nice to see a coach who knows his own mind so well that he is prepared to make public his choices a full 12 days before the game. I wasn't surprised to see Stephen Jones and Dwayne Peel restored, you could see that coming a mile off. It's a good decision too because the pair are clearly have so much class and experience to offer. But I was a little taken aback to see Mark Jones back in for Jamie Roberts, who I thought was impressive on his debut against Scotland. After thinking about it though, it could be another psychological masterstroke by Gatland. When he dropped Jones he warned he didn't want to see players throw their toys out of the cot and that there would be rewards for those who got their heads down and worked hard to get back in. Jones did just that - and he has his reward. If players see that the coach is as good as his word in these situations then it will be all the encouragement they need when they have a setback. What a healthy environment we would then have. They say fortune favours the brave, and I think Gatland has been brave in this selection. I hope he too gets his reward against the Italians. I believe he will. What say you? tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.38190 2008-02-11T07:55:43Z 2008-02-11T08:00:45Z

It's an interesting one this, but I think it's a definite goer....

Delme Parfitt It's an interesting one this, but I think it's a definite goer. Just ask yourself: who else is there? Not Brian Ashton, not Frank Hadden. Eddie O'Sullivan? On current evidence I wouldn't touch him with a bargepole if I was a Lions powerbroker. There is no momentum with him at present, all he is doing is presiding over a waning Irish team. You don't give it to O'Sullivan just because you think he has served his time and it is his turn. Jake White? Well, he's a World Cup winner but what experience does he have working with British players and in the British game? Ian McGeechan? Great rugby man and he's been there and done it before, but surely he's yesterday's man. For me, it's Gatland every time. He is the arch-decision maker, the disciplinarian, and he comes as a package with the brilliant Shaun Edwards. Get him in there, I say. How about you? tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.37521 2008-02-04T07:11:42Z 2008-02-04T07:17:50Z

It's Monday morning and I'm still finding it difficult to get my head around what happened at twickenham on Saturday....

Delme Parfitt It's Monday morning and I'm still finding it difficult to get my head around what happened at twickenham on Saturday. I was chuffed to bits obviously to see Wales win there for the first time in 20 years - and yet I can't help but think I should have felt even more joyous. I just couldn't get how poor we were for an hour or so out of my system after the game, and haven't been able to since. I sense danger. Yes, Scotland were woeful yesterday, but Wales too have so much to improve on for next Saturday. Expect them to win because of confidence levels if nothing else, but nobody should go to the Millennium Stadium anticipating a cakewalk. As for the other matches next weekend, I'm going for France to beat Ireland quite comfortably - and Italy to beat England! Yes, that's right. Under Nick Mallett I reckon the Azzurri are due a result. England will be shellshocked, as well as having to deal with yet more injurues to key players. But my main point is: let's not get carried away about Wales. Do you agree? tag:echorugby.welshblogs.co.uk,2008://199.36680 2008-01-24T11:11:39Z 2008-01-24T11:22:31Z

I may be wrong on this, but I'm starting to believe Wales might just surprise a few people at Twickenham next Saturday....

Delme Parfitt I may be wrong on this, but I'm starting to believe Wales might just surprise a few people at Twickenham next Saturday. Warren Gatland seems to be pressing the right buttons in the Welsh camp and I hear Shaun Edwards' first session was well received by the players. I think the pair of them and Rob Howley will have a real effect on the minds of the players going into the Twickenham match, which I think could be key. Gatland has already emphasised how he will never be fazed about going to a place where Wales have not won in 20 years. I think Edwards will be the same. A bit more self-belief, something Wales have been short on going to Twickenham for far too long, could I believe, draw something pretty special out of them. Do you agree?