If I was an astronaut about to go into space on a craft with a known flaw, I'd be a bit worried about the use of "can" here? "Can" bring the crew home safely? Not "will"?

"They left calm, composed and apparently untroubled. They certainly smiled and laughed a lot. So much so you had to check, in fact, that we weren’t 54-0 down with twenty to play." Nathaniel Hale for Gwladrugby. gwladrugby.wordpress.com/2026/01/22/c...

Just a reminder to rugby presenters, journalists and pundits. The potential closure of a rugby club by, effectively, its own governing body *is* a rugby matter. Please don't report on this kind of issue and then say "but can't we talk about rugby?". You already are.

gwladrugby.wordpress.com/2026/01/21/w... “Now it is time to call this out. This really is all bullshit. Enough is enough.”

"Welsh rugby’s leadership has united Cardiff fans with Ospreys supporters against them. That alone should end any claim that this is being handled well. When rivals agree on who the problem is, the problem is obvious". Nathaniel Hale for Gwladrugby. gwladrugby.wordpress.com/2026/01/21/w...

Great experience doing BBC Five Live last night to talk about sporting underdogs on the Tony Livesey show. Got to talk about my book Unbelievable Underdogs and Rebellious Role Models. Also got to see the TARDIS. #booksky 📚🎙

Slipping out that announcement about having chosen their preferred bidder for Cardiff while many clubs are locked in a virtual room being talked at about the Annual Report is *extremely* on brand for the WRU, fair play.

I'm going to write to Eluned Morgan and demand a public holiday to celebrate this referee awarding a penalty to the Scarlets. Just 2-12 now.

What a gorgeous try by the Os.

THE RHYS HENRY SIDESTEP! Iconic.

Not the greatest fan of the Clwb Rygbi commentators having a chuckle amongst themselves about Stuart Hogg getting booed at the Brewery Field. "Oooh, ha ha, I'm not sure what Stu has done to upset the people of Bridgend". Really?

Edinburgh's playing squad budget is around £7.5m-8m. The WRU's latest wheeze has three clubs, in September 2027, operating on squad budgets of £6.4m.

Enjoyed Rhys ap Wiliam's chat with Al.off Police Squad

...and 60m kick. Gavlar is reborn. Ginger. And a clart.

Defences very much on top there Ron.

I mean, there's only way of understanding all of this, surely? Trump doesn't know that: a) Greenland is inhabited, and it has its own government b) Greenland is already part of NATO c) that the US could have (more) bases on Greenland pretty much any time it wants.

Two evenly matched teams facing off next weekend then, lads? Lads...?

Dear me...

Outstanding work by WRU Comms tonight. Just in time for the end of pantomime season, too.

The Welsh name for Greenland is Yr Ynys Las. There’s also a village in Wales called Ynyslas, near Aberystwyth. The people of Ceredigion clearly have a very good sense of humour! Trump is one of the worst humans ever to hold power. Vile. Solidarity with the people of Greenland from Wales. ✊ 🇬🇱❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

"A separation of powers between the professional and community games now looks unavoidable. Not to weaken Welsh rugby, but to save it". Nathaniel Hale for Gwladrugby gwladrugby.wordpress.com/2026/01/07/s...

Governments *do* lose when polls go down in things called elections, don't they?

"Back in the 80s, when accused of policy reversals, one leader famously stated 'The lady’s not for turning'. In Welsh rugby, it increasingly appears that the leadership very much is for turning". Nathaniel Hale for Gwladrugby. gwladrugby.wordpress.com/2026/01/04/w...

Mae'n siarad cyfrolau am safon hanner o rygbi pan fydd hyd yn oed y sylwebydd yn ochneidio "dyma fydd y diwedd, gobeithio".

The what now?

It's interesting to see Truss return to her Marxist roots and commit to a dialectic so rigorous she is at war with the person she was yesterday, who is a clown and a coward.

Mam is staying for a few days which today has involved a Celebrity Escape to the Country mini-marathon. Hats off to the narrator who, in a programme featuring Janet Street-Porter, managed to get "she cut her teeth in journalism at..." into the voice-over. Chapeau.

Good grief. This Union's almost pathological obsession with taking total control of the game at all levels - without coming close to paying its way - will be its undoing. www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/...

"The WRU proposes to eliminate a professional region as a consequence of its own systemic failure...We failed to provide, therefore you must disappear". Nathaniel Hale for Gwladrugby Who Guards the Guards? 2025 in Review gwladrugby.wordpress.com/2025/12/28/w...

Not sure why Nation.cymru opted to share this post again, today of all days, but absolutely no complaints from this end about it nation.cymru/culture... Big love to Nanna Phyllis and Ray Gravel, and Nadolig Llawen to all!

☠️MORTIFYING CHRISTMAS STORY TIME Ahead of the big day tomorrow, here’s the story of The Worst Thing That Ever Happened At Christmas. A few years ago, the two of us were invited to a communal Xmas dinner at a friend’s house, where all the guests were to bring different Xmas dinner components. 1/

So we watched Tinsel Town - the new Christmas film from Sky starring Kiefer Sutherland and Rebel Wilson which is inexplicably set in Yorkshire - and it is probably the worst thing I have ever seen with my own eyes.

The experience of 2014 should be enough to teach us that getting the numbers to call an EGM means nothing without significant and widespread support, but we seem set for a pretty febrile end of the year. www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/...

"You can choose to ignore reality. Youcannot choose immunity from reality. Reality, unlike WRU governance strategies, is not pending or subject to external consultants". Nathaniel Hale for Gwladrugby. gwladrugby.wordpress.com/2025/12/16/a...

These annual selection boxes are becoming as much a staple of Christmas viewing as the double issue Radio Times. Bravo, the squidges.

"It wouldn’t be unfair to say that Jac gives the impression that he isn’t too keen on leaving Brynaman more frequently than is strictly necessary. Driving him out of Wales completely is some achievement". gwladrugby.wordpress.com/2025/12/15/w...

So, that's a hard 'no' from Jac, then?

So that's the spine of the Welsh pack for the next 5 years. The three most recent captains of their country. All now playing outside Wales. And another two of the autumn squad now playing in England. Well played, WRU. No, really now. Well played.

It says something for the state of the game that, two years after its publication, 'Welsh Rugby: What Webt Wrong?' is back in the Top 10 fastest-selling English-language books for adults in Wales. Never let a good crisis go to waste, eh?

Dw i wrth fy modd i weld fy llyfr newydd yn un o Lyfrau’r Mis y Cyngor Llyfrau! I am really proud to see the 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 version of my book 'Wonderful Welsh Sporting Heroes'/ 'Arwyr Chwaraeon Cymru' get named by the Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru (Book Council of Wales) as a 'Book of the Month'. 📚 @ylolfa.bsky.social

So, having increased its spending on various Board members and senior management by 40% last year, the WRU finds ever more inventory to spend on itself. This time for a job which looks not dissimilar to that of a Director of Rugby, which it already has.

"Wales cannot match anyone of consequence right now. We have fallen out of the category of rugby nation and into the realm of rugby participant—present, but not competitive; involved, but not threatening". Nathaniel Hale for Gwladrugby. gwladrugby.wordpress.com/2025/11/30/t...

Quite a bad day for the WRU, all things considered.

Quite the day for teams not scoring any points.

Ffaberluss work by Max Douglas. He's had a terrific game.

POINTS MUNS!!!

Quite discombobulating to see the Scarlets absolutely dominating a game in the air. This isn't The Welsh Way [TM].