As Welsh rugby stares into an abyss of its own making, it’s worth having a quick reminder of the leadership vacuum that helped get us into this doomsday scenario. Back in December, The East Terrace flagged a young Ieuan Evans’s views on the WRU. They were opinions that in any genuine and competent leader would…
We ask ChatGPT to talk about rugby, the WRU, Clive Woodward, Johnny Sexton, the advantage law and Jane Austen
Rugby is changing. Rapidly. So is the world in which it is played. In recent months the natural language tool ChatGPT has become available for public use and we on The East Terrace wanted to see how well it understood rugby union. For those that are not in the know, ChatGPT is, to quote ZDNET,…
Testing times — How often have Wales won a rugby Test series?
Historically, Welsh sides are the owners of a poor reputation when it comes to touring. And when you thumb through the history books it’s hard to form much of an argument against the stereotype. Most of Wales’s great rugby exploits have tended to come on European soil. So with Wales due to embark on a…
Dear rugby broadcasters, please, just show us the line-outs
We’ve written before on The East Terrace about the poor choices broadcasters often make during live rugby coverage. A desire for ‘innovative’ and ‘engaging’ angles, or ‘drama’ in the coaching box, continually infuriates people who just want to watch the live action from a decent perspective. The recent Wales v France game was a classic…
Welsh coaches v Italy in the Six Nations (2000-2021)
Concluding our look at the history of Welsh coaches in the Five and Six Nations, this week we look at Wales’s results against Italy in the Championship. With Italy only joining the tournament for its expansion in 2000, this week’s article is a far more simple affair. A quick reminder before we start, this series…
Welsh coaches v France in the Five and Six Nations (1968-2021)
Continuing our look at the history of Welsh coaches in the Five and Six Nations, today we analyse Wales’s results against France since David Nash was appointed as the first Welsh coach in 1968. A quick reminder before we start, this series only looks at Five and Six Nations games and does not consider World…
The rugby celebration that angered the RFU and the media: John Scott’s ‘Caesar’ moment
Few major team sports have undergone the transformation rugby has in the past half century. From conditioning and size levels, to on field violence and changes to the tackle law, today’s professional version of rugby union is arguably more of a cousin to the amateur game than the exact same sport. One aspect of rugby…
Welsh coaches v Scotland in the Five and Six Nations (1968-2021)
Last week we took a look at how every Welsh coach has performed in the Five and Six Nations since the first coach was appointed ahead of the 1968 championship. We followed that with a look at the record for coaches against Ireland in the same period. With Scotland next up for a bruised Wales…
A statistical history of Welsh coaches in the Five and Six Nations
With the 2022 Six Nations upon us, we thought it would be the ideal time to look at the history of Welsh coaches in the Five/Six Nations. Wales first appointed a coach for the 1968 campaign, with former Welsh number eight David Nash taking the reins. We aren’t going to get into the tangled webs…
Welsh rugby and changing autumn colours: do Wales always play badly in their change kit?
It’s not really autumn in Wales unless the national rugby team splutters to a narrow win/draw/loss to a supposed ‘Tier Two’ nation in Cardiff. Sunday’s ugly win over a Fiji side that had a red card after 25 minutes (and picked up a further two yellows) was, well, a fairly typical autumn rugby day for…
Shades of Red (Part II): A brief history of Wales playing with only fourteen men
Our recent piece looking at each occasion Wales benefited from playing against shorthanded opponents was quite a success. So we’ve decided to follow it with another stroll down a red mist tinged memory lane, this time taking a look at the fateful moments that saw Wales reduced to inferior numbers. In 745 Welsh Test matches…
An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby – OUT NOW
An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby: Fun, Facts and Stories from 140 years of International Rugby from East Terrace editor James Stafford and illustrator Raluca Moldovan is out now from Polaris Publishing. Full of tales of fighting clergymen, poisoned arrows and deathbed confessionals, James Stafford’s An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby takes a unique look at the games, the players, the…
A fresh viewpoint on rugby from a neglected East Terrace
The East Terrace is back. But for those that have come to revisit an old haunt, the view is going to be a bit different. When the original website was launched back in 2004, there was very little irreverent rugby writing on the interweb. What sprinkle of rugby humour that did litter the net tended to…
East Terrace editor to publish history of Welsh national rugby team
The founder and editor of The East Terrace, James Stafford, is set to publish his first rugby book. In February 2021, Polaris Publishers will release “An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby: Fun Facts and Stories from 140 Years of International Rugby“. It will be the first in a series and followed by the history of…
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Chris Ashton wins disciplinary ‘Triple Crown’ award after biting ban
OIRGINALLY PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2016. Saracens and England winger Chris Ashton has completed a spectacular career treble in an English premiership game against Northampton last weekend. Ashton’s citing and subsequent 13 week ban for biting now means the loveable show-boater has been banned for biting, gouging and hair pulling during his union career! In light of…
East Terrace editor gets picked in second row for ‘Rugby’ – new prestige magazine
James Stafford, editor and founder of the The East Terrace, has penned a piece for Rugby – a new journal ‘capturing the spirit of the greatest game’. Stafford’s article looks at Nyrsko Rugby Club, a newly formed side in a small town in the Czech Republic. For anyone with an interest in quality sports writing, beautiful photography…
BBC rugby directors continue with avant-garde, replay heavy, Greengrass style camera work
We’ve written on the brilliance of BBC’s live rugby direction before. It was one of the most popular articles we’ve ever run. With a filming philosophy that blends Paul Greengrass, French Avant Garde and the freestyling attitude of a 90-year-old using an iPhone for the first time, BBC rugby directors can always be relied upon to…
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Wales release findings of New Zealand tour report
ORGINALLY PUBLISHED JULY 2016. After a grim summer tour to New Zealand, where Wales lost all four of its matches, the Welsh Rugby Union has released the findings of its post tour analysis report. Wales faced the All Blacks three times along with what was effectively a Chiefs ‘A/B’ team and lost by an aggregate…