Editorial: Singing may not prove to be a winner

Just when I thought I'd lost interest in our national game, the buzz of an imminent test makes me realise it's hopeless to resist.

It's been a long time between test rugby drinks. To be precise, 223 days since that great night in October last year where we lifted the Webb Ellis Cup at Twickenham.

So, ahead of the All Blacks and Welsh test this evening, I'm a little ashamed to say I'm like an 8-year-old kid the day before his birthday.

I can't help myself.

A friend once rather uncharitably told me the singular good thing to come from Wales was Catherine Zeta-Jones. Which of course is outrageously miserly. He completely forgot Dylan Thomas.

And, for that matter, Roald Dahl - the greatest children's storyteller of the 20th century.

Thomas was a hopeless drunk but a majestic poet, who wrote the most marvellous verse, "Do not go gentle into that good night", where he pleads with his ill father not to succumb to death - "Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

What's not to love about the Welsh team?

For a start, confusion must reign when it comes to calls, given the wealth of players whose surnames are limited to either Williams, Davies, Jenkins or Jones.

Inimitably endearing. The uniformity of names suggests a tight-knit clan, as does the Land of our Fathers anthem, which will no doubt thunder across Eden Park.

Because no team can croon like the Welsh. Their passion for singing is unparalleled. A good friend was with a group of Kiwis at Cardiff Arms a few years ago for an earlier Wales-New Zealand clash. He said even a boisterous haka by supporters was obliterated by the Welsh pipes in the grandstands.

Maybe that's why they haven't beaten us since 1953 - all their energy is spent during the anthem, whereas the All Blacks keep their powder dry for the haka.

Hence, while I'm a huge fan of the men in black, I can't resist backing the staunch who wave the flag with the dragon on it.

One thing's for sure, the men in red will "not go gentle" tonight at Eden Park.