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Wales haven't made the quarter finals of the World Cup after a dismal performance against Fiji last weekend. Not wanting to take anything away from Fiji, they beat Wales fair and square on the day, but with all of the talent and experience in the Welsh squad (and outside it - but that's a rant for another day!), Wales shouldn't have been troubled.

The coach has been ditched, the senior management have said that it isn't their fault. Rubbish. They haven't supported their man and they should be looking at their own actions and responsbilities.

But why have I said that Welsh rugby will never prosper? In 1998 I was living in Sydney when the Australian football team, the Socerroos brought home a one all draw from the first leg of their World Cup qualifier against Iran. In the second home leg if Australia held Iran to a nil nil draw or won the game they would be on their way to France for the 1998 World Cup. Their seats on the plane were virtually guaranteed but against the odds it ended up as two all draw with Iran going through on away goal scores. The interesting part for me was reading the paper the following day. England's own Terry Venables was the Socerroo's manager and I was expecting him to be panned by the local media. But to my surprise the articles were all positive, about how the Soceroos need to learn from the experience and build towards the next goal. There were no calls for the coach's head either. But at the moment in Wales people are braying for heads and change. Instead the media and the WRU need to be positive and clear headed about where the game in Wales needs to be going and above all take a professional approach.

But the Welsh media and the WRU will never change and that's why rugby in Wales will never be as successful as that of our Southern Hemisphere cousins.

Gordon Brown has put another nail in the coffin of socialism today. Check my maths..

The minimum wage in the UK for adults is £5.52 per hour. Assuming that the working day is 7.5 hours and that there are 5 working days in a week that gives you a gross income of £207 per week.

Now let's multiply that by 46 to give an annual salary of £9,522.

Basic tax allowance means that the first £4,895 of that isn't taxed, leaving £4,627 to be taxed. Today the next £2,090 is taxed at the starting rate of 10%, leaving £2,537 to be taxed at the basic rate of 22%. So that's £209 + £558 = £767

Now let's look at that without the starting rate..

Basic tax allowance means that the first £4,895 of that isn't taxed, leaving £4,627 to be taxed at the reduced basic rate of 20%. That'll be £925.

Therefore a person in our country who is earning minimum wage will be £158 worse off every year due to the Budget changes today. There's only one word for that Gordon Brown. Criminal.

I'm hoping that a real representative of the people will oppose him in the Labour leadership contest, beat him soundly and wipe that smug grin off his face. It may even be worth joining the Labour party for.

After waiting about 5 minutes for the phone to be picked up at the end of the automated queuing system I was told by the lady on the phone that I'd have to call the local delivery office to find out more about my parcel. An 08700 number was given (national rate number) with no local number listed. Thanks.

Rang the 08700 number and after waiting for about 5 minutes for the phone to be picked up I was told 'I'll try and get hold of the driver' and put on hold with some terrible stylophone music for another five minutes... 'I'm awfully sorry but the driver is running behind'. 'No? Really?' was the sarcastic reply running through my head. 'He's got another two drop offs before he gets to you. They are running late because of the sheer number of deliveries that we've got to make today.'.

Pity that the Internet tracking facility on their website says that parcel wasn't put on the van until 08:53. Getting from Alton to Hook in 30 minutes at that time of the morning was going to be pushing it. So from my experience this morning I believe that:

"Interlink Express are a shoddy company that can't deliver the service that they sell. They also tell porkie pies to their customers."

If you're from Interlink Express and you are reading this then prove me wrong.

Oh and if you're wondering, the parcel turned up at 10:05, wrapped in yellow 'deliver by 9:30' tape and with no apology or mention of the 9:30 delivery by the driver.

The Water Board rang back this morning. I'll have a new bill within a couple of weeks. If it hadn't have been for the hose pipe ban I probably wouldn't have worried too much. But I don't see why I should pay so much for a service that I'm not allowed to use! All I wanted to do was hose my motorbike down - can't quite work out how filling two buckets, each taking about 6 minutes, from the same tap that I connect the host to and finish within 5 minutes uses less water.

Rant over ;)

Just had a cold call on my mobile. I get them every so often, usually to my Line 2 number which doesn't have a handset associated. Makes me smile when they don't have a clue what you're talking about when you say "This is a Line Two number". It's a geek thing!

Just had a call on my Line 1 number.

[withheld number calling]

"Hello my name is Marie and I'm ringing about your mobile phone upgrade."

"Oh really. Okay then."

"How long have you had your handset?"

"Oh let me think. About 10 days."

"Oh so you're not eligible for an upgrade then?"

"I don't know. It was a replacement under warranty."

"So does that count as a new upgrade?"

"I don't know. Aren't you meant to be the expert? Why don't you tell me?"

[click as Marie hangs up]

Problems in the past have taught me to go direct to Orange, an Orange shop or a reputable dealer like Carphone Warehouse when I want an upgrade. Then I've got some fallback rather than using a dodgy backstreet dealer who doesn't even give out their number when they call you. One thing to keep an eye out for is a discounted line rental for 18 months. That means that your contract is also going to be 18 months long too.

Just been reading about the government looking to force the merger of the four Police forces in Wales to create an all-Wales force. They should put Charles Clarke on the Arriva Train from Bangor to Cardiff via Shrewsbury (yes - the Shrewsbury that is in England!) or the TrawsCambria bus service from Bangor to Cardiff via Aberystwyth. Seven or eight hours later, with stiff legs and a sore arse, maybe he'll understand that geography and several million years of geology dictates the North/South separation.

Forgetting the complications of EU funding, Welsh Assembly funding and bi-lingual language requirements, a merger between the North Wales and Cheshire Constabularies may have been a positive step. But cross-Wales? I don't think so.

The losers in all of this are going to be the people of Dyfed and Powys who currently enjoy living in the safest area in England or Wales according to the Home Office's own statistics:

http://www.dyfedpowyspoliceauthority.co.uk/default.asp?articleID=6529

Surely the Home Office should be learning from the Dyfed Powys approach rather than forcing change upon them.

All-Wales Police Force: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4684590.stm

Rugby Trains... or the lack of them: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/4685944.stm