9th March 2014
England 29-18 Wales
So Mr Gatland, it would seem that the boys beat the men…on reflection, the Wales manager may be regretting his pre-match comments, although it is doubtful whether England needed any further motivation than last year’s disastrous defeat in Cardiff. Actually, although that probably still rankled, one gets the impression from this England side that it is more about pride in playing any match for one’s country, and building for the future.
England next play Wales at Twickenham in one year, six months and a couple of weeks, in their Rugby World Cup pool encounter, a pool from which only two of England, Wales and Australia can emerge.
The manner of England’s victory was surprising; as Sir Clive Woodward wrote:
“This was an astonishingly comfortable victory for England, another significant step forward. Stuart Lancaster’s developing side will be serious contenders at the World Cup because they are playing a brand of rugby that is bringing the best out of their undoubted talent.”
Indeed. For whereas Wales were constantly kicking the ball away (poorly) and chasing (half-heartedly), England, both forwards and backs, were looking to run with the ball and pass it on before contact. Wales relied on “Warrenball”, a kind of battering around the fringes approach, the premise being that you may know what’s coming but you can’t do much about it. England knew what was coming and could indeed counter it, and Wales didn’t seem to have a Plan B. It was left to England to play the exciting, livewire rugby, and they did it very well. Danny Care caught the Welsh having a snooze at a penalty five metres from their line to dart over to score, and the chip ahead from Billy Twelvetrees for Burrell’s try was world-class. Farrell kicked a perfect seven from seven, and although silly penalties kept Wales in touch, with only a five point gap at half-time, they never looked like winning.
In fact, if it had not been for Leigh Halfpenny, Wales would have been beaten far more emphatically – his penalty kicking was perfect, and his brave tackle on Burrell deprived England of another try; I say brave because to get Burrell into touch without being able to fall over the line, Halfpenny had to make the tackle with his head on the wrong side of his opponent’s body. Unfortunately in saving the try, Halfpenny dislocated his shoulder and is now out for the rest of the season.
So, 29 – 18, the Triple Crown, and Cole, Corbisiero, Billy Vunipola, Parling, Croft and Tuilagi all still to return. Things are looking quite good, even if Ireland are still favourites to win the Championship.
And on that note, I have detected a little bit of whining (though not from many rugby people) about that – how can Ireland be Champions if England beat them? Well, because England beat them very narrowly with home advantage, and lost in Paris to France whereas Ireland will have to win there – that’s why. OK?
However, although France look pretty awful, Ireland only win in Paris about once every forty years, so…it will be interesting to see if England go out against Italy trying to win by fifty points or so. They won’t say they are, of course, that would be disrespectful and a bit silly, wouldn’t it Mr Gatland? But we’ll see…
