Monday 28 September 2015

World Cup Review - England 25 - 28 Wales


Usually, I try to be impartial with these things.  Which is difficult, when you're a proud Englishmen and you have several loud-mouthed Welsh friends.  It's even more difficult when a loss, to the bitterest of rivals, is followed by a morning consisting of 8 hours travelling and a hangover brought about by 3 days worth of Oktoberfest.  I'm not going to lie.  Sunday was a really, really bad day.

But I suspect that Saturday night was pretty special for some.  An atmosphere that needed no introduction, between two of rugby's oldest enemies, was suddenly electrified further by a half-cut Twickenham crowd and a full-on laser show.  Both sides had their selection issues before this game with Wales' the better documented - the loss of Jonathan Davies, Rhys Webb and Leigh Halfpenny would hurt any team, but the likes of Manu Tuilagi, Jonathan Joseph and Dylan Hartley wouldn't be a bad addition either.  The usual pre-game exchange of words had gone on but, finally, the game everyone had been waiting for - since that World Cup draw back in 2012 - could finally get underway.

The nerves out there were easy to see as, almost straight from the kick-off, Tom Youngs and Courtney Lawes were penalised in quick succession for not rolling away, giving Dan Biggar a simple shot to get the scoreboard ticking in just the second minute.  Both were pretty harsh calls from Jerome Garces, but he would prove to be consistent in his strict application throughout and - for England anyway - this was an ominous indication of what was to come. 

Aside from the brief break when Dan Biggar was lining up his three points of the afternoon, the first 10 minutes were scrappy and chaotic, with Scott Williams and Anthony Watson both catching the eye with sharp breaks, only for good scrapping at the breakdown to kill their sides' momentum.  One area where there very clearly was an advantage though, was the scrum.  Now, I suspect that many people see Dan Cole in their nightmares for other reasons quite aside from those that our rugby-related, but Gethin Jenkins must especially hate the sight of him as he found himself backpedding at a rate of knots in the first two scrums - the second of which led to a penalty which was smoothly knocked over by Owen Farrell.

Cole might have been patting himself on the back but he was the next to allow himself to fall victim to the whistle of Garces, as the prop was alleged to have not been supporting his body weight in a mail when contesting possession.  Again, it was a marginal call which other referees may have overlooked, but with Garces position made clear and Jenkins pleading for the penalty, Cole only had himself to blame as Biggar again stroked Wales into the lead.

As the game began to settle into a familiar rhythm, though, it started to become clear that the hosts were sneaking the physical battle of the gainline, with a couple of meetings between Sam Burgess and Jamie Roberts setting shudders through the stands and, playing off front foot ball, Ben Youngs was starting to cause mayhem around the fringes.  After one snipe nearly saw him scoot through, the move slowed down and the ball came back to Farrell, who somehow scuffed over a drop goal from 40 metres under massive pressure.

Speaking of massive pressure, the Welsh scrum wasn't getting any better either, with Farrell banging over another three points after another penalty was conceded at the set piece - although, to be honest, if I were Welsh I would have been raising questions over the angle of Marler's drive.  The game was now definitely swaying into the hosts' favour and, in the 26th minute, England made what already looked - at the time - like it could be a killer blow.  Off the back of a lineout, Watson came bursting through the gap and, although his pass didn't go to hand, Mike Brown wriggled his way forward to get the men in white just 10 metres out, where Ben Youngs isolated Scott Williams to put Jonny May round and near the posts.  One Farrell conversion later and, suddenly, England had a 10 point lead and a try that looked very, very easy.  In a game predicted to be on a knife-edge, surely that would prove to be too big a mountain for Wales to overcome?  The warning signs that this was absolutely not the case were there when Scott Williams caught Sam Burgess too narrow and surged through a gap, only to be denied by Brown, and they were confirmed when Biggar added yet another penalty to make the half-time score 16 - 9.  England were well on top, but Wales were hanging on.

Hanging on by their fingernails, to be precise, at the start of the second half.  England's lineout was working well and the pressure forced a penalty, again smashed over by Farrell, and then a lightning break by the impressive Ben Youngs brought the pressure straight back on the men in red, only for Burgess to kick the ball away.  It would prove to be the first of many costly wastes, as shortly afterwards the dead-eyed Biggar was booting another 3 points following a smartly taken quick tap by Gareth Davies.  In hindsight, this is when England should have started to worry - they were playing nearly all of the rugby, but Wales were still within sniffing distance.

Farrell and Biggar exchanged yet more penalties from yet more breakdown offences, but England started to lose some of their thrust when first Ben Youngs, and then Billy Vunipola, were forced off injured - arguably England's two best players.  They weren't the only ones, though, as the Welsh injury curse struck again with, unbelievably, three players struck down within five minutes - Scott Williams, Hallam Amos and Liam Williams the unlucky individuals.  It led to a huge backline reshuffle for the Welsh - George North moved to centre with Alex Cuthbert coming onto the wing, scrum half Lloyd Davies had to fill in on the other wing, and Rhys Priestland slotted in at 15.  In amongst all this, Farrell and Biggar had, unsurprisingly, exchanged more penalties, and England had gone close again after Jonny May and Watson carved open the Welsh defence, only for the ball to go to ground.

With 12 minutes remaining, a makeshift backline for Wales and a home side seemingly cruising and in control with a 7 point lead, surely there was only one way this game could go?

Here, it pains me to say it, was one of the more remarkable pieces of rugby I've witnessed - and nobody, not even Welsh supporters, really saw it coming.  Having not really looked threatening for most of the game, the men in red suddenly found space on the left - space created by Brad Barritt's bizarre decision to rush up when 60 metres out, leaving a huge overlap - the substitute Lloyd Williams scooted down the wing and, under pressure from the cover defence, brilliantly kicked the ball infield where the onrushing Gareth Davies scooped up the bouncing ball to crash over under the posts.  It was a wonderful piece of spatial awareness and skill from Williams, a man who was out of position and only just onto the pitch, and well-worthy of squaring the game up following Biggar's conversion.

Whilst most of the fans were torn between applauding the brilliance of the Welsh score and wondering how in the hell they were still even in the game, the visitors now had their eyes on the kill.  England had lost Billy Vunipola to injury and, strangely, had taken Sam Burgess off, meaning their ability to get over the gain line off phase ball was much more limited - Wales, though, looked hungry and supremely clinical.  And there was only one place a 50 metre penalty, against Mike Brown for holding on, was going when Biggar stepped up with his little shuffle.  Right bang between the posts.

Twickenham was stunned.  Through sheer grit, doggedness and determination, Wales had stayed in the game and then, in an explosion of class and ruthlessness, had snatched the game away.  This was Ali v Foreman stuff.  England had one more chance to get their opponent onto the canvas, one last penalty in the Welsh 22.  With the way Farrell had been kicking, this was going straight over - and a draw would be the result.  Not a disaster for either side, given Australia's failure to pick up a bonus point against Fiji.  Chris Robshaw, though, made the big call to go for the corner - if it comes off, it's a great decision; if not, well...ask Chris.  I have no idea why England threw to the front of that lineout, and why they didn't at least try to shift the point of contact, but Wales defended the maul superbly, smashing it into touch.  One last scrum later, the ball was off the park, and Warren Gatland's men had probably their most famous victory over England - certainly up there with 'that' hammering in Cardiff.

The brilliance of this Welsh win should not be understated - especially given the makeshift backline that they had to field - but, equally, the failure of England to win this game should not be overstated.  The easy thing to do now would be for England to listen to the media and lose hope - but this was not an outclassing like we saw in Cardiff two years ago.  This was a classic smash and grab by Wales, but it was a game where England were the better side for 65 minutes - and I don't think you'd find too many Welsh fans disagreeing with that.  Instead, in the cold light of day, England have to look at the decisions which cost them the game, dust themselves up and get ready to go again.  They should have won this game - but they didn't, and they need to use that anger and get a "backs against the wall" mentality ready for Australia.

Because knock out rugby is starting early for them.


Player Ratings

1.  Joe Marler - 6 - Much improved in the scrum, although if I was Welsh I would have been questioning why Jerome Garces seemed happy enough to let him drive in at a slight angle.  Still not as prominent in the loose as we've come to expect.

2.  Tom Youngs - 7 - The first lineout went astray but he was pretty much flawless afterwards, hitting 8 without fail.  A big contribution in the loose as always, particularly in defence.

3.  Dan Cole - 7 - Had Gethin Jenkins on toast in the scrum and impressed with a big tackle count.  He was a handful at the breakdown but he was one of those who failed to adapt to Garces' strict interpretation, getting pinged twice for ruck offences - one of which was booted by Biggar.

4.  Geoff Parling - 6 - Ruled the skies in the set piece and worked hard all over the park, but as one of the leaders of the team he has to take some responsibility for some of the brain-farts by the England side.  I assume he called the front-pod ball on 'that' lineout which was so easy to defend.

5.  Courtney Lawes - 5 - Only lasted half the game and, although he was effective in the set piece, he really struggled to get into things in the loose.  Gave away the first penalty needlessly, too.

6.  Tom Wood - 4 - What a shame that, after a couple of impressive showings, he seemed to disappear in the one where he was needed most.  Only made three tackles all game and couldn't get into the match on the carry either - in addition to giving away two penalties.

7.  Chris Robshaw - 5 - Speaking of a shame, Robshaw's odd call to go for the lineout, rather than the posts, will haunt him forever.  Until then he had got the better of Sam Warburton and had earned a couple of turnovers, but as skipper he also has responsibility for his side's chronic lack of discipline.

8.  Billy Vunipola - 8 - A relentless display of running that was only stopped when he damaged a knee, an injury which has sadly ruled him out of the tournament.  Carried for more metres than any other forward and got through a mountain of work in defence.

9.  Ben Youngs - 8 - After a very average game against Fiji, this was much more like it.  Youngs set the tempo and his sniping was a constant threat, setting up May for England's only try.  It was worrying how much energy his side lost when he was forced off the pitch.

10.  Owen Farrell - 7 - Vindicated Lancaster's selection with a flawless display from the tee and weighed in with some big tackles, too.  His kicking out of hand was, however, a mixed bag and towards the end that helped pass the momentum back to the Welsh.

11.  Jonny May - 6 - On hand to finish well and made some promising runs in the first hour, but faded from the spotlight as the game descended into a battle of attrition.

12.  Sam Burgess - 6 - He certainly did more good things than bad, and can be pretty pleased with how he dealt with Jamie Roberts - he probably shaded the battle of the gainline.  Caught out glaringly in the first half though, when Scott Williams coasted through, but luckily England got away with it.  Couldn't get his offload going, however.

13.  Brad Barritt - 3 - He made 4 metres all game, and that is simply not good enough for an international centre.  Not only that but, for me, the break out for the Welsh try was a glaring defensive error on his part as he rushed up and found himself in no-man's land.  There was no need to do that in that position.

14.  Anthony Watson - 6 - I've seen him get pillared in certain corners for the above break leading up to the try, but he was left high and dry by Barritt.  Some early glimpses of him ability but he was otherwise pretty well shackled.

15.  Mike Brown - 7 - Sometimes he is a bit too agro for his own good, but to be honest every team needs 'one of them'.  He was superb under the high ball and once again, dangerous coming forward, but that late penalty will weigh heavily on his mind.

Reserved - 3 - Some of them were forced, such as Vunipola and Ben Youngs, so it is hard to blame Lancaster for those, but the introductions of Ford and Wigglesworth in particular seemed to cause England to lose their rhythm and their shape.  Only Joe Launchbury really emerged with credit.

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