122
(^) Daily Mail, Saturday, August 17, 2019
Rugby Union
SIZE ISN’T EVERYTHING — ENGLAND CAN’T JUST
Doomsday
scenario of
injuries ending
World Cup^
dreams hangs
over crunch clash
BIG is not always beautiful.
Eddie Jones has picked a
massive team to face Wales and
a particularly big back row.
However, filling a side with huge
men will not strike any fear into
England’s World Cup opponents.
He knows that and in his ‘Gun XV’
would surely have Henry Slade
at outside centre as well as Tom
Curry and Sam Underhill as his
flankers, who will all add guile
and pace. Today’s pack weighs
143 stones — which actually is
not the largest eight Eddie has
picked — and in the second half
Joe Cokanasiga, Owen Farrell
and Manu Tuilagi could all
feature in a beefy back line. I
just hope England do not fall
into the trap of four years ago.
England fielded a big, slow team
against Wales and Australia in
the group stage of the World
Cup and were brutally exposed.
A big team looks good on paper
but when you are suddenly in a
really quick Test match on a fast
track, everything changes.
In 2015 the England back row
was Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw
and Billy Vunipola, with James
Haskell on the bench —
essentially three No 6s and a big,
ball-carrying No 8 — which is
what England have again today
in the form of Courtney Lawes,
Lewis Ludlam and Vunipola.
Against Wales at Twickenham in
the last World Cup, Sam
Warburton, Dan Lydiate and
Taulupe Faletau had a field day
— and David Pocock and
Michael Hooper wreaked havoc
a week later.
History cannot repeat itself this
time. The best sides in the world
— New Zealand, South Africa,
Australia, Wales or Ireland — do
not fear size. They tackle these
big guys. Teams can get away
with a power game in the Six
Nations but you will not
overpower the best southern
hemisphere sides in Japan.
South Africa would relish seeing
Cokanasiga, Tuilagi and a big
English back row. They will not
be out-muscled.
What they will fear is pace and
skill. England have that in the
form of Curry, Underhill and
Slade, so when those three are
By CHRIS
FOY
Rugby
Correspondent
E
NGLAND and Wales
know the risks, but
they won’t be hold-
ing back. One side
will seek to storm a
fortress in Cardiff, while the
other side try to defend it
with trademark passion.
The threat of further damage at
the worst possible time hangs
heavy over the occasion, but those
taking part cannot afford to let it
impact on what they do.
There will be an almighty ele-
phant in the room at the Princi-
pality Stadium as the cross-
border rivals lock horns again, six
days after the English beat the
Welsh 33-19 at Twickenham. It is
the doomsday scenario of serious
Jones said: ‘No. You’ve just got
to get on with it. It’s the risk
you take.
‘You can put them in
cotton wool and not be
ready for the World
Cup. It’d be easy to
have nice camps
and not play
games. You get
them all there fit
but not ready to
play rugby.
‘It’s like a boxer.
A boxer’s got to
box. A rugby play-
er’s got to play rugby.
There’s a risk involved.
If they get injured, you
feel for the player and then
look to see who the next best is.
Wales have lost their No 8 and 10
now, it’s difficult for them.’
It is mighty difficult. Warren
Gatland is having to come to
terms with the loss of Anscombe
and also Taulupe Faletau. The
latter in particular is
nigh-on irreplaceable.
But Wales have
today’s game and
back-to-back con-
tests against Ire-
land before they
even board the
plane to Tokyo.
After today,
England face
Ireland at Twick-
enham and Italy in
Newcastle.
It would be under-
standable for the men in
charge to lament the whole
tense process, but they need it.
‘With a squad of 31, we need
four games to get the necessary
game-time for everyone,’ said
Jones. ‘The reality is that most
of the squad will probably play in
those first two World Cup games
and we need them to be ready.
‘People get excited about these
warm-up games — you’ve got to
win and if you don’t, it’s the end
of the world. For me, it’s about
getting players fit, hard — exper-
iment with a few areas, see if
they come off and then hopefully
have the 31 you’ve selected on
the plane.’
Elliot Daly is one of the key
men who Jones must hope
is fully fit for England’s Septem-
ber 8 flight to Tokyo.
But the full-back is philosophi-
cal about the pitfalls of this
warm-up programme. Asked
about Anscombe’s knee liga-
ment injury, he said: ‘That was
obviously a bad injury that you
wouldn’t wish on anybody,
especially going into a World
Cup. But if you start thinking
about it, that’s when things
happen.’
England have retained most of
the starting team from last week-
end and the same stand-in
captain, George Ford. The visi-
tors will attempt to replicate the
power and intensity which saw
their experimental line-up sweep
past full-strength Wales in south
west London.
Conversely, the Welsh have a
proud home record to protect
and a desire to regain lost
momentum. According to
skipper Alun Wyn Jones his side
require a faster start and a stead-
ier set-piece after their lineout
malfunctioned and their scrum
was eclipsed at Twickenham.
‘We realise where we have got
to pick up,’ said the veteran lock.
Williams........... 15 ................... Daly
North ............... 14 .. McConnochie
Jon. Davies ...... 13 .............. Joseph
Parkes .............. 12 .............. Francis
Adams .............. 11 ...... Cokanasiga
Biggar .............. 10 .................. Ford
G Davies ............9 .................Heinz
Smith ................ 1 ................ Genge
Owens ...............2 ...Cowan-Dickie
Francis ..............3 ................... Cole
Ball ....................4 ..... Launchbury
Wyn Jones .......5 .................. Itoje
Wainwright ......6 ................Lawes
Moriarty ..........8 ........... Vunipola
Jamie Davies ...7 ............. Ludlam
TV: LIVE Sky Sports and Channel 4.
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France).
Subs: Dee, Jones,
Lewis, Shingler,
Navidi, A Davies,
Evans, Watkin.
Subs: George,
Marler, Sinckler,
Kruis, Singleton,
Youngs, Farrell,
Tuilagi.
WALES v ENGLAND
2.15pm Principality Stadium
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71
IF Ruaridh
McConnochie is fit he
will become the 71st
player Eddie Jones
has capped since he
took the England
job in 2016
Safety first: winger
Joe Cokanasiga in
training yesterday PA
CASUALTIES
WORLD CUP WINNING COACH
SIR CLIVE WOODWARD
injuries ending World Cup dreams,
which is what happened to poor
Gareth Anscombe last Sunday.
Wales’ first-choice fly half hurt
his knee and was helped off. It
turned out he had hurt it so badly
that he is out for the whole
season. Such 11th-hour sporting
cruelty is an unfortunate part of
this uncomfortable phase.
There is no magic solution. So
the opposing teams will rip into
each other this afternoon. None
want to go the same way as
Anscombe, but they cannot be
shielded.
England have several players
carrying minor injuries or recover-
ing from surgery — Mako Vunipola
and Jack Nowell, Henry Slade and
Ruaridh McConnochie, Tom
Curry, Sam Underhill and Mark
Wilson. They are stretched in cer-
tain areas. But asked if he worries
about more setbacks, coach Eddie
PRAYING
FOR NO