Sport Rugby Union
Why Wales defeat
was not ‘perfect’ for
ambitious England
Lions fail to shift outcome
I
t seems that England are
shuffling rather than
sprinting towards the World
Cup. One step forward last
week at Twickenham, one
step back at the Principality
Stadium on Saturday, much like
their Six Nations Championship
campaign.
The clean bill of health reported
from England physios remains
more important than the 13-6
scoreline, but so much of the
optimism engendered by the first
leg of their double-header against
Wales now seems misplaced.
After the fun in the sun of their
33-19 throw-around, this was, as
Wales head coach Warren Gatland
observed, a “proper Test match”
with a ton of niggle, which is
exactly what England head
coach Eddie Jones said he
wanted. “Today was almost
the perfect World Cup prep
game for us,” Jones said. “We
deliberately set it up, putting
our young team out to
test their mentality. I
thought they handled
it well.”
Yet while it is true
that Wales started
with the more
experienced XV,
England headed
into the final
quarter with 11
British and Irish Lions
on the field and were still
found wanting.Lapse in attention
England will feel
aggrieved at the
circumstances leading up
to George North’s try.
Referee Pascal Gauzere
incorrectly allowed Dan
Biggar to take a penalty
while Anthony Watson was
still making his way to the
sin-bin and Ben Youngs was
waiting to replace Willi Heinz.
“I think we all thought that was
the law,” Jones said. “So maybe
the yellow card should have
gone to the referee.”
That the score should not
have stood is a moot point;England had just come out of a
minute-plus team huddle and still
failed to react. “It’s happened here
and I dare say something like that
will not happen again,” Youngs,
the replacement scrum-half, said.
“There’s nothing as players that
you can do about that except take
the one lesson which is don’t
switch off when there’s a penalty.”Kicking game second best
England’s problems went beyond
one momentary lapse in
concentration. They too often
seemed to be caught between two
stools, neither kicking to compete
nor for territory. Only one kick, a
George Ford high ball which was
spilt by Leigh Halfpenny, was
successfully regathered.
Wales by contrast were far more
aggressive in their aerial contests
led by Biggar and Halfpenny, even
if Watson provided some strong
competition. Nor could England
get anything going on the front
foot, with Halfpenny doing an
excellent job of mopping up
several grubbers behind while
Ford twice kicked the ball dead
from good positions.Bullied at breakdown
Wales completely turned the
tables from last week by
displaying far more intensity
at the breakdown. England’s
best spells of first-half
possession were both
ended when Nicky
Smith and then
Josh Navidi got
over the ball to
force penalties
for not
releasing.
It was a similar
story in the
second half as
England’s most
threatening attack,
which involved George,
Youngs and Watson
combining down the
right-hand side, came to
nought as Lewis Ludlam
became isolated and was
picked off by Ken Owens.
Even if they were not
forcing penalties, Wales
continually slowed the ball
down, putting the brakes on
an already ponderous
England attack.Blunt attack
England’s tally of six points is
their lowest score in six years
after a chastening 30-3 defeatat the same venue. Partly as a result
of conceding so much territory and
possession, it took 32 minutes just
for England to enter the Wales 22
and that only lasted a couple of
seconds as Heinz knocked on in
the tackle.
They did get behind the Wales
defence in the second half, notably
with the Watson break and Maro
Itoje intercept but, on both
occasions, poor decision-making
cost England. Credit must go to
Shaun Edwards, Wales’s defence
coach, but as Youngs admitted:
“We let them get off the hook
through our inaccuracies.”
Like every other team, England
are holding back many planned
moves in the warm-up matches,
which Youngs also felt constricted
their options. “We’re going into
these games without much on the
menu in terms of attack because
you don’t want to show much,”
Youngs said. “It tests us when you
keep going back to the same
moves, but that’s fine.”Maul stalled
A few fans inside the Principality
Stadium might have had a case of
deja vu of four years ago as
England kicked to the corner with
time almost up, only for Wales to
sack the close-range line-out.
Twice in the second half and once
in the first, England threw short
and Wales stopped the maul in its
tracks forcing turnovers.
“One of the lads said we didn’t
stay square enough and allowed
them to turn us,” Courtney Lawes,
the loose forward, said. “Our scrum
went really well, but we didn’t
translate that well into the maul.”
As with England’s attacking
strike moves, Jones says they have
more up their sleeve and declared
himself unconcerned by the
number Wales did on the maul.
“No, not at all,” Jones said.
“That’s what these games are for.
We went in with a particular
strategy, we wanted to get our maul
stronger and obviously the defence
knows what you are going to do. If
you add a few variations, it
becomes harder to defend.” In fact,
little else seemed to concern Jones.
“I’m so pleased with our
performance,” he said. “It’s an
outstanding game for us.” Beauty,
clearly, is in the eye of the beholder.Scores 3-0 Biggar pen; 8-0 North try; 10-0 Biggar con;
10-3 Ford pen; 10-6 Ford pen; 13-6 Halfpenny pen.
Wales L Halfpenny; G North, J Davies (J Navidi 24),
H Parkes (O Watkin 75), J Adams; D Biggar (J Evans 75),
G Davies (A Davies 61); N Smith (W Jones 47), K Owens,
T Francis (D Lewis 47), J Ball (E Dee 66), A Wyn Jones,
A Wainwright (A Shingler 41), J Davies, R Moriarty.
England E Daly; A Watson, J Joseph, P Francis (O Farrell
52), J Cokanasiga; G Ford (M Tuilagi 61), W Heinz
(B Youngs 47); E Genge (J Marler 45), L Cowan-Dickie
(J George 45), D Cole (K Sinckler 61), J Launchbury
(G Kruis 54), M Itoje, C Lawes, L Ludlam (J Singleton 76),
B Vunipola. Sin-bin Watson (31).
Referee Pascal Gauzere (France).Daniel Schofield
at the Principality
Stadiumld
tyYes, it was only a friendly
Test but there were
several areas of concern
ahead of the World Cup
By Daniel Schofield
Head coach Eddie Jones hinted that
England will deploy a more expan-
sive style in their penultimate
warm-up game against Ireland on
Saturday.
After picking largely experimen-
tal teams for the double-header
against Wales, Jones is likely to se-
lect a full-strength side at Twicken-
ham. With no fresh injuries, Jones
will only be missing Exeter pair
Henry Slade and Jack Nowell along
with Bath wing Ruaridh McConno-
chie, who pulled out of the team to
face Wales on Saturday morning.
Flankers Mark Wilson, Tom
Curry and Sam Underhill are all
nearing a return to full fitness.“We’ll definitely have a different se-
lection strategy and definitely have
a difference in the way we want to
play,” Jones said.
“We’ve deliberately tried to play
through our set-piece the last two
weeks and play a power game.
“I wanted to test that out to see
where we needed to improve. And
we’ve got some good improve-
ments in our scrum.
“We were able to play a young
team who were able to learn about
playing an opposition that’s got
everything to lose, home crowd,
home referee, and you’ve got to be
able to stay in the game. And we
stayed in the game.
“And then we were able to give
some of our more experienced guys
a bit of time at the end.”Coach ready to change style
On the ball: Eddie Jones was
pleased with the performance,pp
a ton of niggle, which is
tly what England head
h Eddie Jones said he
ed. “Today was almost
erfect World Cup prep
e for us,” Jones said. “We
erately set it up, putting
young team out to
heir mentality. I
ght they handled
ll.”
t while it is true
Wales started
the more
rienced XV,
and headed
the final
ter with 11
sh and Irish Lions
he field and were still
d wanting.pse in attention
and will feel
ieved at the
umstances leading up
eorge North’s try.
ree PascalGauzere
rrectly allowed Dan
ar to take a penalty
e Anthony Watson was
making his way to the
in and Ben Youngs was
ng to replace Willi Heinz.
ink we all thought that was
aw,” Jones said. “So maybe
ellow card should have
to the referee.”
hat the score should not
stood is a moot point;Bullied at breakdown
Wales completely turned the
tables from last week by
displaying far more intensit
at the breakdown. England’
best spells of first-half
possession were both
ended when Nicky
Smith and then
Josh Navidi got
overtheball to
force penalties
for not
releasing.
It was a simila
story in the
second half as
England’s most
threatening attack
which involved Georg
Youngs and Watson
combining down the
right-hand side, came
nought as Lewis Ludla
became isolated and wa
picked off by Ken Owen
Even if they were not
forcing penalties, Wales
continually slowed the ba
down, putting the brakes o
an already ponderous
England attack.Blunt attack
England’s tally of six points is
their lowest score in six years
after a chastening 30-3 defeaOn the ball: Eddie Jones wa
pleased with the performan20 *** Monday 19 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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