The Daily Telegraph - 19.08.2019

Sport Rugby Union

By Ben Coles

at the Principality Stadium

Warren Gatland sensed during the

warm-up before facing England on

Saturday that the mood around his

Wales side was different from their

defeat six days before.

“I said to Neil Jenkins before

kick-off that it felt like we were in

for a proper Test match today.”

The head coach referenced the

need for Wales to play with “an

edge” both in naming his team and

after Saturday’s win over England.

That edge over the last two years

has propelled Wales to No 1 in the

world, and it returned after the

Wales find an

edge again to

wreak revenge

coaching staff were more hands-on

with Wales preparations.

“Before Twickenham, in the way

we trained and prepared, we were

quite calm in allowing the players to

take that responsibility,” Gatland

said. “We weren’t quite on edge last

week compared to where we’d be

for a Six Nations match because

they are friendly games, but the

players drove a lot this week and

you could tell in the changing

rooms, they were on Test match

edge today. It goes to show how im-

portant that mental stuff is. The All

Blacks and Australia showed us how

quickly things can turn around if

you’re mentally right.”

This was hardly a recovery on a

par with New Zealand’s 36-0 rout of

Australia earlier on Saturday, but

Wales were certainly better.

Had a dead leg not forced Aaron

Wainwright off at half-time then he

might have been man of the match,

given almost every line-out went

his way in the first half, claiming

Breathing fire:

George North

on the charge

Australia are considering a last-

ditch attempt to fast-track Sara-

cens’ Will Skelton back into their

squad for the World Cup.

Michael Cheika, the Wallabies

head coach, whose side lost 36-0 to

the All Blacks on Saturday, said

there was an outside chance the 6ft

8in lock could be cleared to return

for the tournament.

Skelton would need to sign an

agreement to return to Australian

domestic rugby in 2020, to add to

his 18 caps, next month. Cheika said

his contract situation would be ex-

amined in the next few days,

“We’ll see what the discussion is

there over the next day or two, be-

fore the squad is selected,” Cheika

said when asked if any players from

outside the current squad would

be considered. Asked specifically

about Skelton, he added: “If the

situation about coming back to

Australia is any clearer, he

would be, if his contract situa-

tion was right, to meet the rules.

That’s unlikely with only a day or

two to go. But more to pick from,

the more options that gives us.”

Wallabies weigh up move for Skelton

New Zealand fly-half Richie

Mo’unga, meanwhile, is expected

to recover in time for the World

Cup after suffering a shoulder in-

jury in the Bledisloe Cup win at

Eden Park.

Mo’unga fell heavily in a gang

tackle and was replaced. An initial

diagnosis cleared him of serious

damage, but he could miss the All

Blacks’ final World Cup warm-up

match against Tonga on Sept 7.

“Richie’s shoulder looks like an AC

joint issue,” Steve Hansen, the head

coach, said. “He’ll be sore for a cou-

ple of weeks. Hopefully no more.”

Hansen said the uncapped Josh

Ioane could join the squad for the

match against the Pacific Islanders

in Hamilton. The All Blacks have

little depth at fly-half beyond

Beauden Barrett and Mo’unga.

Rookie wingers George Bridge

and Sevu Reece both impressed af-

ter they replaced Ben Smith and

Rieko Ioane against Australia,

while Patrick Tuipulotu may have

done enough to earn a ticket to

Japan, with Brodie Retallick recov-

ering from a dislocated shoulder.

five throws plus his early steal. At

Twickenham it was England’s back

row who dominated the collisions,

Billy Vunipola in particular. Wain-

wright, along with Ross Moriarty

and Josh Navidi, after his early in-

troduction for James Davies, this

time looked the more imposing

unit. Stopping England’s two driv-

ing mauls in the second half, both

five metres out from the try line,

showed timing and aggression.

“Aaron has had a couple of regu-

lar starts and he’ll get better with

those opportunities,” Gatland said.

“There’s no doubt he’s impressed a

lot of people in the squad with his

physicality and how quickly he’s

learning. He’s a player for the fu-

ture, who should get a lot of caps.”

Wales will be better for coming

through their injury woes, starting

with Liam Williams’s withdrawal

which saw Leigh Halfpenny make a

first Test start since November.

“We showed some fantastic char-

acter and big cojones out there.

That’s what these boys are about,

they wear this jersey with pride,”

Gatland said. “Teams are going to

beat us because we’re such a small

nation, but if they do, they’re going

to have to play pretty well, because

these boys are pretty proud Welsh-

men who won’t roll over easy.”

Not that it meant Wales had to be

serious all the time. Ken Owens’s

feigned frustration during George

North’s try, arms outstretched in

mock dismay that Dan Biggar’s

cross-field kick had not fallen his

way, became a social-media hit.

“I thought it was going to be

mine at one point but it was more

relief that it wasn’t going to bounce

off my chest,” Owens said. “I think

rugby can get a bit serious, so we

scored a great try and so we will

have a bit of fun with this. It was a

relief that I didn’t have to catch it as

it could have gone anywhere!”

Owens’s overthrow at the line-

out was pivotal to England’s win at

Twickenham, so few will have been

happier with Wales’s 100 per cent

record in that area this week, win-

ning all 15 of their throws. Wales’s

system in that moment faltered un-

der pressure. One week on, they

held their nerve to see out victory.

“You have to back yourself. We

reviewed [the line-out] and the pro-

cess was not quite right at that line-

out, and we spoke about sticking to

what we do,” Owens said. “We

needed to start a lot better. The first

20 minutes last week cost us the

game. We spoke about our line

speed defensively and our accuracy

in attack and we delivered that.

“In fairness, the boys came up

with some big plays. Dillon Lewis

with a big turnover, turning the

maul over, which is a big strength

of England, and with a scrum

five metres out I managed to get a

clean strike and get it out quick.

Then it comes down to patience.

We are not the finished article yet

though.”

World

rankings

1 Wales

89.43pts

2 New Zealand

89.4

3 Ireland

88.69

4 South Africa

86.83

5 England

86.79

6 Australia

84.05

7 France

80.58

8 Scotland

79.01

Talks: Saracens

lock Will Skelton

could yet make

the World Cup

st 36 - 0 to

rday, said

nce the 6 ft

to return

o sign an

Australian

to add to

heika said

uld be ex-

ays,

cussion is

r two, be-

d,” Cheika

yers from

ad would

ecifically

“If the

back to

er, he

situa-

e rules.

a daday or

pick k frfom,

es usus.”.”

Eden Par

Mo’un

tackle an

diagnosi

damage,

Blacks’ fi

match a

“Richie’s

joint issu

coach, sa

ple of we

Hanse

Ioane co

match a

in Ham

little d

Beauden

Rooki

and Sevu

ter they

Rieko I

while Pa

done en

Japan, w

ering fro

Gatland puts win down

to right mental approach

Imposing back row help

turn tables on England

22 *** Monday 19 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
RELEASED BY "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws