V2 The Sunday Times April 10, 2022 19Mercer
warns
Quins to
prepare
for battle
proved that is wrong in the Top 14 —
we are a big, fit pack and I cannot
wait for the battle.”
Mercer packs down at No 8 behind
Paul Willemse, the lock who helped
France win the Six Nations by
bringing a fearsome physicality.
Willemse has been equally important
to Montpellier and Mercer is a big
fan. “What can you say about Paul?
He is an amazing physical specimen
with a natural strength I have never
seen and didn’t play against in
the Premiership.”
Mercer won two England caps in
2018; however, he then dropped
down Eddie Jones’s list of No 8s, with
Billy Vunipola, Tom Curry, Sam
Simmonds and Alex Dombrandt
among those favoured for the role.
By moving to France, Mercer has
ruled himself out of England
selection unless there is a special
circumstance that Jones could
invoke, which is highly unlikely as the
head coach has a wealth of English-
based back-row talent at his disposal.
“I do have aspirations to play for
England and I am still young but I
need to be here in France developing
as a player,” Mercer said.When Zach Mercer announced he
was quitting English rugby last year
to join Montpellier it appeared to be a
perfect marriage between a talented
player who prefers to operate in the
wide open spaces and a Top 14 league
populated by slow behemoths.
The actuality has been very
different and Mercer is preparing to
show that perceptions about French
club rugby and his own game are
outdated when Montpellier, the Top
14 leaders, take on Harlequins, the
Gallagher Premiership champions, in
today’s last-16 first leg at the Stade
Yves-du-Manoir.
Harlequins are doing their best to
propagate the view that you can still
put French teams under stress —
particularly in the final quarter — by
playing a high-tempo game that
exposes the amount of training
undertaken by Top 14 squads. Marcus
Smith, the Harlequins and England
fly half, previewed the match by
insisting: “We’re going to try to take
them out of their comfort zone.”
Mercer, the former Bath No 8, has
heard it all before and havingimmersed himself in life at
Montpellier he has a different view
and it is one that should worry Smith
and his fellow Harlequins.
“Everyone’s thought process on
the French league is that they are
unfit and just really big blokes,” he
said. “I can tell you I did the hardest
pre-season I have experienced in my
professional rugby career. The fitness
work, physicality and intensity in the
heat really showed me how fit these
French guys are.
“I was naive when I came over
here and didn’t think the league
would be this tough and I can fully
understand why France won the Six
Nations quite comfortably. Playing
against them every week you see the
size of these blokes and their skill
sets. Everyone said while I was at
Bath that I could play, but could I put
my head where it hurts?
“I can tell you that if I wasn’t
prepared to do that then the coaches
wouldn’t be picking me week in,
week out. You need that ability to do
that or else you won’t survive. I am
not saying I am there yet and I have
more work to do, but I am excited
about how my game is developing inChris JonesMercer is developing at Montpellierareas that were perceived to be
weaknesses in the Premiership.
No one can now doubt that I have
that physicality.
“People would say I was only
interested with the ball in my hands
and while I am not the biggest guy
[6ft 3in], the coaches at Montpellier
have given me their backing and the
freedom to get my hands on the ball.
Quins won the Premiership because
they have the best skill set in the
league and like to play at a high
tempo and I am sure teams think that
we cannot cope with it. We haveWales did land a punch in the 69th
minute when replacement hooker
Kelsey Jones forced over from a rare
sortie into the England 22.
But the attack was their only one of
the second half and normal service
quickly resumed.
By the time No 8 Sarah Hunter
pounced for England’s final try, the
only question was how gruesome the
end result was going to be.
Wales will return home
disappointed at the margin of defeat
because the realists in their camp will
have been targeting a losing margin
of no more than 40 points.
England will be more than aware
of the context of their victory, yet can
reflect with quiet satisfaction ahead
of what looks an inevitable push
towards the grand slam.England A Dow (E Kildunne 15), J Breach, E
Scarrett, H Rowland, S McKenna; Z Harrison, L
Packer (N Hunt 40); V Cornborough (C Powell 63),
L Davies (M Muir 63), S Bern (S Brown 67); P Cleall,
A Ward; A Matthews; M Packer, S Hunter.
Wales K Powell; L Neumann, H Jones, K Lake, J
Joyce; R Wilkins, F Lewis (K Bevan 56); G Pyrs (C
Hope 60), C Phillips (K Jones 54), D Rose (C Hale
40); S Tuipuloto (N John 40), G Crabb; S Lillicrap,
A Butchers (A Callender 54), S Harries (B Lewis
63).
Scorers: England: Tries L Davies 15, 45, A Ward
21, J Breach 35, 53, S Bern 56, A Matthews 64, S
Brown 71, E Sherratt 75, S Hunter 80. Cons Z
Harrison 22, 36, 56, 80.
Wales: Tries K Jones 69.
Referee J Zussmann (Canada).For England, another ruthless and
emphatic Six Nations victory to
confirm their status as the world’s
No 1 team.
For Wales, a glimpse of just how
far they have to travel down the road
of professionalism for this fixture to
become the competitive spectacle
the tournament needs it to be.
Anyone who scoffed at damage
limitation being the summit of Welsh
ambition before this Kingsholm clash
needed only to consider the
backdrop. While Wales were buoyed
by two successive wins for the first
time in the competition since 2015,
against Ireland and Scotland,
England were on a run of 16 straight
Six Nations victories.
Wales had previously tried ten
times to avoid defeat against their old
enemy in the Six Nations and never
managed it, conceding in excess of 30
points in nine of those outings and
failing to trouble the scoreboard in
five.
Add to this England’s full-time
professionalism since 2019 compared
to Wales awarding 12 full-time
contracts just two months ago, and
you realise that one-sidedness like
this is down to more than a good or
bad day at the office.
Not that the crowd of more than
14,000 weren’t thoroughly
entertained by what unfolded.
The expected outcome took
nothing away from some deeply
impressive England play that was
rewarded with ten tries.
And while it may seem patronising
to talk of Welsh bravery, the visitors
were not without credit. They were
well beaten, but never ripped apart.
For all the pre-match foreboding,
Wales set about the task early on in
fearless fashion. By the tenth minute
they had managed to disrupt Englandonly their own errors, rather than
Wales, could thwart.
And England used this threat to
assert themselves on the scoreboard
after taking longer than expected to
open their account.
Loughborough hooker Lark Davies
and Bristol lock Abbie Ward claimed
tries in the 15th and 21st minutes
respectively, both crashing over at
close quarters from dominance off
the maul. A third score by wing Jess
Breach five minutes before half-time,
with two Zoe Harrison conversions,Ten-try England show gulf
that Wales must make up
Breach scores
England’s
third try as
her side
cemented
their status as
world No 1shanded England a 19-0 lead that
neatly reflected the overall pattern.
Having been moved around the
pitch at a jolting intensity, the
concern for Wales coach Ioan
Cunningham would have been the
second-half capitulation of his side
on fitness grounds.
A second pushover try by
England’s Davies in the 45th minute
would have done nothing to allay
those concerns. And from then on
the game’s story became one of near-
complete Red Roses dominance.SIX NATIONS 2022
PWDLPDBPts
England 3 3 0 0 179 3 15France 2 2 0 0 68 2 10Wales 3 2 0 1 -40 2 10Scotland 2 0 0 2 -57 1 1Ireland 2 0 0 2 -43 0 0Italy 2 0 0 2 -107 0 0ENGLAND 58
WALES 5
twice at the lineout, win a free kick
and a penalty at separate scrums and
advance into their opponents’
territory behind a jet-heeled break by
full back Kayleigh Powell.
Yet England’s incoherence was
fleeting. Overwhelmingly they
retained control, and never more so
than when they kept things tight and
utilised the bulk of their forwards.
While their lineout was
frustratingly unreliable, when they
did get the set piece right they carried
a threat from their rolling maul thatFIXTURES
Today Scotland v France (1pm),
Ireland v Italy (5pm); Round four
(April 22-24) Wales v France, Italy v
Scotland, England v IrelandWOMEN’S SIX NATIONS
Delme Parfitt Kingsholm