Wales 21 – 13 England
Warren Gatland had said before the game that Wales would be a different animal compared to what we had seen for the first two games. He was correct. The contact and collisions in the game were colossal, to the point that I was genuinely wincing at times. England played well and deserved their half time lead of 10 – 3.
England had two elements to their game plan, the first was to kick early and often allowing Wales possession. The second part was the herculean defensive effort and blitz defensive structure to put pressure on Wales and force them into making mistakes. The plan worked against Ireland and after 40 minutes it appeared to be working against Wales.
Wales were expected to try and get the ball wide, beyond the blitz defence and exploit the gaps out wide, instead they kept the attack within it and with the forwards, powering through drive after drive. In the second half, the English accuracy faltered and the Welsh strategy proved to be successful. The first Welsh try came from a staggering 35 phases of play with the ball going wide only twice. This is not how anyone would expect a Welsh side to play, but they went at England’s strength and beat them at it.
What may have hampered the English kicking game was Liam Williams, the man of the match and specialist Full-Back was imperious in the air and had a tremendous game, looking dangerous all over the field. Dan Biggar, when he came on at 61 minutes also boosted Welsh dominance in that area. After Gareth Davies had a clearance kick charged down in the Welsh 22, Biggar calmly as anything smashed the ball 60m downfield and into touch. Magnificent.
As Wales crept ahead and started to look more comfortable England didn’t change. There was a single moment of danger when Manu Tuilagi sped past Hadleigh Parkes, but he was unsupported and the threat was quickly snuffed out. Aside from that I can’t remember a single other English attack in the second half. I could probably count the number of passes Tuilagi received on one hand.
Wales are becoming a very dangerous side, already they could play the expansive style, but this game showed they have the power and accuracy to dominate up front. Meaning defences can’t be too wide and risk being punished around the ruck, but then can’t overcompensate and leave the wide channels unmarked. Dan Biggar’s stunning cross-kick leading to the final Welsh try, demonstrating that threat.
Just to touch on the debate over who the Welsh Fly-Half should be, Anscombe has a different skillset to Biggar, but there were a few occasions where he wasn’t doing what he normally does. On a couple of penalty or turnover situations he chose to kick first (not as well as Biggar would have) instead of attack the line and bring in runners. If that is what he’s going to do on the field, we may as well have Biggar doing it better. I would pick Anscombe for Scotland, mainly to rest Biggar and give Anscombe more time, as it can’t be bad having two options. Scotland are tired, demoralised and wounded, there may well be a lot of success for a more aggressive 10 and allow him to build confidence.
Gatland has challenged his team to not rest on this English win and push on to do something special in the Six Nations. The Grand-Slam is on, Wales have Scotland in Murrayfield and then face Ireland in Cardiff. They will fear neither of these teams. I expect injury ravaged Scotland to be swept aside, Ireland will be tough but the Cardiff crowd demanding the Grand Slam and a confident Welsh team can’t be stopped.
I’m really looking forward to Alun Wyn Jones, the titanic, herculean captain to lift the trophy in front of the congregation of the cathedral of Welsh rugby.
CodexCaster's Contribution 