Tag: Wales

Wales vs England World Cup Warm Up #1

Wales 19 – 33 England

On paper this looked to be a very simple affair for Wales, they were coming in to the game having won a Grand Slam and on a 14 game winning streak. Due to Australia beating New Zealand, Wales stood to become the #1 team in the world by winning this game. England on the other hand were fielding a team of outsiders, players who were not mainstays of the starting XV but who were getting a chance to create some selection headaches for Eddie Jones.


They managed to do exactly that. England piled on the pressure early on with some quick scores and never really let go of the advantage. The English forwards were dominant in the scrum and around the fringes.


The Welsh by comparison looked tired. They have been enduring a reportedly grueling fitness camp in Switzerland and it showed. There was no line speed in defense, no English player getting hammered backwards in contact and not a great deal happening at all. The lineout was horrendous, wasting an opportunity for one try and gifting an opportunity for an English try.


There is no where really to turn, Wales were thoroughly beaten, their only period of dominance came alongside a succession of English penalties.


Both teams will repeat this test this weekend, only this time doing so in Cardiff. Wales have lost Gareth Anscombe to injury for their World Cup campaign and now need to quickly find a backup for him.


Whatever the result, England looked to gain a lot more than Wales. Even if Wales won it wouldn’t have shown us much, yes the Grand Slam XV beat a second string England team, congratulations. England however, tested lots of players and some, like Tom Curry and Jonathan Joseph performed spectacularly.


It will be interesting to see selection for the game in Cardiff. Will Gatland try and prevent the 0-2 to England or will he risk it and try out some different players?


No one will remember these warm up games, they are more to get players match fit going in to the World Cup seeing as all the southern hemisphere sides will have just completed The Rugby Championship. It was depressing as a fan however to see such a lethargic and inaccurate Welsh performance.

Rugby Union: Six Nations 2019: Wales vs Ireland

Wales 25 – 7 Ireland

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Getty Images

In what was to be Warren Gatland’s last Six Nations game in charge of Wales, his team utterly smashed Ireland to win their third Grand Slam in 11 years under his guidance. No other coach in five/six Nations history has won three Grand Slams. Ireland were rocked early by a Hadleigh Parkes try from an Anscombe chip over the defence and then punished by penalty after penalty. The water-tight Welsh defence only cracked after the full 80 minutes had elapsed and the game was sealed. In this victory, Wales claim their spot as the second best team in the world rankings, behind only the All Blacks.

Wales dominated Ireland so completely, that they never looked like scoring. As a fan I wasn’t really nervous, whenever Ireland did get the ball they gave away penalties or made mistakes that swung momentum back in Wales’ favour, which more often than not added just a few more points to the board through Anscombe’s boot. Not many outside of that Wales team saw this result coming. Wales have relied on a herculean defence all tournament and not really fired in attack. Surely Ireland were going to figure them out, but it never came.

With the forwards unable to win the collisions and provide Murray with quick ball so key to Ireland’s game, Sexton was unbalanced. He was forced into more kicking than he’d like and made uncharacteristic errors. On two or three occasions, huge kicks were straight into touch handing Wales amazing field position. The one attack that Ireland did make was covered brilliantly by a Hadleigh Parkes tackle and they never really threatened after. What was particularly impressive was that Wales never eased, they never looked like the game was in the bag and they played the full 80 minutes. I thought it noteworthy that with Biggar on the field, Gareth Anscombe kept the kicking duties. It will be good for his development to have had that exposure to finishing off a game.

From this, Wales are in an amazing position going in to the World Cup. They have beaten South Africa and Australia and secured the Grand Slam. They have the mentality to endure patches of opposition momentum by trusting their defence and are incredibly patient in attack. They are equally comfortable in attacking through the forwards as they are through the backs. They run the ball from 9 through their patient attack with the forwards, allowing the Fly-Half to sit back and watch for gaps to then call for the pass and attack. With Biggar/Anscombe and Liam Williams/Halfpenny they have the personnel to change the way they play. In the time before the World Cup I would love Wales to work on breaking down defences more and securing their own lineout – two weaknesses so far. As a fan I still can’t get over the potential of this team, they won a Grand Slam but playing pretty poorly for a lot of it.

Against France Wales were gifted two tries through mistakes, they limped past Italy and Scotland. They weathered the storm against an England side who refused to change tactics and kicked them possession all game, and then dominated Ireland. If they can build an attack as effective as their defence, I can see them getting deep in the World Cup. Perhaps even avenging ‘The Red Card of 2011‘ and setting up a World Cup final with the All Blacks.

Those Wales players are professionals in every sense, lead by the mesmeric, talismanic, herculean (yet humble) Alun-Wyn Jones. Huge congratulations to everyone involved. Thanks also to Warren Gatland. The man who took Welsh rugby from a pretty depressing place to where it is today, a global force.