Wales tortured at Twickers
4 Aug 2007
England gave their World Cup hopes a boost when they destroyed Wales 62-5 at Twickenham.
This “friendly” (sold to the public as a Test) told us nothing we didn’t know already. England’s pack can match any in the world, but their backs are pretty ordinary. Wales were awful in the Six Nations and judging by today’s effort they’ve spent the off-season improving their tans.
Wales’s pack was understrength, but they will still be embarrassed at how they were pummelled by the Poms. Six of England’s nine tries came from the forwards, who mauled like they were up against local club players called in to help at training.
The tone was set when England scored twice in the opening quarter through No 8 Nick Easter. The first came after a break by scrumhalf Shaun Perry down the blindside and the second from a 5m line-out and subsequent driving maul.
Wilkinson uncharacteristically missed two of his first three shots at goal, including an early penalty, but helped set up England’s third try when he broke two tackles inside Wales’ 22. The forwards cleaned up quickly and second-rower Steve Borthwick barged over. Wilkinson added the conversion and slotted a penalty soon after to make it 22-0.
England’s dominance continued after half-time when Easter was driven over for his hat-trick. Perry then finally claimed one for the backs, although it was the forwards who helped him across.
At this point England were leading 36-0, but Wales hit back when winger Daffyd James found himself on the end of a rare overlap and scored in the corner.
The biggest cheer of the day came when Lawrence Dallaglio replaced Easter midway through the second half, and the World Cup winner repaid the fans support with England’s sixth try.
Perry then scored his second to bring up 50 points, before Jason Robinson and Mathew Tait completed the rout with another two touchdowns.
England –Tries: Nick Easter (3), Steve Borthwick, Shaun Perry (2), Lawrence Dallaglio, Jason Robinson, Mathew Tait. Conversions: Jonny Wilkinson (7). Penalty: Wilkinson.
Wales – Try: Dafydd James.
By Simon Borchardt
600 Comments
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5 Aug 2007, 16:25 pm
Daai Rose broers is regte gomtorre…… gangsters……
5 Aug 2007, 16:26 pm
I find it amusing that when it comes to a person raising another nations racial indescretions there is no opposition to that bloggers insults…yet when I do raise the same fact about SA’s there are issues.
In the end of the day both instances there is a racial past.
It seems you guys condone one and not the other.
5 Aug 2007, 16:26 pm
mmm, Jody apparently hit his girlfriend…and Earl has done the same last year.
5 Aug 2007, 16:27 pm
groot, lees hier. hahahhaa
Mev. Maudine Rose, die seuns se ma, wat na haarself as Sandy verwys het, het aan Kaap-Rapport gesê die wêreld se aandag is maar gedurig op die Rose-gesin gevestig.
“Ons kan nie te hard lag nie, dan is dit ‘n groot probleem. En die mense wat die stories versprei, is ‘n klomp moffies.”
5 Aug 2007, 16:30 pm
Interesting that those who raised the subject have all gone I assume it is due to their lack of knowledge in the subject and wanting to save face.
Next time get your facts right.
This is directed to some saffas…before anyone throws a fit.
5 Aug 2007, 16:30 pm
Big hit for you
Asked as to whether an England style would emerge over the three matches, Ashton was equivocal to the point of vacuousness. “I’d like to think we can be adaptable depending on a) who’s playing in our side, b) who we’re playing against and c) what happens during the game,” the England coach said. Farrell was equally vague on the same subject. Either both men are keeping strategic and tactical subtleties under wraps until the big showdown against South Africa or they haven’t a clue as to how England will shape up. My money is on the latter.
not my words Paul Ackford Sunday Telegraph
5 Aug 2007, 16:30 pm
isn’t it always?
5 Aug 2007, 16:31 pm
Walla,
You have no inkling about goings-on in SA, except from TV news & papers…… don’t think for a minute that having been here on holiday qualifies you to comment either…….
You are totally oblivious to what’s happened not having lived through SA’s past….
Let us sort out our own backyard, which we aim to do… now back off donsdoos!
5 Aug 2007, 16:34 pm
Wallabie i disagree in that statement, we were forced to face our injustices, with strong aussie goverment sanctions and a lot of pressure from your govermment, yet you hardly have a clean bill of health yourself on the matter, and don’t particully like it when we chirp, i would call that hypocritcal, would you not?
5 Aug 2007, 16:38 pm
Cappie/GBS
Daai Rose storie, sal mens dit iewers kan kry op die internet?
Eisshh, lyk my jy kan n gammat Paul Roos toe vat en Hottentots-Hollands HS toe vat en klomp geld en n Subaru gee, maar gammat sal hy bly…al trek hy Tvl toe.
5 Aug 2007, 16:39 pm
Pieta,
kyk op Rapport se site www dot rapport dot co dot za ………. taamlik heel onder onder Kaap Rapport
5 Aug 2007, 16:41 pm
Surrey
Aagh bro, just let Walla be.
We will always have him with us, like the poor and the pauper…
No redemption.
I have given up on my old mate from Down Under, he doesn’t listen and he doesn’t learn.
5 Aug 2007, 16:42 pm
GBS
Dankie.
5 Aug 2007, 16:46 pm
GBS
Pas gelees.
Die ou ma klink ook maar ‘Meraai’-erig, moet se.
Nee, raak ontslae van daai mop.
Hulle het hul kans gehad.
5 Aug 2007, 16:48 pm
Pieta janee ……… loutere rubbish…… geen morele rug-graat nie!
5 Aug 2007, 16:53 pm
#548
Wallabie not similar you guys had Aboriginal hunting licences-official approved and stamped
5 Aug 2007, 16:56 pm
Hall julle!
Is daai WALLA poephol alweer besig? Ai jai jai jai ji
5 Aug 2007, 16:57 pm
AB,
Hoesit…….
5 Aug 2007, 16:58 pm
Big Hit
Just before you pull your sphincter muscle from all the excitement, have read what old Stuart Barnes thought about England yesterday
How do you evaluate a victory against such limited opponents? Limited would be kind to this Welsh XV because all that Gareth Jenkins discovered was that a number of his second or third string players were not up to an afternoon stroll in Richmond Park let alone a morale-sapping massacre at the hands of their traditional English enemy.
In particular Wales’s abject lineout ensured that the flickering potential of their backline could never be realised as England’s mean and muscular eight controlled the game from first to last – controlled it to such an extent that the highest number on the back of a try scorer was 9, Shaun Perry, who enjoyed his best and most straightforward game in an England shirt. It was not until the 78th minute that the threequarters grabbed a score as Jason Robinson and Mathew Tait dashed over for late tries.
The pattern of scoring was a fair reflection of the strengths and weaknesses of the England performance. What an irony that Robinson, a scorer in the 78th minute, was seduced from international retirement purely by the promise of working with Brian Ashton, regarded by the Sale wing among many as one of the most visionary of coaches.
Ashton’s brief for players has always been to utilise the complete width of the rugby pitch. Yet yesterday England’s performance bordered on the lamentable when they swung the ball wide. As has been the case for the last three years overlaps are not so much being wasted as unidentified. It was of no importance at Twickenham because Wales as they were in the late 1980s and 90s were overpowered by the sheer heft of this substantial English forward unit.
Related Links
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France will be acid test
This was the first of three matches which double as a test and trial. When the opposition is as substandard as Wales it becomes nothing but a trial. The Twickenham jury passed a positive verdict but this is a jury that has been starved of success since winning the last World Cup, hungry men are often content with morsels. Ashton must imagine that instead of Wales this was an England team to face South Africa on September 16.
Consider the area of England’s strength now. The lineout, such a one-sided contest yesterday will be an area where England will be delighted to gain parity against Victor Matfield’s Springboks, arguably the best lineout unit in the world. The scrums are not likely to be decisive when these two teams meet but the contact zone will be. In the first half alone England turned Wales over nine times, a staggering statistic that is impossible to contemplate when the likes of Juan Smith and Schalk Burger stand in four square over the ball.
Undoubtedly England went into yesterday’s game with more than one eye on this contest in Paris and Ashton and John Wells, his assistant, must be immensely pleased with these areas. On the evidence, admittedly flimsy because of the opposition, England look as if they may have a pack to complete with even the giant South Africans. Thereafter however the question arises: how do they beat them in what is bound to be a tight match? They will not if they squander as many chances as they did in southwest London yesterday.
There was one television shot of Ashton in particular that showed him shaking his head in utter disbelief when Joe Worsley, as ever carrying the ball in one hand, ignored the easiest possible overlap in the 45th minute and dived for glory. Having failed to make the try line with two unemployed England threequarters outside him, he probably found that he had dived into a far more mucky situation as far as his coach is concerned.
Worsley in particular symbolised the English performance and the English dilemma as they prepare for South Africa. Having been critical of the flanker’s distribution skills it must be said that his work at the breakdown and his support running were of the very highest order. Fit and on his toes the man who has twice inspired Wasps to victory in Heineken Cup finals appears athletically primed for the World Cup. But his inability to link with the threequarters directly ensured that so much of the forwards’ good work would be undone when the final pass was required.
Worsley must be shifted back to his more limited and muscular position of six where his destructive defensive work could make him a key player against South Africa. But for England to do this creates a problem in the minds of the selectors because Martin Corry on the blind side offers an extra lineout forward above and beyond Worsley’s quality.
If England are to link backs and forwards in the way they could not yesterday Tom Rees is the natural selection. Very few people in England doubt that Rees will start but something in the pattern of England’s play makes me wonder whether the decision has not been made to sacrifice the Ashton philosophy for brute belligerence and dynamism. If that is the case Ashton has a conundrum, for he has to find try-scoring potential other than through brute force. This force could put England in a winning position against South Africa, reversing three miserable years of underperformance, but the opportunity to grasp that win will not be taken unless Robinson receives more and better ball.
Worsley’s deficiencies came to the fore as England opened up Wales and created space behind their defence but the management are bound to consider his hard running support lines off Perry. The side hit Wales hard at the tail of the lineout and around the fringe of the scrums, areas areas where they will want to test the Springboks. The wider the game the more Ashton may feel his team risks being hit by the Springboks blitz and turned over with potentially devastating effect. If the two tribes go head-to-head up front one spilt ball, one scooped-up piece of Bryan Habana genius could settle it. Ashton the most positive-minded English coach of his generation could just be coming down on the side of positive negativity in his bid to resurrect what has appeared a dormant England team.
Before kick-off Ashton said that England were trying to make up for lost time “that we should never have lost in the first placeâ€. The reference was to the lack of direction which has plagued England whether they tried to go tight or wide. Yesterday there was direction – unfortunately it was the forwards who pointed the team in that direction. The coach has always been a believer in the variety of the game and the ability to hurt a side through the pace of a wing or the power of a prop. There were clues against Wales that he and his management team feel that the race against time has been lost. It could well result in the tightening of his vision and an intensity of purpose.
Robinson, lured back with the thought of pretty rugby, is going be playing some pug ugly stuff. Ugly but effective. Ashton must now find the precision of finishing and England might just be competitive.
Stuart Barnes won 10 caps for England between 1984 and 1993
5 Aug 2007, 16:58 pm
Lekker die kant man. Daar by jou?
5 Aug 2007, 17:02 pm
Goed man…… lewe is mos ‘n lied!
Sê my, het jy nog admin regte by Strontpraat…. indien so gaan sit myne weer aan, ‘n d@@s het myne gaan afsit.
5 Aug 2007, 17:04 pm
#571
Nee ek het nie! Ek moet bietjie check miskien het daai suurgat wp supporters my ook afgesit!
5 Aug 2007, 17:06 pm
AB
Dis ek, Boerboel en Katvis.
Ons het n kwotastelsel ingestel, te veel Blou Bulle daar.
So, ons sensor so bietjie…
5 Aug 2007, 17:08 pm
Ons moet vir Koos & SuperBul vra of hulle regte nog aan is…… after all SuperBul het die ding begin…….. dink ook ‘n sekere WP man het ons afgehaal….. wonder of hy dink hy’s baas van die plaas……….
Indien so, dan stig ons ons eie nuwe Blog waar ons baas van die plaas is en bly…… en ons verlaat Strontpraat soos ‘n sinkende skip.
5 Aug 2007, 17:09 pm
Ek is nog op GBS! Ja hallo Pietman ek is seker ons getalle unsettle julle! GBS miskien moet on nog n Blog begin waar ons die admin beheer en ons nie mense se regte sal wegvat nie al is hulle bergbokke
5 Aug 2007, 17:12 pm
AB/GBS
Ek sien julle ouens more.
Ek moet vroeg opstaan in die nuwe week, so ek gaat nou omdop.
Mooi gaan.
5 Aug 2007, 17:13 pm
Cheers pieta lekker slaap ons praat weer more!
5 Aug 2007, 17:15 pm
AB,
Dis maklik….. hulle gee aan ons admin regte of hulle verloor ons as lede……… baaaaie maklik!
Ek staan of aanvaar nie eiegeregtigheid nie…….
5 Aug 2007, 17:15 pm
#574
Ok hy bestaan “rugbyfriends” ek sal hom vanaand lyf gee!
5 Aug 2007, 17:18 pm
569
Barnes is always very critical of England because they don’t play throw it about rugby like Wales do.
He was a running flyhalf and wanted Hodgson in even in 2002/03 when Wilkinson was outstanding.
I don’t believe he enjoys it when England play a forward style of rugby because that is exactly what robbed him of maybe 50 England caps.
If you look at the end, Barnes gained a meagre 10 caps. Compare that with his Wilkinson-esque rival Rob Andrew with over 70 and many 6 Nations grand slam wins.
Make no mistake, this England team are BACK!
I told you earlier in the summer JL1 that this was going to happen. Nobody believed me.
5 Aug 2007, 17:18 pm
Gooi my ‘n uitnodiging deur…….
5 Aug 2007, 17:20 pm
Dis n oop blog vir almal om te comment. Posting rights kan ons beperk. ek sal vir jou die ander regte deur mail!
5 Aug 2007, 17:21 pm
England backrow and approach looks very similar to their WC ’95 side.
Big and physical..but ened up being runed off the park by faster smaller forward pack.
France will seriously test the pace of the English pack.
anyway. whats happened to Richard Hill?
5 Aug 2007, 17:21 pm
Mail my die URL
5 Aug 2007, 17:34 pm
Thanks……. sit nou admin regte aan……
5 Aug 2007, 18:52 pm
BH: and no one continues to believe you.
5 Aug 2007, 19:16 pm
583
Serious injury, he can’t train. Moody and Worsley are able deputies tho.
5 Aug 2007, 19:25 pm
531 Wallabie,
So you have been at a “I love John Howard” convention
5 Aug 2007, 19:31 pm
Forget that England did a number on Wales and that their pack pulverised the Welsh forwards. The best news for the World Cup from this warm-up slaughter is that Jonny Wilkinson is bit by bit getting back to where he was. And that will have South Africa, as well as New Zealand, Australia and anybody else who fancies their chances of lifting England’s world title, sitting up on their hind legs.
Last season Wilkinson got a bit of mileage back under his belt, and having managed to survive the summer ordeal against the Springboks, he has now, touch wood, got over his unlucky run of injuries. He looks fit, confident and back in the groove as one of the greatest match-winners the game has seen – and he must have given France coach Bernard Laporte plenty of food for thought ahead of Saturday’s encounter at Twickenham.
I would be surprised if Laporte arrived with a side that he did not think could do well. France may have won the Six Nations title but they got a shock when they lost to England at Twickenham and after watching England demolish Wales yesterday, Laporte knows that if he fields a weakened side, he could be seriously embarrassed.
As with England, the French need to get some early momentum in these games and, as hosts, they must get the country behind them before their World Cup opener against Argentina. They are not great Six Nations champions but they made one significant advance in terms of finding a decent half-back partnership in Pierre Mignoni and David Skrela.
Related Links
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With the exceptions of the veteran hooker and captain, Raphael Ibanez, and the combative Sebastien Chabal, the French pack is a little short of star quality. Ibanez has been phenomenal in the twilight of his career at Wasps, while Chabal will always stand up to be counted. Both are inspirational players – and they will need to be, because the rest of the French pack is not the ferocious beast it used to be.
As a result, the French may have to rely on their backs in this World Cup – and also against England on Saturday – if they are to make a serious bid for glory. This is no bad thing because there is a massive amount of talent in a back-line that includes Aurelien Rougerie, Christophe Dominici, Vincent Clerc, Cedric Heymans, Yannick Jauzion, Florian Fritz and Damien Traille. There is nothing that England showed in the backs against Wales that will have the French holding their breath.
The acid test for France is whether their smaller, lighter pack can win enough ball. But if they do get parity, then England had better watch out. Laporte’s biggest problem is what to do with Frederic Michalak, the enigma of French rugby. He may have the magic to confuse defences but he can also end up confusing his own team. He has so much talent but struggles to dominate a game when he is at fly-half. His ideal position is probably scum-half, although it’s a bit late in the day to play him there, and he’s not a patch on Mignoni.
However, he could provide a spark from the bench if France ever need to go for all-out attack – but, for me, he would not be a starter against teams such as England and Argentina. Michalak has always been billed as France’s answer to Wilkinson but it is a no-contest. One of the things that must have filled Wilkinson with confidence was the way the giant English pack took it to the Welsh, with Nick Easter’s power at close quarters reminiscent of his boss at Harlequins, and one of my old teammates, Dean Richards.
The way England dominated the forward exchanges yesterday, Jonny must have thought he was playing behind the 2003 World Cup pack all over again. In fact, they are not as dynamic or as mobile as that outfit but they have very strong similarities to the England pack that I played behind in the early 1990s.
In other words, they tend to keep a lot of possession to themselves, and not let it out to the backs as much as they should. However, it’s difficult to quibble when they are putting the volume of points on the board that they successfully did at Twickenham yesterday.
The result was that the backs did not see much ball for the first 25 minutes, and the first time it actually moved right down the line was at the start of the second half. However, when it was given a bit of air, the English backs showed more life than they have for years – and I was pleased that it was Wilkinson’s little jink and inside pass to set up the try for Steve Borthwick that carried England clear.
Outside Wilkinson, Andy Farrell grew in confidence as the game went on. To begin with he played as if he was a man under the microscope, hanging on to the ball in contact to make sure he did not give away possession, rather than chancing his arm and throwing the clever off-loads that made him a rugby league legend. I would love to see Farrell making half-breaks, and players such as David Strettle, Jason Robinson and Dan Hipkiss getting on the end of them.
Farrell showed that he can carry the ball up and take heavy contact – talking of which, it was notable that Wilkinson, who is the best defender at fly-half I have ever seen, was hurling himself into everything again.
At scrum-half, Shaun Perry looked a lot sharper for having lost about a stone in weight, but the fact is that England still need to clear the ball from the breakdown much more quickly. Elsewhere, Hipkiss made a good debut at outside-centre. He is one of the straightest runners in the England game, and his low centre of gravity and the strength of his leg drive make him a very hard player to stop.
England need to find someone to fill the No 13 shirt and on this evidence, Dan could be the man. I would like to see him get another run against the French and hopefully get a bit more ball.
5 Aug 2007, 19:32 pm
Wallabie,
No reply to 528???
Is this where you stand?
5 Aug 2007, 19:34 pm
589 Big Hit,
Shorter posts please … we all saw the game
England ar boring
5 Aug 2007, 19:35 pm
and i can not spell
5 Aug 2007, 19:37 pm
England are World Champions, boring or not.
NZ are chokers.
Game over.
5 Aug 2007, 19:46 pm
Big Hit (#593) – I can’t argue with that. England are World Champions (albeit not for very much longer), and the All Blacks are indeed chokers.
However, in the past year or two, England’s World Champion status has taken on the appearance of a cruel joke. That’s why it’s good to see them bouncing back in time for RWC2007, so that they can at least be competitive in losing their title.
Chances of England beating South Africa in the pool match? Well, how many players do England have who are the best in their position in the world? Zero. South Africa? Schalk, Victor, FdP, Bakkies, Habanero… a good argument could be made for Smit, Os and Percy as well. And these guys have been playing together for years now, and they’re properly rested (an unusual occurrence in SA rugby).
If the SA/England match is close, that will only be because the Bokke tend to play up or down to the standard of their opposition. If SA keep thir foot on the acceleterator for a full 80 minutes, this will be a comfortable win.
5 Aug 2007, 19:55 pm
walla go and read my post #401 and reply.I told you later I have black neighbours and you said it doesnt mean anything.how many of your neighbours/frinds are aborigines?
5 Aug 2007, 20:42 pm
594
I see your point about SA’s players but thats on paper. Gameplan-wise the Boks have offered little outside of forward dominance. They won’t have this to rely on against England.
Crucially, the Boks don’t have much going on in their backline. England will by gametime and they have Wilkinson’s boot.
Don’t be so sure.
5 Aug 2007, 22:23 pm
By Christmas:
Lewis Hamilton to win the F1 Championship
England to win the Rugby World Cup
Hatton to knock out Mayweather
You know it.
6 Aug 2007, 01:33 am
BH, Lewis Hamiltonn is an African in Eng, driving a German car, suing Eng budget based upon colonial sins to b who he knows he can be.
Last time Saffas played a Wales team that played this bad they won by 78 points, that was a Saffas B team. Wales are farking with your minds in any case, they basically checked out your gameplan, your falling for that. Can bring on other players, one like the other, all whitesy pants. Eng, if they try to dominate with forwards come WC, will not closely make it against Saffas, ABs, AUs, Ireland and France, simply no dominance nor the the ball to do it (remember pocession figures pasttests). take your backline this weekend, remove half the pocession they had, get the point?
3 guys in your A team were playing against us earlier this year in any case, including key positions like Johnny Wil who still look pretty average, was it really that much of a C team?
Think France will be a ave test this coming weekend, but will clarify a bit more.
Hatton who? Never even heard of him.
6 Aug 2007, 04:24 am
593 Bih Hit,
England number of players vs New Zealnd number of players … England has 5 times more
England vs New Zealand …. played 29 lost 22
Choker
6 Aug 2007, 04:49 am
Agree with the majority of the SH posts here regarding not reading too much into this game. Although i have to give BH his dues. England can hardly be blamed for playing forward style rugby, and as for the massive score, it something i wish the boks would do to lesser sides more often.
Would make me sick to see the RWC go to another NH side, however i really don’t think we have much to fear from the poms. My concerns lie with the unpredictable French, and the very complete Irish side.
If we can’t take this world cup, then I would hope the Wallabies or the AB’s do the business. In that order.
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