Wales edge thriller in Cardiff
14 Feb 2009
Wales managed to hold on for a 23-15 victory at the Millennium Stadium despite a brave second-half fight back from England.
Wales lead by just a single point at the break, but came out firing at the start of the second half as they raced to a 20-8 lead in the 53 minute.
England refused to give up brought themselves back into the contest with just over 20 minutes to go. England gave it everything they had as they looked to snatch an unlikely win, but the Welsh defence stood firm as they held on for their second win of the campaign.
In a tightly contested first-half, the hosts took an early lead when they were awarded a penalty by referee Jonathan Kaplan and flyhalf Stephen Jones made no mistake.
Martin Johnson’s men walked a fine line at the tackle point as the looked to slow the game down. England continued to test Kaplan’s patience at the breakdown and eventually the South African reached for his pocket and sent Mike Tindall to the bin for playing the ball on the ground.
To compound England’s situation, Jones slotted his second of the night to give Wales a 6-0 lead.
Both sides looked to gain the upper hand at scrum time and after some words and a number of resets, Kaplan penalised Phil Vickery for incorrect binding and this time Leigh Halfpenny added the three points.
England, despite being a man down, hit back as Paul Sackey put on his jet shoes as he beat two Welsh defenders to the ball which was kicked through by flyhalf Andy Goode after some good work by centre Riki Flutey.
Tindall rejoined the action and England enjoyed a good period of possession and Goode cut the deficit to just a single point with a well struck drop goal.
Wales held their lead through till half-time as the game ebbed and flowed with both sides struggling to stamp their authority on proceedings. One man who was having a tough time was Kaplan as both packs looked to gain any possible advantage at the scrums.
Wales came out flying after the break and should have scored through Halfpenny but for a last ditch tackle by Goode.
However, Goode failed to get to his feet and became the second England player to feel the wrath of Kaplan as the veteran flyhalf was sent to the bin. Jones popped over the resulting penalty and Wales lead 12-8.
Wales immediately made their numerical advantage count as Halfpenny ran in Wales’ only try. Jones added the extras and just like that Wales were out to a nine point lead.
England were eventually back to their quota, but Wales managed to extend their lead through yet another Jones penalty.
England, though, got themselves back into the contest through the impressive Delon Armitage who sold the Welsh defenders with a brilliant side step to score behind the uprights. Replacement Toby Flood chipped over the conversion to cut the lead to just five points.
Wales appeared shell shocked and England turned to the bench to inject some fresh impetus as they went in search of victory. But the Welsh backs used well placed kicks to peg the poms back in their own half.
With less then ten minutes to go Wales’ percentage play payed off when they were awarded a kickable penalty and Jones made no mistake giving his side and eight point lead meaning England would have to score twice to stand a chance a recording a famous victory.
Wales captain Ryan Jones gave England the chance two reduce the lead straight away when he failed to roll away after he had made a tackle. Flood, though, fluffed the opportunity and in the end Wales managed to hold on for a hard-fought victory.
15 Comments
14 Feb 2009, 19:06 pm
English Dragons (I hope)
14 Feb 2009, 19:07 pm
I do hope WRS is enjoying his trip to Cardiff……
14 Feb 2009, 19:08 pm
Watch Welsh No.11 Mark Jones, he only had his appendix out a few weeks ago!! OOcchhhh..
14 Feb 2009, 19:08 pm
Seems like I am all alone…..
14 Feb 2009, 19:46 pm
Hi Carol.. 9 down, any chance for England today?
14 Feb 2009, 19:49 pm
Oops, just as I speak, a tryyyyy
14 Feb 2009, 19:54 pm
#6 JockBok: Goode, ugly brute is doing well….fingers crossed.
Now 9 – 8
14 Feb 2009, 19:58 pm
I, and it hurts to say this, want England to win. Welsh getting too big for their boots and they get away with so much on the ground.
14 Feb 2009, 21:51 pm
england showed wales y thy have been to two worlc cup finals today. the pommies put up a hell of a fight despite only having 14 fo 60minutes of the game …swing low sweet chariot
14 Feb 2009, 22:13 pm
I’m so glad Kaplan pinged England for their negative tactics! They get away with it so much especially Vickery, but tonight there was a ref with enough guts to expose their professional fouls. Well done Kaplan!
15 Feb 2009, 00:17 am
The difference between Wales and England was the referee.
Kaplan had a shocker. 3 yellow cards to nil yet Martyn Williams and others got away with muder on the ground. Mind you, he often does. I can’t understand why the authorities continue to use the arse hated clown. Time to stop the madness and cut the clown loose.
15 Feb 2009, 00:18 am
‘hatted’
15 Feb 2009, 01:26 am
Martin Johnson showed today that he will get this bunch of English players back to where they once belonged
They played with enormous courage and commitment and almost shocked the Welsh on occasions with 2 good tries
They were still not on par collectively with the slick Welsh machine but the courage and brave commitment from all 15 English players showed and they got MOM with Joe Worsley being picked MOM in a losing side.
This in itself shows just how much passion and commitment is ringing through that English change room, and Martin Johnson is the man to get them right. Jake White or Nick Mallet would never have been able to muster that much collective patriotism from these young men.
England could even come out as 2nd in the comp, if they play like they did today against Ireland and France and Scotland to come.
15 Feb 2009, 01:55 am
#13 yliad: England were better than before but they cant usurp France from a supposed 2nd spot.
15 Feb 2009, 11:26 am
Enjoyed watching the game only wish both teams had held on to the ball a bit more than kick away possesion. The frustrating thing for English fans would be that when they got it wide they looked dangerous, flutey looked very sharp armitage and sackey all had pace to burn however in the last 20 mins flood resorted back to kicking rather than spinning it. English pack was good and worsely defence was superb.
Wales will be happy to take the win even though they didnt play to there ability. Wales have a few issues , Phillips kept getting caught at the scrum and his kicking game was poor i would give peel ago he has a lot quicker and sharper pass. Jamie Roberts while a good player is no inside centre he didnt pass once yesterday they need Henson back purely for his distributuion skills. Also Andy powell how one dimensional is this guy , there was talk of him making thelions, I bet Burger and smith are rubbing there hands at the thought of some guy running upright and straight at them.
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