England whack woeful Wales
4 Feb 2011
RYAN VREDE reports on England’s 26-19 victory over Wales.
The atmosphere at the Millennium Stadium was incredible but sadly the quality of rugby on show didn’t do it any justice. Certainly there was plenty of passion, aggression and intensity, qualities that are lauded in the northern hemisphere, but skill, creativity and penetration were sorely lacking, even with the roof shut. Some will point to three tries being scored, but two of those could be ascribed to fundamental defensive errors and the other came against 14 men.
A lack of synergy was expected, given that this was the teams’ first hit out of 2011, but their attacking impotency was alarming, even with the tournament in its infancy. There were a host of reasons for this: referee Alain Rolland’s management of the breakdown was diabolical with players allowed to infringe throughout the Test, an inability to consistently breach the gain line which in turn meant most attacking moves were launched against a set defensive line, and a patent lack of innovation from the key playmakers.
Why Wales persist with Stephen Jones at flyhalf is one of world rugby’s great mysteries. His goalkicking surely is his salvation. James Hook is the obvious man for the position if they want to progress on attack, and his potency is diluted at fullback. Similarly England suffered with Toby Flood steering their ship. The No 10 kicked 5 from 5, and he broke to create Chris Ashton’s 14th minute try, but the space he was afforded and the ponderous attempts to close him down was criminal. He would have been a non-factor against better opposition.
Flood converted then banked a penalty for a 10-0 lead before England lock Louis Deacon was binned for a cynical ruck infringement in the red zone. Jones kicked his second three pointer but Flood ensured the advantage was restored going down the tunnel.
Wales had squandered numerous points scoring opportunities in the first half, the best of which evaporated when Shane Williams grubbered into the in-goal area with three team-mates on his outside. Wales coach Warren Gatland, who launched a couple of verbal grenades in the build-up, would undoubtedly have roasted them. He needs to take some heat for his charges’ failings.
Jones narrowed the deficit but Wales’ cause was complicated when Craig Mitchell marched off for yet another case of illegal breakdown play. Flood made the Dragons pay from the penalty and England capitalised on their numbers advantage when the ball was shifted wide to Ashton for his brace. Flood converted to make it 23-9 but Wales wing Morgan Stoddart touched down three minutes later and Jones converted to set up an intriguing final quarter.
England introduced the experienced quartet of Jonny Wilkinson, Simon Shaw, Joe Worsley and Steve Thompson in a bid to aid their ability to close out the match, but Hook’s 69th minute penalty set up a harrowing home stretch for the visitors.
However, it was no surprise that Wilkinson slotting a ruck penalty would decide the outcome.
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56 Comments
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4 Feb 2011, 23:46 pm
Errrr, Dragons?
4 Feb 2011, 23:49 pm
Interesting report Ryan. I thought Flood played well and you obviously wrote this piece before Flood was named MOTM.
4 Feb 2011, 23:49 pm
Well done to England. Great play by especially Toby Flood and the lock Palmer.
Warren Gatland looked very disappointed at the final whistle- Hopefully he will keep his big trap shut for a while now.
4 Feb 2011, 23:54 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-3:
Palmer had a great game.
It was high octane stuff and obviously the finer points were always going to be scarce. But to say Wales were woeful is a bit off imho.
4 Feb 2011, 23:55 pm
@JockBok(JockBok)-2: One man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. You obviously have a different expectation of your 10.
4 Feb 2011, 23:56 pm
Flood had a great game.
(Ryan, Flood was the guy in white with the number 10 on his back.)
4 Feb 2011, 23:57 pm
@Ryan(Ryan)-5: Sure, Flood was no Casper Steyn. But he did the job.
4 Feb 2011, 23:59 pm
Wales were hardly whacked. If they didn’t miss some easy kicks, it could have been a different result.
5 Feb 2011, 00:00 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-6: Great? If that was great. How would you, for example, describe Fourie du Preez’s performance against the Chiefs in Super 14 final 2009? That was great. Be more stingy with ascribing greatness my friend.
5 Feb 2011, 00:04 am
@JockBok(JockBok)-4:
Agree, when I read the report I thought it was written by a person who did not watch the match. (Tacitus style)
@>^..^< katman(katman)-7:
Casper,lol, or Braam van Staden perhaps?
5 Feb 2011, 00:05 am
@Ryan(Ryan)-9: Don’t be daft, my hack friend. Of course that was great. But to hold that up as the only example and benchmark of a “great” game is a little silly, wouldn’t you agree?
5 Feb 2011, 00:07 am
@Ryan(Ryan)-5:
Lol, very apt this evening.
But my expectations have got nothing to do with it. Flood did his job well this evening. Granted, he probably got the MOTM for his points, but he kept his head and did the necessary. This wasn’t a game for heroes or individual brilliance, it was highly charged and Flood was cool enough to give the backs enough ball.
And is it his fault 3 Welsh players jumped out of his way for the first try? He was there, he ran the line and he made the pass.
5 Feb 2011, 00:07 am
@Robzim(Robzim)-10:
Or Gaffie. He was great.
5 Feb 2011, 00:09 am
@JockBok(JockBok)-12: You won’t convince Ryan. Not when he’s typing in his Fourie Du Preez pajamas.
5 Feb 2011, 00:17 am
Wales were never totally out of the game.
And they definitely weren’t whacked.
5 Feb 2011, 00:20 am
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-15: Alliteration overrules just about everything here. You should know that. If Ryan could find a word for plucky or competitive that began with a w, he would have gone for that.
5 Feb 2011, 00:21 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-14:
5 Feb 2011, 00:23 am
Been a long time since I blogged, but I must share the English post match commentator’s final sentence.
“Well it was in 2003 that England last beat Wales at home, then they won the grand slam, and went on to greater things that year. Maybe this is a sign of things to come!”
I just love the optimism. Way to heap pressure. When they get beaten in the next few months, the same commentators will call for their heads.
Unbelievable.
5 Feb 2011, 00:25 am
unfortunately missed the game – american visitor in town.
did either team look like rwc contenders?
5 Feb 2011, 00:26 am
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-15:
Of course they weren’t, and they weren’t ‘woeful’ either. They had some decent pressure which England, being the better team, absorbed and then stepped up.
Credit to Wales for some good defence and making a game of it. England will only get better from here on but Wales will always remain limited. Not woeful, limited.
5 Feb 2011, 00:27 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-16:
And just last week, in another warm-up game, one NZ team trounced another – with just 4 points separating them.
These guys should at least have a thesaurus at their disposal.
You can’t expect to write a decent unbiased report while looking over someone else’s shoulder.
5 Feb 2011, 00:27 am
Charo,
IMO, no. Both teams looked desperate for the win. I cannot see this Welsh side putting together 3 or 4 big performances in a row. As for the English. Nothing special. Strong forward display, nothing in the backs. They did score 3 tries, but the Welsh defence was porous.
Can’t see either of these 2 sides beating a SH side in Aus/NZ.
5 Feb 2011, 00:28 am
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-15:
I think they were more or less dead and buried when 23-9 down. England also squandered a couple of try-scoring opportunities when they either lost posession or conceded penalties while their forwards were trying to force their way over the Welsh tryline.
5 Feb 2011, 00:29 am
Ryan’s report ridicules rugby.
5 Feb 2011, 00:29 am
@charo(charo)-19:
No. England will give anyone a game and seem to be getting out of their poor run of recent years. Tonight will iove them some belief as well but there’s no way they’ll win the WC. They just don’t have the personnel.
5 Feb 2011, 00:30 am
@charo(charo)-19:
Hi Charo,
Imo England can beat any team on their day and I think they might be contenders. As for Wales- sadly, not even close.
5 Feb 2011, 00:31 am
@JockBok(JockBok)-25:
Eh? ‘iove’??? That should of course be ‘give’…
5 Feb 2011, 00:32 am
@JockBok(JockBok)-25: If Tindal is their best centre, and Easter is their best 8thman, they can’t be real contenders.
5 Feb 2011, 00:33 am
@JockBok(JockBok)-20:
Changing the subject.
What do you think of the Stormers new outfit?
I think red and yellow on top of blue and white make a great combination.
Now we know what a rugby jersey looks like once you’ve lost your lunch on it.
5 Feb 2011, 00:35 am
Ah well, big game tomorrow, Scotland in Paris. We need a bit of Hasting’s spirit I think, but hopefully it’s the erratic French team that turns up and Scotland can muster a try or two from somewhere.
Night folks…
5 Feb 2011, 00:40 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-28:
Tindall’s only getting a game because he’s bonking the Queens grand-daughter.
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-29:
Lol. It’s a bit of a shocker, going to have to grow on me I think. I was hoping they’d head in a WP direction but it looks like they’ve had a few ideas and tried them all at once. I’m hoping the change jersey is better. I need to buy something.
5 Feb 2011, 00:41 am
@Robzim(Robzim)-23:
England were the better side on the day but Wales didn’t disgrace themselves as Ryan implied.
But looking forward to seeing how France and Ireland play over the weekend.
5 Feb 2011, 00:43 am
@BULLET(BULLET)-22: @JockBok(JockBok)-25: @Robzim(Robzim)-26:
cheers.
my take on the english is that they have the bulldog spirit to go beyond their natural ability in knock-out games.
wales don’t seem to have that never-say-die attitude.
neither do the all blacks evidently.
but…..the all blacks won the rwc at home…so they should be outright favourites this year.
5 Feb 2011, 00:44 am
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-29:
Hehe, yeah, my five year olds favourite lunch. Pizza washed down with a blue raspberry slush puppy.
5 Feb 2011, 00:50 am
cheers guy – speak tom.
5 Feb 2011, 00:53 am
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-32:
Hopefully the team with the terrible new jerseys will will also be up to it at Newlands tomorrow. I like the idea of the stripes but … the yellow and red is not blending in well to put it mildly.
Mind you, the fact that Schalk and Jean will attend a wedding instead of playing makes me wonder how serious they are taking these warm up games- they are after all the Captain and Vice Captain?
5 Feb 2011, 00:58 am
@charo(charo)-33:
If the All Blacks do not win it this year they will probably never win it again- just about everything is in their favour including the fact that the traditional enemy is in a bit of a downward spiral at the moment (ageing team, useless coaching staff etc.)
5 Feb 2011, 01:32 am
@Robzim(Robzim)-36:
that stormers strip could have been so much better – even with the dhl logo.
stronger, even hoops would have made the red and yellow less obvious.
@Robzim(Robzim)-37:
agreed – this is their best chance ever …. form team, settled selections and home ground.
the pressure of their own media and fans is the only unknown factor.
anyway, cheers for now, enjoy your weekend.
5 Feb 2011, 02:19 am
@Robzim(Robzim)-37: So you are in reality putting forward a two edged sword- that we will never win it again because the ‘other’ team is on a downward spiral. So your covering your *** already ( as your confidence is low) and saying that if we cant win we lost against a side that was in a inferior position. Very luke warm sort of approach don’t you think?
@JockBok(JockBok)-34: Good to see healthy eating habits start young ;-(
5 Feb 2011, 04:03 am
@Robzim(Robzim)-37:
what price NZ to receive another complete incompetent prat in charge of the whistle in a knockout round ala 2007?
talk about conspiracies
5 Feb 2011, 05:06 am
119 Charo:
Unfortunately I missed the game…I am in America.
5 Feb 2011, 05:16 am
21 Stormer:
These guys are like CCN these days. Everything is BREAKING NEWS!!! Headline sensation seekers. Imagine all the newly invented or dusted-off verbs that will be spewed forth by Keo bloggers, they aren’t journalist, this S15 season. I speculate they will, after a 20 point losing margin, suggest to the losing team to seriously consider the option of mass suicide before the next game.
5 Feb 2011, 06:40 am
@Ryan(Ryan)-9: say it ryan, it was ‘utter garbage’
5 Feb 2011, 08:08 am
Not sure what the fuss?
The Poms just lost 2 months ago at home by almost 20 points to the ABs and the Boks, suddenly they are ‘whacking’ the Dragons?
Some resurgence
I always suspect Alain Roland to be on the taking when he refs the Poms or SA, he is not alone, to this roll of shame also belonged Marius Jonker, Craig Joubert and Nigel Owen.
I miss Kaplan’s honest refereeing.
5 Feb 2011, 09:37 am
@Hondo(Hondo)-44: Kaplans honest refereeing?
funniest post Ive EVER read on keo… absolute classic…
5 Feb 2011, 09:48 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-40: not with Paddy O around – you will probably get a one of our competent refs for all your matches.
@poppa69(poppa69)-45: he is never honest when he refs Sharks matches – just take note.
@Amerifikaner(Amerifikaner)-42: shame no super rugga for you – I feel sorry for you … NOT
5 Feb 2011, 09:51 am
@RedLion is waiting …(RL)-46: well wasnt Paddy O in charge in 2007? so nothings a given…
Kaplan was on the sideline that day in Cardiff in 2007 too…
5 Feb 2011, 11:07 am
Both teams were missing a few players to injury, notably Courtney Lawes, Tom Croft, Gethen Jenkins and Adam Jones.
There wasn’t a lot of quick ball, so it wasn’t a great spectacle. Flood had a superb game, rightly man of the match. Tom Palmer and James Haskell were also very good.
@Hondo(Hondo)-44: it was only 10 points to the Boks and ABs.
If SA had a halfway competent backline they’d have beaten us by a lot more as they won all the collisions, but they insist on playing a kicking 10 with two crash ball centres who can’t pass which limits their potential massively.
@poppa69(poppa69)-47: so Paddy gave you the best ref and touch-judges, what was your complaint again?
5 Feb 2011, 11:49 am
This ref was very poor, he is getting worse every match
5 Feb 2011, 13:06 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-48:
Have longed believed Haskell is the best athlete in English rugby & could be a world class 8 if he is given the right opportnities and time there.The infactuation with lard arrrrse at 8 (Easter) is beyond me.his workrate is simply not good enough plus with ball in hand he has gotten steadily worse where he was once competent.Lawes is going to be a excellent player.Like him & his athleticism,England never had a player to be able to do/cover so much grown as a tight 5 player and have the ball skills to boot while don basics well.In 2 yrs he is going to be a top 3 lock in world rugby.
But the English backs esp 10/12/13>>>are the pits,I pity Ashton who has tons of gas but has to sit out there while plonkers in inside channel do nothing.not sold on Foden after the initia; hype and Ben Youngs has talent but has too many holes in game at present-best attribute is his speed.
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