England vs Wales Match day thread

[maestegmafia]

First topic message reminder :

SIX NATIONS: ENGLAND V WALES
Venue: Twickenham Date: Sunday, 9 March Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC One HD, listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

England

15-Mike Brown, 14-Jack Nowell, 13-Luther Burrell, 12-Billy Twelvetrees, 11-Jonny May, 10-Owen Farrell, 9-Danny Care

1-Joe Marler, 2-Dylan Hartley, 3-David Wilson, 4-Joe Launchbury, 5-Courtney Lawes, 6-Tom Wood, 7-Chris Robshaw (captain), 8-Ben Morgan

Replacements: 16-Tom Youngs, 17-Mako Vunipola, 18-Henry Thomas, 19-Dave Attwood, 20-Tom Johnson, 21-Lee Dickson, 22-George Ford, 23-Alex Goode


Wales

15-Leigh Halfpenny, 14-Alex Cuthbert, 13-Jonathan Davies, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-George North, 10-Rhys Priestland, 9-Rhys Webb

1-Gethin Jenkins, 2-Richard Hibbard, 3-Adam Jones, 4-Jake Ball, 5-Alun Wyn Jones, 6-Dan Lydiate, 7-Sam Warburton (capt), 8-Taulupe Faletau

Replacements: Ken Owens, Paul James, Rhodri Jones, Andrew Coombs, Justin Tipuric, Mike Phillips, Dan Biggar, Liam Williams
MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee : Romain Poite (Fra)

Touch judges : Steve Walsh (Aus) & Lourens van der Merwe (RSA)
TV Official : Simon McDowell (Ire)


Next up for Wales is a trip to London and after all the banter coming out of the England camp it is time to finish the hype this match has been building and play some rugby. Have England improved on last year? Will home advantage be enough? Has Wales over come a trough and reached another high?

With plenty of injuries to key players, in fact some of England's very best players are out of this game, a convincing win for England over Wales will give the nation huge confidence going forward, maybe even a shot at the championship next weekend.

The build up seems to have been all about England, Wales are a known entity, twice champions in recent years with pretty much the same team they field tomorrow, little change to their game plan or style gives very little to discuss.

On the many various threads the situation is similar, all about England, with very little admiration of this perceivably over-rated Welsh team that have failed to beat a Southern Hemisphere top three team since 2008, the mark of all great sides.

In all honesty a tough and challenging end to the Six Nations will do this Welsh set up some good, possibly more good than the confidence a third consecutive championship would give them. Wales have little to lose and less to prove, a defeat in the manner of last years game would be vastly more detrimental to their hosts.

I hope all the fans enjoy the game, I am sure it will be the usual roller coaster of emotion for both Nations.

[nathan]

Remember boys, be proud of your team, and gracious in victory.

haha, most of us know but it's easy to fall into the trap of pointing it out to a certain poster when he (or she) keeps mentioning last year.

[Duty281]

Well played England. Two fantastic wins in a row now; this one played with plenty of ambition on a lush pitch at the home of rugby. Making steps forward all the time.

Joyous! Pressure off, really, in Rome.

My sympathies to all the real Welsh fans on here; but I'm, obviously, laughing at the wums.

Well done England.

[GloriousEmpire]

Lawes was immense.

Yes I'm impressed with him. He links with the backs well and does his lockly duty. Reminds me of Ali Williams.

[TJ]

English muscle and Farrells boot won't beat NZ or RSA

England are a lot more than that. tries scored and a couple missed. Offloading, varying the point of attack, varying the kicks. They are not the finished article yet but by the WC they might be. This was no stodgy 10 man rugby

[Rory_Gallagher]

The Lawes-Launchberry partnership at second row is becoming a real formidable combination. They were everywhere, and will continue to grow. Up there with the very best in the world, and could go on to become great and win plenty of caps together.

[wales606]

Perhaps now Gatland will see Biggar as first choice?....i'm being far too optimistic

[GloriousEmpire]

End of the road for gethin Jenkins? Or was he unfairly persecuted?

[Metal Tiger]

Absolutely delighted with that. Great intensity & pace coupled with good hands & great finishing. Brilliantly fronted up against  Wales 1st choice XV. When the rest of our players come back from injury it bodes well for the future.

Comisserations to Wales. Fought tooth & nail to the last as I have come  to expect from you.

[Cardiff Taffy]

Well played England. Tactics and execution were both far better than Wales.

[Nachos Jones]

Is SCW really saying that Manu may not get back into the side over Twelvetrees?

[Cardiff Taffy]

SCW - 50 point game! He's a mentalist!

[mystiroakey]

A quick note on halfpeeny. Scored 18 didn't miss one and made the tackle of the game...

Great goal kicking today 100% from both.

Good signs for Farrell as that has been a long time coming.

[BlueNote]

Well done England, deserved winners.

Our coaches need to have a rethink, it's too obvious how to snuff us out. And what happened to the handling??
One small positive: Jake Ball is looking well up to international level.

[mystiroakey]

SCW - 50 point game!  He's a mentalist!

We have to try...it's the only way to go into the game. It's a long shot. But it's probally the only shot we have

[wales606]

A quick note on halfpeeny. Scored 18 didn't miss one and made the tackle of the game...

Great goal kicking today 100% from both.

Good signs for Farrell as that has been a long time coming.

Quite a few Welsh players actually had good games - Warburton was very good, as was Lydiate - but the tactics and execution was all wrong from the halfbacks for most of the match - we only actually played rugby for about 15 minutes.

England pressured the Welsh halfbacks and easily countered the Welsh gameplan for the entire first half.

[Metal Tiger]

Absolutely delighted with that. Great intensity & pace coupled with good hands & great finishing. Brilliantly fronted up against  Wales 1st choice XV. When the rest of our players come back from injury it bodes well for the future.

Comisserations to Wales. Fought tooth & nail to the last as I have come  to expect from you.

[Rory_Gallagher]

Perhaps now Gatland will see Biggar as first choice?....i'm being far too optimistic

I have to say I am baffled as to why Priestland is always starting.. he has just been so poor for a long time now.

[Cardiff Taffy]

SCW - 50 point game!  He's a mentalist!

We have to try...it's the only way to go into the game. It's a long shot. But it's probally the only shot we have

Very true but he says it as though it's a walk in the park against Italy. It is not.

[Cyril]

SCW - 50 point game!  He's a mentalist!

We have to try...it's the only way to go into the game. It's a long shot. But it's probally the only shot we have

Very true but he says it as though it's a walk in the park against Italy.  It is not.

There's a lot more chance of Ireland losing in France than England putting 50-odd on Italy.

[kingelderfield]

Is SCW really saying that Manu may not get back into the side over Twelvetrees?

36 & Burrell (both IC's) have played sympathetic rugby and deserve their shirts. Tuilagi (OC) only just back from injury may appear on the bench and could even appear on the wing against Italy.

If you did replace 36 with Tuilagi(which I don't advocate) then you'd move Burrell to IC, what i'd call the Samaon option.

[Scratch]

Congratulations England.     

One of the best performances i have seen from England and although up to this point i was sceptical i now see what that england are a superb TEAM.

Earlier thsi season Gatland inplied the end of careers. You just saw the end of Gethin Jenkins career and it made horrible viewing. I saw nothing anywhere to take comfort in, except Halfpenny who remains for me in a league of his won. Preistland was dire and what best illusrates how wrong on the 10 pick Gats is that when DB came on he was straight in Sam's ear.

The key to England is consistent selection - bearing in mind so many 'first' choice players are out, it just goes to show - as the Welsh bench also showed - you don't need to be first choice to make an impact.

Well done England.

[The Bachelor]

Congratulations England; deserved winners.

[mystiroakey]

SCW - 50 point game!  He's a mentalist!

We have to try...it's the only way to go into the game. It's a long shot. But it's probally the only shot we have

Very true but he says it as though it's a walk in the park against Italy.  It is not.

There's a lot more chance of Ireland losing in France than England putting 50-odd on Italy.

Aye but England are first up so we have to think along the lines that Ireland will win. And to be honest the way they are playing. They are big favs for me..

[Cyril]

SCW - 50 point game!  He's a mentalist!

We have to try...it's the only way to go into the game. It's a long shot. But it's probally the only shot we have

Very true but he says it as though it's a walk in the park against Italy.  It is not.

There's a lot more chance of Ireland losing in France than England putting 50-odd on Italy.

Aye but England are first up so we have to think along the lines that Ireland will win. And to be honest the way they are playing. They are big favs for me..

Aye. We go for it (within reason) but I can easily see Ireland getting unstuck in France. If it was in Dublin I'd say Ireland definitely faves but I can see France doing us a favour.

[lostinwales]

Wales ponderous but muscular. Slow in thought and deed. Scary to think where you might have been if it wasnt for Halfpenny

[Duty281]

SCW - 50 point game!  He's a mentalist!

We have to try...it's the only way to go into the game. It's a long shot. But it's probally the only shot we have

To be honest, England should just get the win. If Ireland lose to France in Paris - always possible since they've only won twice there in sixty years - or it's a draw, then England will be Champions..in all probability.

It's a long shot, so I wouldn't worry about it.

4 out of 5 wins, for the third time in three of Lancaster's Six Nations campaigns, wouldn't be a bad return for the type of rugby England have been playing this year.

[mystiroakey]

Is SCW really saying that Manu may not get back into the side over Twelvetrees?

36 & Burrell (both IC's) have played sympathetic rugby and deserve their shirts. Tuilagi (OC) only just back from injury may appear on the bench and could even appear on the wing against Italy.

If you did replace 36 with Tuilagi(which I don't advocate) then you'd move Burrell to IC, what i'd call the Samaon option.

36 has just given SL a huge problem(good one) with that performance- for me MOTM. much improved performance today. Before today I was very much in the camp to just straight swap him out. Now its tough

[EnglishReign]

I hope this ridiculous myth that Ben Morgan can't play 80 minutes has been banished now.

[lostinwales]

And 36 - barring one awful kick early on - was actually very good

[Cyril]

There was some gorgeous handling down the right wing for Burrell's near-try (excellent tackle by HP).

Our second row (along with Burrell and Brown) are standouts but great work by all the forwards. Nice to see Wilson rampaging and Morgan last the pace.

I thought Twelvetrees had his best game of the tournament but I'm still unsure about our wings.

[mystiroakey]

Congratulations England.     

One of the best performances i have seen from England and although up to this point i was sceptical i now see what that england are a superb TEAM.

Earlier thsi season Gatland inplied the end of careers. You just saw the end of Gethin Jenkins career and it made horrible viewing. I saw nothing anywhere to take comfort in, except Halfpenny who remains for me in a league of his won. Preistland was dire and what best illusrates how wrong on the 10 pick Gats is that when DB came on he was straight in Sam's ear.

The key to England is consistent selection - bearing in mind so many 'first' choice players are out, it just goes to show - as the Welsh bench also showed - you don't need to be first choice to make an impact.

Well done England.

Ta Scratchy

[slartibartfast]

Well done England. Simply better team.

Wales were a bit chatf. The old AWJ shaky lineout undone Wales yet again. He always seemed behind play. If you looked at the second try from reverse half penny is covering the ruck while \AWJ is lumbering back.

Lawes was head and shoulders above the rest of the team

[HammerofThunor]

The Lawes-Launchberry partnership at second row is becoming a real formidable combination.  They were everywhere, and will continue to grow.  Up there with the very best in the world, and could go on to become great and win plenty of caps together.

And they could easily be playing together another 10 years. Lawes is only 24

[sportform]

Is it England's championship to lose considering Ireland's poor record in France? The last two Ireland v France games have ended 13-13 and 17-17. Another draw would do for England.

[kingelderfield]

There was some gorgeous handling down the right wing for Burrell's near-try (excellent tackle by HP).

Our second row (along with Burrell and Brown) are standouts but great work by all the forwards. Nice to see Wilson rampaging and Morgan last the pace.

I thought Twelvetrees had his best game of the tournament but I'm still unsure about our wings.

These guys are both green and to be far the best available.

I'm a huge fan of May who is a fantastic athlete, however he is a player in need of a MASSIVE amount of coaching. I'm not sure either England or Gloucester will supply this.

Foden, Yarde & Wade. TBH either Tuilagi or Eastmond could play wing in this side, plus the young Bath lad who's name escapes me.

[mystiroakey]

Is it England's championship to lose considering Ireland's poor record in France? The last two Ireland v France games have ended 13-13 and 17-17. Another draw would do for England.

3 draws on the spin- more chance winning the lotto lad..

Ireland have got better and better every game.. They are flying. France the complete reverse..

[WELL-PAST-IT]

Men against Boys?

Men against Boyos as it turned out.

I was surprised by England the score flattered Wales. Wales did not do well in the scrum, despite their vaunted front row, England probably got the better. Lineouts wales did better than expected only loosing a couple and taking at least one of England's.

From a Welsh point of view, Gatland has either got to develop a plan B or go, SH sides are no longer vulnerable to plan A and neither it would appear are England or Ireland. it's a bully boy tactic which has been worked out and only works if Roberts can make the breaks, as he spends 50% of his time injured and is no longer a spring chicken, it's short term plan that only works against sides that can't run the ball back well. Also no chase worth the effort, why kick if you don't chase?

Lawes and Launchbury are immense as a second row pairing, not just the scrum and lineout, but their open field play as well. Attwood is not far behind either.

Farrell has matured to be able to really control a game, not far behind Sexton now and more reliable.

Care is Care, awkward, very quick and forever in your face. Typical 9.

Burrell, well 3 tries in 4 games in the 6N and very close to 4 in 4. Great tackle from 1/2p, hope it didn't hurt him seriously.

Brown, again well in excess of 100m made and double figures for men beaten. Must now be regarded as one [u]of the best in the world, he has done the same in the in the AIs against Aus and NZ.

I didn't think the wings were that bad, safe defensively, both got turned over getting isolated, learned from that and when in doubt out wide came back rather than risk the turnover. Burrell's try was as a result of May seeing the cover coming across turning back inside drawing that cover with him and setting up the ball nicely to allow 36 to put Burrell in the corner.

I can't think of a Welsh player that really stood out, Warbs was good but not as good as Robshaw, Toby was put in the shade by Morgan (who surprisingly lasted the game out), Lydiate tackled but did little else.

Preistland did what we expected and kicked too long, Roberts did as expected and charged the line, mostly to no avail. Running straight at Lawes is not a wise move, even at 17.5 stone.

JD looked off the pace unsurprisingly, wingers made some good half breaks but not often or effectively.

1/2p looked good when he did run the ball but didn't do it nearly enough, just fed the England back 3 who either ran it back or gained good ground by kicking to the corners with a good follow up.

was it 100% from both kickers, fantastic display of place kicking by both.

[Scrumpy]

That was a pretty average performance from England, but it was good enough to beat the former 6 nations champions.

Wales aren't as exciting to watch as they used to be!

[Rugby Fan]

Just a reminder: it is a firm, set-in-stone, unbreakable law that France win the tournament after a Lions tour. That means we are looking at France winning in Paris, and England going down to Italy for the first time.

[welshy824 (new)]

congratulations England, I am absolutely gutted, being a passionate welsh fan in Cardiff uni pub surrounded by English fans, this has been a bitter pill to take, but England took their chances so much better.

With any welsh fans on here please don't blame the ref or anything else, at the end of the day we should have performed better than that, let us be gracious in defeat

in terms of wales, I find it so disappointing that we have seemed to learnt nothing from the English performances, we should not kick to the back 3, especially when our defence and first up tackles were poor, we showed when we had the ball in hand to our backs that we could break the English defence especially on the wings, yet still we kicked to brown who has probably been the player of the 6n (exlc. POM).

extremely disappointed but I shall be wearing my welsh shirt nonetheless in uni tomorrow!

[WELL-PAST-IT]

Is it England's championship to lose considering Ireland's poor record in France? The last two Ireland v France games have ended 13-13 and 17-17. Another draw would do for England.

3 draws on the spin- more chance winning the lotto lad..

Ireland have got better and better every game.. They are flying. France the complete reverse..

Have to say it is Ireland's to loose. As well as England played, 50+ pointers against Italy are a thing of the past especially in Rome. Ireland on top form could only get 39 in Dublin. There is hope and as SCW said, they have to go for it, our best hope is the French turning up for the game next week and beating the Irish by a few points, we are well ahead of the French on PD.

[GloriousEmpire]

France will beat Ireland next week. No doubt about it.

[lostinwales]

Roberts is great at what he does but its the same routine every year. A few years back we had to man mark him with Worsley, now everyone hits him.

North did look dangerous but generally we got to him before he got moving. Burrell had him a couple of times.

Some good games from some key England players. Farrell shaking off taking a Hibberd to the face and playing like he did was just great. (And it was accidental, but given Hibbard's size and power always a bit worrying)

[mystiroakey]

we will probally again go 4 out of 5 wins and not win a 6 nations.. got to laugh- but its an 80% win record. that will be the best out of any team in those 3 years

[majesticimperialman]

We kept on hearing on her all week about the Welsh having the more experence players, Most of this Welsh team played on the Lions tour, some even in the in the last game to beat Australia.

The point i am making is England out played the more experinnce Welsh Lions for most of the game. It was only when Mike Phillips and Dan Biggar came on that Wales looked dangerous.

What i would like know from a Welsh fan if possible, how many of this Welsh team will be in next years 6ns/Rugby World Cup?

[lostinwales]

France will beat Ireland next week. No doubt about it.

Its entirely possible, although it probably wouldnt be just.

Be absolutely typical if ENgland and Ireland both lose and France take the 6N....

[lostinwales]

We kept on hearing on her all week about the Welsh having the more experence players, Most of this Welsh team played on the Lions tour, some even in the in the last game to beat Australia.

The point i am making is England out played the more experinnce Welsh Lions for most of the game. It was only when Mike Phillips and Dan Biggar came on that Wales looked dangerous.

What i would like know from a Welsh fan if possible, how many of this Welsh team will be in next years 6ns/Rugby World Cup?

Phillips still got caught dithering behind the ruck with the ball. It wasnt his kind of game

Biggar was definitely a step up from RP though

[stub]

What a great result - absolutely delighted. A great performance there from a very determined looking England team. I was so tense before the match but am now looking forward to watching it again. Hard luck Wales - Halfpenny was awesome though - cool as anything throughout. Also nice to see some very gracious posts from many posters.

[Scrumpy]

Dan bigger has to be the welsh 10, when he came on I was generally worried for the 1st time all game, but let's face it without 1/2p wales/B&I Lions offered very little

[mystiroakey]

France will beat Ireland next week. No doubt about it.

Its entirely possible, although it probably wouldnt be just.

Be absolutely typical if ENgland and Ireland both lose and France take the 6N....

if england were on a GS i would agree but we are not. I fully expect us to beat italy big but not by enough.

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