England v Wales - Part 2, 26 September

ebop wrote:Credit to Davies to for picking up that ball for the try with his finger tips. We've seen many a try fluffed in situations like that. That's an execution of skills and concentration under fatigue so good on him.

FecklessRogue wrote:Under Gatland Wales have repeatedly turned up with a big performance on the big occasions. They don't fear England. Lancaster's selections show he is worried about the Welsh and is thinking about not losing instead of going out and winning it. I predict a Welsh win.

RanjitPatel wrote:
Heard Lancaster on the radio implying that he wasn't happy with it either.

majesticimperialman wrote:That is the first half over with England being 7 points up. Lets hope for just as good a second half.

And England getting more tries.

I just hope i having jinx then right now.

Risca Rev wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:That is the first half over with England being 7 points up. Lets hope for just as good a second half.

And England getting more tries.

I just hope i having jinx then right now.

Jinx boi

1. England are in a mess and Burgess is in the middle of it. Alarm bells should have started ringing for England in the 45th minute of their astonishing 25-28 loss to Wales on Saturday night. With England leading 19-9, Sam Burgess took the ball from his halfback and kicked it aimlessly downfield straight into Welsh hands, on the full. That, of course, is not why England lost, and Burgess stuck to his individual tasks admirably, save for one horrible defensive read in the first half that opened up a huge gap for Welshman Scott Williams.

But the problem with Burgess is that England have put so much faith in him that they pushed their best defensive No.12, Brad Barritt, to No.13, to accommodate Burgess at No.12, both at the exclusion of the youngster Henry Slade, who is better than both. Barritt was dreadful, caught out badly twice in the second half in the No.13 channel even before the misread that led to the dramatic Welsh try that levelled the scores. Stuart Lancaster has hacked his midfield to bits to find a way to get Burgess involved, putting faith in intangibles such as presence and aura, and the English will be merciless in their treatment of that decision.

2. Keep Joe Marler straight, and the Wallabies scrum will handle itself. Has there been a more incriminating camera angle introduced to rugby broadcasting than the overhead one at scrum time? As England won three early scrum penalties, it showed the same thing: England captain Chris Robshaw hanging off the side of the scrum to generate the angle to push his loose-head Joe Marler across the tight-head. In fact, the third of those scrums went sideways, not forwards, yet referee Jerome Garces ruled that England has achieved dominance.

However, when Garces went to Marler's side of the scrum for the next set piece to keep a close eye on him, England's advantage immediately disappeared. ''I'd like to see if the England pack square on the loosehead side ... just the once,'' tweeted former referee Jonathan Kaplan. Over to you, Romain Poite.

3. Taulupe Faletau was simply a giant. This World Cup is bringing out something special from No.8s, and the Welshman was as good as any in Wales' win. It's easy for a No.8 to look good when his tight five is dominating, but Faletau was magnificent even when the opposite was happening. His ability to carve out the hard yards was central to the Welsh comeback in the second half, even from the back of struggling scrums.

And when England kicked ahead after the Welsh knocked on in attack in the 62nd minute, Faletau was one of three Welsh chasers who prevented English winger Anthony Watson from collecting the ball after a lung-busting 60-metre chase. Dan Biggar won man of the match, but I suspect the players will give their own award to Faletau.

Chris Rattue: England's arrogance their undoing
5:35 PM Sunday Sep 27, 2015
Arrogance. That has to be what sent England to a humiliating Rugby World Cup loss against a magnificent Welsh side who should have limped off Twickenham in defeat.

England's decision to turn down a late shot at goal for a draw was among the most staggering things I have seen in top sport. It defied belief. Desperate to claim the world crown on home soil, England tossed common sense out the window and gambled their prospects on a captain's whim. A team that is supposedly prepared to within an inch of its life, interactive goalkicking aids and all, had a melt down. They simply couldn't face the prospect of a draw with Wales.

The Pool of Death -- where every point may count -- has come alive, and Australia are the winners on this result. They have a brilliant record against Wales, who are so knocked about by injuries that their odds of winning the World Cup might even go down after this victory. England are behind the eight ball in what many describe as the toughest World Cup pool in history.

Fortress Twickenham has had its doors kicked down. England are a laughing stock thanks to captain Chris Robshaw's astounding late call.

What an amazing game at Twickenham, even though it wasn't very good at times. Outstanding goal kickers are wonderful to watch, but only in doses more moderate than this. Yet just as the big Pool A game was heading towards the casualty ward, the Welsh stretcher bearers came on and the game took off.

There's nothing like a wounded underdog clawing their way back into a contest to get the heart racing, and European crowds know how to create an atmosphere. And Wales really were out for the count, down on the scoreboard and in fit troops.

When it comes to injuries, they are already the world champs. They really do seem jinxed. Their squad went into the game depleted, and got hammered further still. Even their coach Warren Gatland managed to break both ankles, falling from a ladder in New Zealand a couple of years ago.

But they showed the sort of spirit that has always been essential to rugby success. A game of such loose structures has been bashed over the head by the laptop army, but rolling up the sleeves, digging deep as they say, still counts for a lot.

The glory moment was provided by Lloyd Williams, normally a halfback who was forced on to the wing, scampering up the left hand touchline and placing a centreing kick for the winning try. It's not the sort of move that is rigorously planned on a training field. Those impromptu things come from desperation, and the heart.

And what was England's response? They couldn't face drawing with an old enemy who was threatening to rain lightly on their parade. They turned down a simple penalty for the draw even though this was the mandatory thing to do. It was also a mark of disrespect to the Welsh pack, who easily defended Robshaw's meek lineout move. England paid the full price. For arrogance.

Blanko wrote:Burgess coming off opened up the Welsh midfield. SL must not have been watching the game to do that.

Worse though was the starting England hooker. He's a complete liability. I don't know what he's on for but he cost penalty after penalty and does not appeare very dynamic.

Well done Wales.......falling like flies yet still had the desire to win - helped by some very poor English management on and off the pitch.

Risca Rev wrote:I can't be bothered with reading back, but the biggest thing tonight was Wales were poor, but stayed in touch on the scoreboard. There was always a danger to the hosts then, that if Wales went for it a bit, they'd win. Still too guilty of carrying from a standing start forwards wise and didn't help ourselves by kicking down the back threes' throat a lot. Ah well

Rugby Fan wrote:I haven't really got a settled take on that match yet. Warburton confirmed he's the better captain, and Gatland the better coach. I was disappointed Robshaw couldn't rein in the indiscipline across his team, and I think we suffered again from having a captain who worked himself to a standstill, and wasn't able to show clear leadership in a tight spot.

Don't know about the penalty shot he turned down. Most ex-players and coaches think England ought to have gone for the posts. Funnily enough, I would have turned down the previous penalty in favour of a scrum. Wales had just lost two players, so their back line organization would have been disrupted. We still had the lead at that point and a try might have killed the game. If we planned on being brave, that was the time to do it.

George Carlin wrote:Farrell hadn't missed the entire evening so I would be surprised if he had refused to take it.

All interviews post-match suggested that the call was Robshaw's and that SL would have preferred the attempt at goal.

George Carlin wrote:Farrell hadn't missed the entire evening so I would be surprised if he had refused to take it.

All interviews post-match suggested that the call was Robshaw's and that SL would have preferred the attempt at goal.

eirebilly wrote:The AB's always back themselves Guby so I think that they would have gone for the corner as well, especially when down.

I have said it many times before but I do think that having Farrell snr on the coaching setup in England is a massive mistake. His preference is always to pick his son and he seemingly has some control over Lancaster. That is a massive weakness in Lancaster.

I really like Lancaster but last nights decisions and the interview where he pretty much left Robshaw out to dry was poor from him.

eirebilly wrote:For the rather large amount of negativity surrounding Burgess, he proved that he is a decent player last night and it was his removal from the game that ultimately proved costly.

Farrell, however, proved to me again that he is simply not international standard. Great kicker but seriously lacking in every other part of his game. His decision making and controlling ability is incredibly poor.

To the people slating Robshaw for not going for the points, I can see your point in hindsight but at that moment of the game, I believe personally that it was the correct call.

GavinDragon wrote:Flopping on the mam when he was on floor. It was very harsh