James Haskell scores England's 1st Try
Today was a chance to impress the coaches and stake a claim for a place in New Zealand. England chose a blend of young and old and ran out with high expectations to a fully packed Twickenham.
Welsh fans were disappointed to hear that Stephen Jones pulled out of the match with less than half an hour before kick off. Rhys Priestland was given his chance to play opposite Jonny Wilkinson, returning to the No.10 jersey for England.
Early on there were some signs of nerves from England. Danny Care put in a poor box kick and then after the first England scrum James Haskell gave a poor pass to Care that went to ground. Luckily this was only a warm up match; these simple errors against stronger sides in the World Cup will be punished severely. Wales became isolated after a few phases of possession and gave away a penalty. Wilkinson, making his 86th appearance, stepped up and slotted the penalty from just inside the Welsh half. England 3 Wales 0
The English defence was soon put to the test by several phases of strong Welsh attacking play. At first strong tackles from Manu Tuilagi making his debut for England helped keep the men in red at bay. But shortly afterwards, after edging just short of the line the ball was released out wide and all the Welsh had to do was to get the ball out to George North who dotted down in the corner for the a simple try that didn’t even require a backs move. Simple through the hands rugby prevailed. Priestland banged over the conversion from the right-hand touchline. England 3 Wales 7
The game was already proving to be more exciting than the Scotland vs. Ireland game was. Delon Armitage picked of an interception and made a scything break into the Welsh 22. He was only just brought down metres short of the line. An English 5 metre scrum soon followed. After a simple number 8 pick-up James Haskell leapt over the line to score England’s first try. He was delighted and you can see how mentally prepared he was to fight for his right to fly to New Zealand with England. Wilkinson once again made the extras count making the score England 10 Wales 7
Unfortunately there was a lack of dynamism in England’s attacking phases. Scrappy ball and England not going forward meant Wilkinson opted to snap for a drop-goal. He split the uprights making sure England came out of Welsh territory with points. It wasn’t one of his best strikes but it still made it through the posts to increase England’s lead. England 13 Wales 7
Not much else happened before the half time break other than Danny Care pleasing the Twickenham crowd with a huge dump tackle on Shane Williams.
Half time: England 13 Wales 7
There had not been much to boast about for either side. And certainly England had not yet put down a marker to worry any of their opposition in New Zealand this autumn. There had however been some good play from Tuilagi, Haskell and Armitage. All three players were hoping for a strong 2nd half performance to increase their chances of World Cup selection.
Early in the 2nd half Tuilagi seemed to have isolated himself, but Jamie Roberts went off his feet at the ruck. England chose to kick to the corner. England won a clean line out and set up a driving maul which kept England edging closer to the Welsh line. Suddenly Care released the ball out to Wilkinson who drew the defence leaving a gap for Tuilagi to exploit with a fantastic running line. Tuilagi dived over to score on his debut. If anyone doubted his passion to play for England then just look at the pleasure on his face when he celebrated with his teammates. Wilkinson popped over the simple conversion England 20 Wales 7
Now England needed to maintain their composure and gradually close out the game. However this did not happen. Firstly Morgan Stoddart went down awkwardly. The Welsh full-back looked in serious pain. Sportingly Danny Care shouted at the ref to stop the game as he could see his opponent was in some distress on the floor in front of him. Stoddart broke his leg, this will be a huge loss for Wales and he will be devastated to be missing out on a World Cup place.
Shortly after Stoddart’s injury Wales found excellent territory and managed to keep hold of possession for a few phases. Phillips made a terrific dart around the edge of a ruck and then a few phases later tried to jump over a ruck. Matt Stephens was on hand to drive him back into the ruck area. Jamie Roberts then went close only for Shane Williams to waltz over into the right-hand corner. Priestland could not land the conversion. England 20 Wales 12
There was a thrilling first touch for Charlie Sharples in his first full International appearance. The Gloucester speedman gathered a Welsh clearance kick and surged up the wing. The crowd reacted with great excitement to this young man’s first contribution to senior International rugby. A phase later Jonny Wilkinson played the percentages and drilled over a drop-goal with his right foot. England 23 Wales 12
England had taken the lead, but unfortunately Captain Lewis Moody hobbled off with an injury. Hopefully it is nothing too serious. Warm up games can be a risk for some players, but every player needs match practice.
England infringed at a ruck following the kick off and gave away a penalty. Wales boldly opted to kick to the corner. Their ambition paid off. Sam Warburton went agonisingly close but his attempt was ruled out by the TMO. The strong Welsh pressure continued. An outstanding tackle by Delon Armitage stopped the first attempt, but the pressure finally tolled as George North went over for his 2nd try. Priestland found the target with the boot making the score England 23 Wales 19
A nervous final few minutes followed for England and the final whistle was met with relief by players, coaches and England fans alike. This performance will not strike fear into our rivals’ minds in New Zealand, but the squad will take confidence form the win. Some phases were promising. I suspect a gruelling fitness regime took its toll on the quality of rugby on display. Wales will be proud of their performance, especially after loosing Stephen Jones in the warm-up and Morgan Stoddart during the game. If the Welsh improve and keep up that level of finishing in the World Cup they should be able to make the quarter-finals.
Final Score: England 23 Wales 19
Who impressed in today’s game?
Manu Tuilagi the young Leicester centre had a great try-scoring debut. He was physical in attack and defence and will be firmly in the mind of Martin Johnson for a place in New Zealand. Another performance like today and he will be a shoe in for the plane ticket to New Zealand.
Jonny Wilkinson was named the official Man of the Match. He did exactly what he was meant to do; he kicked his goals and made his experience count. He will need to improve his attacking performance though if he wants to overtake Toby Flood in the pecking order. He was not quite as dynamic today as he can be.
James Haskell was combative and powerful at the breakdown and all over the park. He put in a great shift at number 8 today, but I still see him as a 6. He took his try well, although the Welsh will blame poor defence on that. He will be in New Zealand with another strong performance.
Delon Armitage came back into the squad for the 1st time since his ban for abusing a drugs testing official. He made some nice clean line breaks and made an exceptional tackle in the second half just before North scored his 2nd try. He is a great back three option as he can cover wing and full-back. His pace and defensive nous will undoubtedly get him a place at the World Cup as long as he can stay out of trouble.
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