The Welsh player Andy Goode is convinced England will target
When England travel to Cardiff it’s the best atmosphere in world rugby and they’re in for the usual hostile reception but Eddie Jones’ men have got their mojo back and are worthy favourites.
The visitors are now considered the team to beat after showing outstanding form in their opening two games but Wales have won 11 on the spin and that’s not a fluke. They might not be the best Welsh team ever but this crop have already written themselves into the record books.
Jones has done his best to talk people into thinking they’re better than the much vaunted sides of the 1970s but he seems to have been the only one saying it. He has won all four of his previous Tests against Warren Gatland’s Wales but the New Zealander will be quietly confident I’m sure and he’ll relish the underdog tag too.
The key battlegrounds where the game will be won and lost are the breakdown and winning the physical confrontation for me. Josh Navidi and Justin Tipuric are a dual threat really in terms of the breakdown and Tom Curry and Mark Wilson, who have both been outstanding so far, will have there hands full but there’ll be a huge amount of pressure on Billy Vunipola.
Without his brother alongside him now making hundreds of carries, as well as countless tackles, a lot more of the ball-carrying responsibility in the forwards falls on him. Ben Moon did a great job in the autumn but England lose a huge amount with Mako missing.
If England can win that physical confrontation without him and react best to Jaco Peyper’s interpretation at the breakdown, then they’ll be well away.
England have averaged 40 kicks from hand per game in the opening couple of rounds and targeted the fact that Robbie Henshaw hadn’t played full back for a long time and Yoann Huget was a winger playing out of position.
I think they’ll mix things up a bit more against Wales but I’ve got no doubt that their attacking kicking game will be to the fore again. You have to mix up your kicking game against a blitz defence like Wales’ with monster line speed to keep them honest and on their toes so they can’t just fly up out of the line.
And, it might surprise a few people but I think they’ll try to target George North, I really do. As many as 36 tries in 80 caps at the age of 26 suggests he’s pretty damn good but I don’t think he’s quite the player he was when he burst onto the scene and I think he can be found out defensively.
Owen Farrell’s kicking game is without doubt the best in the world in terms of the accuracy he brings and I’m convinced he’ll target North. And, while Liam Williams describes himself as a “professional bomb defuser” in his social media bio, he’s more of an attacking full back and I don’t think he’ll want to be dealing with kicks all day.
England have found a recipe for success with their kicking game and it’s far from boring. Everyone talks about the thrilling brand of rugby that the All Blacks play but people often forget that they generally kick more than any other team in international rugby.
Gareth Anscombe, who played for New Zealand at U20 level of course, is a different type of player to Farrell and he has some lovely touches and has been picked because of his potential to unlock England’s defence but he’s been known to have a couple of howlers in him too.
The battle of the fly halves and their ability to manage the game is always pivotal and it won’t be any different in this one.
There is no better atmosphere in world rugby than Wales v England in Cardiff in my opinion. Having played in it at the Principality Stadium, I can vouch for the fact that the noise is phenomenal.
I missed a tackle on Stephen Jones after about five minutes there in 2009 and a few phases later they thought they’d scored. It was disallowed but the place erupted and it’s the one time in my career when I thought ‘holy s**t that’s loud’.
A lot has been said and written in the build-up about incidents that have occurred involving the England team bus and around the ground in previous years and it’s true that there is real animosity there at times. It really is the big one for Welsh fans.
England’s habit of scoring a try very early on, which they’ve done in each of the past five games, would come in very handy indeed in Cardiff in terms of quietening the crowd.
England have won on their last two visits to Cardiff in 2015 and 2017 but they should really have lost a couple of years ago when an errant kick to touch led to Elliot Daly scoring the winner in the corner. It’s nice to know that you’ve won at a stadium before but the confidence of where they’re at right now is a far bigger factor.
Warren Gatland may have suggested that Wales have forgotten how to lose but England might just remind them what it feels like.
Comments on RugbyPass
This sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
12 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
77 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
12 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
12 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
12 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
12 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
12 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to comments