England qualify for Nations Cup final after seeing off resilient and organised Wales
England booked their place in the Autumn Nations Cup final by beating battling Wales 24-13 at Parc y Scarlets. Eddie Jones’ men secured a seventh successive win thanks to tries by centre Henry Slade and prop Mako Vunipola, while Owen Farrell kicked four penalties and a conversion for a 14-point haul.
Wales led through an early Johnny Williams try and it was unquestionably their best performance of the autumn campaign, but the harsh reality now reads seven defeats from the last eight Tests under head coach Wayne Pivac.
Two Dan Biggar penalties kept them in the hunt after Leigh Halfpenny converted Williams’ score, yet England never came under sustained threat. England marched on and they can look forward to France – the last team they were beaten by – as probable Nations Cup final opponents at Twickenham on Sunday week.
Many pundits had predicted an overwhelming England win in Llanelli and while it was more workmanlike than world-beating from the visitors against organised and resilient opponents, they still made it a comfortable case of job done.
Fly-half George Ford returned to the England starting line-up as a solitary change from the side that saw off Ireland last weekend, with skipper Farrell moving into midfield alongside Slade. Wales, meanwhile, were without five injured British and Irish Lions, with rookie flankers Shane Lewis-Hughes and James Botham handed starts in addition to 19-year-old Gloucester wing Louis Rees-Zammit.
That was not easy on the eyes but effective from England #WALvsENG #AutumnNationsCup pic.twitter.com/U4wf90ghXB
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 28, 2020
England monopolised possession during the early skirmishes, although there was also some solid early defence from Wales with Rees-Zammit accomplished under the high ball before Farrell missed a 40-metre penalty chance.
Wales then stunned their opponents through an 11th-minute try after Biggar charged down Slade’s kick on halfway. Bigger reacted quickly to lead a strong counter-attack and Williams then won the touch down race, scoring on only his second Wales appearance and 18 months after he claimed a try for England in a non-cap game against the Barbarians.
Williams, whose father is from Rhyl, only returned to professional rugby in January this year following chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer. England required only four minutes to reply, breaching Wales’ defence when Slade made amends for his earlier error by crossing out wide but Farrell drifted a second successive kick wide.
Both sides looked to keep the ball in hand before Farrell found the target from his third attempt, landing a 30-metre penalty that edged England a point ahead 10 minutes before half-time. England looked to up the ante as the interval approached, using their forwards to powerful effect and testing Wales’ close-quarter defence. That growing physical authority was emphasised when Wales conceded a scrum penalty and Farrell kicked the points, giving England an 11-7 interval advantage.
Wales’ scrum issues with referee Romain Poite continued early in the second period, which coincided with Pivac making the first change when he sent on Exeter prop Tomas Francis instead of Samson Lee, and hooker Elliot Dee soon followed, replacing Ryan Elias.
Lock Will Rowlands and scrum-half Rhys Webb also joined the action, but they had been on the pitch less than five minutes before England claimed their second try. Relentless forward pressure took its toll, with Wales unable to keep a heavyweight pack out from close range as Mako Vunipola touched down and Farrell converted for an eleven-point lead.
Biggar reduced the arrears when he kicked a penalty with 25 minutes left, and then a second successful three-pointer shortly afterwards reminded England that they were not home and dry. But Farrell completed his penalty hat-trick 15 minutes from time before a fourth successful strike broke Wales’ resistance and ensured that England continued on an unbeaten run that has lasted since early February.
Poite won't be for pints in Llanelli tonight so…#WALvENGhttps://t.co/K8y7G5eM8m
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 28, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments