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England v Wales has a weird feel but hosts need to finish on a high - Andy Goode

By Andy Goode
(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

There may be a weird backdrop to England v Wales that makes it feel like there’s less than usual riding on it but the home side need to end their tournament on a high.

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The whole Six Nations feels very strange now with at least Ireland v Italy and Italy v England falling victim to Coronavirus and it’ll be incredibly tough to reschedule those games so there’ll be a lot of people hoping France can win their remaining two games and clinch a Grand Slam.

Of course, England can still win the tournament if they don’t but, even though not many will be thinking about that at Twickenham now, it’s important to finish on a high and continue the momentum from an impressive performance against Ireland a couple of weeks ago.

Biggar's heavily strapped knee
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

A huge amount of the build-up to the game this week has been spent talking about Dan Biggar, who has made a Lazarus-esque recovery after suffering a nasty looking knee injury for Northampton against Saracens last weekend.

There is still a major question mark over his fitness and all England should be doing with their first five bits of playing is testing him out and, specifically, giving Manu Tuilagi the ball and sending him down his channel.

It isn’t just Biggar who’ll be tested early on though. George North has been out with concussion again recently and some have questioned whether he should still be playing the game so he’ll receive a stern examination, and Liam Williams hasn’t played for a while either.

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If they all pass with flying colours, it could be game on which a lot of people, including me, didn’t think would be the case at the start of the week.

I still think England have the edge, though, and it’s in the tight five where I think they have the biggest advantage. The set piece battle will be epic and I expect England to put Wales under a similar amount of pressure to what they did to Ireland.

That pressure comes from the kicking game as well as physicality and if Dan Biggar does struggle, that’s another area where England will have a significant advantage.

England and France are kicking the ball more than the other teams in the tournament and it isn’t just putting high balls up, it’s using the tactical kicking game to turn defences and win the territorial battle.

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New Zealand kicked more than anyone else in the world for a long time and were the number one team in the sport. That’s obviously something Eddie Jones has looked at and it was really effective against Ireland in the last round.

England Rugby World Cup
Manu Tuilagi will look to flourish alongside Owen Farrell at midfield for England (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

A lot of these players know each other very well from working with one another at club level but I don’t think that’ll have a massive bearing on the game, apart from perhaps Owen Farrell having an insight into Nick Tompkins’ defensive reads.

Tompkins has shone with ball in hand at times in this tournament but been found wanting defensively and Tuilagi is arguably England’s biggest weapon if used correctly so that could be key.

I started the week thinking England could run away with it and win by 20 points. Wales have put out a team that looks as strong as any they’ve named in this tournament on paper so that’s narrowed the margin but I’m backing England to come away with a 12-point victory.

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Bull Shark 2 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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