England v Wales has a weird feel but hosts need to finish on a high - Andy Goode
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf 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.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
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