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Moriarty: We dominated England physically

By Jamie Lyall
Ross Moriarty

Wales physically dominated England in Saturday’s World Cup warm-up victory, says back-row Ross Moriarty.

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Warren Gatland’s side avenged last weekend’s 33-19 defeat at Twickenham with a bruising 13-16 win in Cardiff.

The triumph also secured Wales top spot in the World Rugby rankings for the first time.

“Training has been tough on everyone, this week we had a good kick up the arse, and we knew what needed to be done,” said Moriarty.

“As a pack, we knew we needed to turn up the physicality. No-one likes being dominated by any team, we knew England coming here, that wasn’t going to happen. We definitely dominated them.”

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“We’ll see after the World Cup where we stand but it’s not a bad statement. We’re the first Wales team to be classed as number one ever, so something to be proud of.”

George North’s try, brilliantly crafted by two Dan Biggar cross-kicks, proved the difference, as England failed to capitalise on several promising second-half positions.

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“We were a little bit too frantic at times,” said hooker Jamie George.

“It’s always a good sign that people are keen, but maybe we were a bit too desperate. There were examples of that in defence, creeping offside because they’re eager to make tackles, but it’s better off if we are in control.

“Maybe looking back it, the desperation crept into our training. It’s better to need to take your foot off the gas a bit than needing to ramp it up. We’ll address it, probably we needed a lesson like that to make us realise we are a little bit too frantic.

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“And when it’s not going our way, we need to make sure we keep doing simple things well rather than chasing the miracle play that will try and change the game. If we keep doing what we do, we’ll break teams down.

“It’s just that people are passionate and want to do well for their team and it’s natural. You’re behind in a game, you want to be the person who puts their hand up to make the big tackle, the big carry, but you don’t need to go searching for it.

“As disappointed as we are, we’re pretty happy with where we’re at and excited about where we can take things.”

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