On Saturday, the Millenium Stadium played host to one of the most physical, hard fought encounters of the 6 nations so far, as England’s hopes of a Grand Slam were dashed by a well drilled Welsh outfit. Despite losing 23-15, England pressured Wales throughout the match, with solid defence, interspersed with moments of individual brilliance in attack. Although the performance sparked some confidence in the English set up, some critics, fastidious as ever, remain adamant that Martin Johnson does not have what it takes, and are putting what I see as unnecessary pressure on a team that is very much still in a transition stage.
Like so many other supporters of English Rugby, every match brings about the same, familiar thoughts. Will the new players have the desired impact?, Will the pack provide the impetus needed for the backs to be affective? Will England beat Wales by a huge margin? (For the latter, no was the unfortunate answer). Yet despite the usual criticisms of English rugby, Saturday did highlight how England have made some progress since last year’s 6 nations clash.
In the pack, individual grit and resilience from players such as Man of the Match Joe Worsley showed that not only could the English pack meet the Welsh on a level playing field, at times we could be dominant. Time after time Worsley put down the mighty figure of Wales number 8 Andy Powell, who usually carries enough yards for the whole team, yet one factor that still remained was the lack of support from his tight 5. The pack is still very much a question mark for the England team, with numerous different combinations having been tried; it’s still unclear who links best. One thing that was evident though, was the improvement and fluidity in the backs.
Harry Ellis, a quieter performance in comparison to his last minute call up in the Italy match, yet still showing onlookers such as Danny Care that he is a fierce competitor for the No. 9 jersey. Andy “food” Goode, although worries about his pace still resound amongst the critics, provided a solid performance, with impetus breaking the line as well as awareness, such as his delicate chip for the first try. His outside man, Ricky Flutey , showed glimpses of his devastating agility that has plagued so many of Wasps’ opponents this season, with his break leading to the first half Sackey try. The back 3, Armitage, Cueto, and Sackey, all had good games, although Cueto’s was a bit quiet in comparison, he still maintained solid defence and pace when moving forward. The only person I did have a problem with, was Mike Tindall. We all know how experienced and skilful Tindall can be and that his place in the team was to combat Shanklin’s imposing figure in the outside centre channel, but on Saturday he had a bad game. Slow in defence, limited going forward, it really did seem as though someone like Tait could have been more affective at outside centre, giving England the pace injection so needed in the outside channels. Many may argue that he is an inspiration, which I do not deny, but against a team like Wales defence is simply not enough.
All in all the backs were a success, with a lot to build on for the next game, but only if the Outside Centre position can be utilised affectively.
Despite this, there was still a major negative point which needs to be solved before the next game. Discipline. England of recent have shown a poor disciplinary record, with 8 players being sin binned in the last 3 games. Under Martin Johnson it comes as a surprise, as discipline is something he is sure to be drilling into his players. It is having 2 major detrimental effects on England, the first being obvious in that with 14 men points are likely to be conceded, such as the Lee Halfpenny try on Saturday which exploited a gap out wide which would have been filled if there were 15 men. The second detrimental effect is the referee’s treating of the team in games to come. Knowing that England’s discipline is so poor, referee’s will scrutinise against England even more, increasing the pressure. We are our own worst enemies.
So back to the critics. What strikes me is how they forget that beating Wales, at the Millenium Stadium , is something of a pipe dream for the current England set up, although we were not far off. Even the team that reached the World Cup Final in 2007 would struggle against the current Welsh side, let alone a young team trying to find its feet in the rugby world under a new management set up. The team showed promise, determination, and moments of brilliance, and if we can replicate the performance from last Saturday, Ireland will have to play well to beat us.
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