By Andrew Curry
I’d just like to say congratulations to Wales for winning the tournament. Superb display against England, Leigh Halfpenny was just phenomenal.
But do you think it throws up more questions than it answers? I should probably admit here and now that I am an Englishman and a die-hard England supporter through thick and thin, but I don’t think this was as good news for Wales as it has been made out to be.
Wales still have to prove themselves against southern hemisphere opposition
So the things you said in that post, I thought I’d reply from an England point of view (and nowhere near an expert one!!) Adam Jones as player of the tournament? No. Your scrum was OK in 4 of the 5 games. It was decent against Italy when Castro struggled and they didn’t have Parisse adding some shunt. But it was average against Ireland and went down like a cheap hooker against Scotland. Yes, yes cue Brian Moore and everyone else chirping away about how ‘streetwise’ and ‘canny’ AJ and GJ are but if you think that’ll work everytime you’re having a laugh.
JPR Williams suggests that Dan Cole has been banished to the midweek team. I doubt it. He scrummages very well and often legally (which isn’t very common) and is ferocious in the loose… I make only the suggestion that had we had Corbisiero fit and a different ref then the scrum would have been even. The result would not have changed (Wales were on a different level) but at least Dan Cole would not have his reputation unfairly attacked by parochial bandwagon jumpers.
Tuilagi and Barrit are not the answer. We didn’t need a 30 point mauling to tell us this.
Tipuric was very good. Warburton was excellent. Robshaw was superb. If you want an answer as to how Warburton and Tipuric respond to playing on the back foot, go back and watch any of Wales’ games since 2011. Invisible to a man. Watch Robshaw against South Africa (a game we lost by one point due to his ‘poor captaincy’) and you’ll agree he was the best player on the pitch by a country mile. Scavengers are like scrum halves. The great ones are great when your pack is going backwards.
Wales were unbelievably good from 1-15 but any Welsh fan who realistically saw that result or that performance coming is as big a liar, as short of sight and with as many screws loose as the Kearney selectors you mention. Wales have been pretty mediocre since this fixture last year. Escaping Twickenham with a win was impressive and we all know about the 8 defeats on the bounce. Needless to remind you that they were to a light Australian team, an out of sorts Argentina and Samoa. Plus the embarrasing capitulation to New Zealand. Why is it that Wales play to their strengths ONLY when everyone writes them off OR when they play England?
Don’t give me the same rubbish that idiot JPR Williams (greatest player to grace the game but shocking pundit, almost as bad as Clive) spouts about the nationalities. IF that’s truly the reason then you’ll never be more than bit part players. sneaking as many England defeats as you can and failing on the great stage. I read once that ‘Wales play on confidence, they desperately need momentum whereas England think they can win even when they’re crap.’ When are the Welsh going to realise that they are good enough to beat the best? England aren’t the best, nowhere near and, for once, we don’t actually think we are. That win against NZ was a freak. a one off from a team that flatters to deceive. This result, in the cold light of day, should make Welsh fans LIVID. You’ve got the bloody players! You’ve got one of, if not, THE best tight fives. you’ve got THE best full back IN THE WORLD, you’ve got a terrific openside in Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric would get edged out by Dan Lydiate in my opinion but talk about top class problems! Mike Phillips can be unbelievably good when he wants to be and with front foot ball and the type of stand off that the Welsh valleys can muster you could cut teams to shreds on a whim BUT YOU DON’T.
Wales-France this year was a travesty. Coming from an England fan who watched England under Andy Robinson you know when we find a game boring it must be of glacial pace but that was utterly dire. Where was your Welsh flair? Where was your passion for the game then? Oh look, you’re playing the ‘arrogant English’ with nothing to lose in your own back yard. Now you play amazingly well. Please don’t take this as sour grapes, I don’t mind that we lost. I can think of few teams in world rugby who would have stood up to THAT onslaught at scrum and breakdown. but i can think of even fewer teams in world rugby that would have elicited such a performance.
String a few games with that type of performance together and I will admit that this Welsh team is the greatest your country has mustered (as all your stats suggest). Fail to do so and Wales will always be the plucky underdog, tussling for scraps off the southern hemisphere’s table…
An Early Bath 