Welsh test is too easy for England

13 April 2012

Whenever I played against Wales I got the distinct impression that the queue of players who were waiting to give me a dig at the bottom of a ruck was twice as long as normal.

It seemed that beside the guys in red, some of the watching Welsh supporters had joined in and one of the strongest rugby memories I have is getting up from one of those shoeings, looking into the crowd and seeing a granny waving her umbrella at me yelling: "I hate you Carling."

Thanks to England's dominance over the Welsh - 10 wins from the last 12 matches - that edge appears to have gone from the games and it's a great shame because this is a fixture that stirs tremendous passion from both sets of supporters.

Hope does spring eternal in Welsh hearts and at a dinner this week I was approached by the host who announced that his grandmother (what is it about grannies and me?) wanted to bet me £5 that Wales would win at Twickenham on Saturday. He did qualify the offer by admitting that she was in her nineties and "not quite all there".

If I had taken him up on the bet it would have been the easiest £5 I had won this year because there is every possibility that England are going to run Wales into the ground at Twickenham.

The backlash from the French defeat will ensure this will be an England team operating at breakneck speed, determined to cause chaos in the Welsh ranks with power and pace. The ball will be kept in play as much as possible, but we are unlikely to know if the lessons of Paris have been learned because Wales aren't equipped to really put pressure on England for 80 minutes.

I have never doubted the potential and ability of this England side and they are probably the most talented outfit I have seen, but there are some questions that still need answering from that French defeat: Namely, can England adapt tactically-against good teams when playing away from home, and what can they produce when Plan A doesn't work?

Even without the hugely exciting Jason Robinson, who is injured, England have too much firepower and in Neil Back, Richard Hill and Lewis Moody a back-row unit built for speed and foraging far and wide. Wales will not be able to stop England playing Plan A and they can be awesome when allowed to break free.

Robinson's try against France was sublime and he creates chances by just being on the pitch; that role now falls to Austin Healey, who is another hugely talented player. I just hope Healey doesn't overdo things from the back.

If you take scrum-half Rob Howley and captain Scott Quinnell out of the equation, this Welsh team lacks players capable of really hurting England and that is why I expect a very aggressive and limited approach from Wales. It's not lost on England that if you stop Quinnell at the gain line and shackle Howley then Wales are in trouble. But that's easier said than done.

That back row of Back, Hill and Moody will struggle to consistently stop Quinnell breaking the gain line because he is a powerful runner who is bigger than any of the opposition tacklers. The only option England have is for Back to take him low and Hill to go high to nullify his charges and try to stifle any momentum.

The other way to negate Quinnell is to run him off his feet by recycling the ball and constantly switching the point of attack, because the belief is that the Welsh captain will not be fit enough to handle that kind of workload.

Having seen France pressure the English scrum, compete strongly at the breakdown, forcing turnovers, and rushing up in defence, the Welsh will attempt to replicate this successful plan.

You can't blame them because the French exposed areas of real concern in the English game and asked questions that were not answered.

I spoke to former New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick about what happened in Paris and he is adamant England do themselves no favours by playing too many easy games and, as a result, are allowed to get away with mistakes and flaws.

Better teams will not allow England that latitude and France proved this in Paris. It will become a real problem in the build-up to next year's World Cup because at least two of the southern hemisphere sides will also be able to exert huge pressure against England. The general view I get from Down Under is that England are very, very good when allowed to play their chosen game. However, if you compete with the front five and pressurise Jonny Wilkinson they tend to struggle.

I have no worries about Neil Back taking over as captain and keeping the pack going, but it's in the backs that England need to show they have leadership and flexibility. Sometimes it's not just about running the ball and you can try too much too soon. England have to win the confrontational areas before they try to entertain. If they do that we will see another Twickenham triumph because this team have too much class playing at home.

MORE ABOUT

Athletics, Track And Field

Springboks

Wales

Welsh test is too easy for England

Read More