[2019 Six Nations] Wales vs England (23/02/2019)

[Tayga]

Can't argue with your selection - my only query is Kruis v Launchbury .
I am a big fan of Launchbury and unlike Kruis - he has never had a bad game for England .

Both are high work rate mobile locks and you could argue Kruis brings more line out security but I think Launchbury provides a more all round contribution and I could not understand why he was not picked for the Liobs.
In fairness to Kruis though , he has played very well in the 6N so far and it would be harsh to drop him.

I probably should have added that it is a luxury problem to have to choose between 2 great players - most other countries would be envious of our strength in depth.

 

[Every Time Ref]

If England pierce a Shaun Edwards defence inside 2 mins I think I'll have to stand up and applaud.

Yeah I really, really, REALLY think this weekend will me the end of that streak. It could never last long anyway, it's just too ridiculous.

England on paper, but I've just seen too many Wales-England games to truly believe we're favourites. We'll see

 

[Tayga]

Yeah I really, really, REALLY think this weekend will me the end of that streak. It could never last long anyway, it's just too ridiculous.

England on paper, but I've just seen too many Wales-England games to truly believe we're favourites. We'll see

We have won the last 4 or 5 I believe and they have all been tight affairs.

Other than JJ/Watson/Itoje and Mako we are at full strength .

Itoje and Mako are huge losses but Lawes has been outstanding and whilst neither Genge nor Moon can match Mako's industry , they will perform adequately .

The real bonus for us is that we have Tuilagi back and we have seen the emergence of Curry and Wilson and May as international class players.

But the welsh will be up for it and it won't be easy but I think we will win by 2 scores

 

[MarkyH]

I think England should be clear favorites and should win by at least 14. I don't think Wales winning streak counts for much, and I just don't think they are as good as they make out. That might hurt some people but towards the end of Englands winning streak we could all see how awful we were.

However I'm still going to be really nervous, I'm still not ruling Wales out of this one. In true wind up fashion England games in Wales are cup final day for the Welsh and they will always raise their game against us. No Warburton any more and he was the one player I was always fearful of, he was truly world class and I don't think they can match him anymore.

 

[Scotty]

We have won the last 4 or 5 I believe and they have all been tight affairs.

Other than JJ/Watson/Itoje and Mako we are at full strength .

Itoje and Mako are huge losses but Lawes has been outstanding and whilst neither Genge nor Moon can match Mako's industry , they will perform adequately .

The real bonus for us is that we have Tuilagi back and we have seen the emergence of Curry and Wilson and May as international class players.

But the welsh will be up for it and it won't be easy but I think we will win by 2 scores

And Underhill, then we will be full strength. He cant be left out as he pushes hughes out of the 23

And agree on all that.

The one thing this team has across the board is balance. Mixture of pace, power and playmakers and not including the front row id say only May, ford, launch and kruis are limited to one position. We have enough depth to keep them in their favoured positions even with injuries.

 

[Tayga]

And Underhill, then we will be full strength. He cant be left out as he pushes hughes out of the 23

And agree on all that.

The one thing this team has across the board is balance. Mixture of pace, power and playmakers and not including the front row id say only May, ford, launch and kruis are limited to one position. We have enough depth to keep them in their favoured positions even with injuries.

Yes , you are right - I had forgotten about Underhill but I guess this is due to Curry's emergence .
But would he really replace Hughes in your view ? - I know Hughes has his detractors but I see him as a straight replacement for binny with the bonus that he can come in to the second row - you can't say that he did not have a good game against Ireland.
And I agree with your comment about balance - and I think that is particularly true of our back row unit - they complement each other pretty well and it looks to me like the successor of the famous back/Hill/Dallaglio combination.
I see Underhill as a replacement for 6 or 7 but not 8.

 

[Tayga]

I think England should be clear favorites and should win by at least 14. I don't think Wales winning streak counts for much, and I just don't think they are as good as they make out. That might hurt some people but towards the end of Englands winning streak we could all see how awful we were.

However I'm still going to be really nervous, I'm still not ruling Wales out of this one. In true wind up fashion England games in Wales are cup final day for the Welsh and they will always raise their game against us. No Warburton any more and he was the one player I was always fearful of, he was truly world class and I don't think they can match him anymore.

Warbs would be a huge loss to any side but if Wales have less individual talent man for man against England, I do think that the depth of their squad has massively come in the last 18 months. In the past they could lose a few key first team players like Warbs and be in trouble but I don't think that is the case any more .
But you are right that the Welsh will be up for it against us.

 

[MarkyH]

Yes , you are right - I had forgotten about Underhill but I guess this is due to Curry's emergence .
But would he really replace Hughes in your view ? - I know Hughes has his detractors but I see him as a straight replacement for binny with the bonus that he can come in to the second row - you can't say that he did not have a good game against Ireland.
And I agree with your comment about balance - and I think that is particularly true of our back row unit - they complement each other pretty well and it looks to me like the successor of the famous back/Hill/Dallaglio combination.
I see Underhill as a replacement for 6 or 7 but not 8.

Underhill on bench, with Wilson and Billy at starting 6 and 8 we should have enough cover not to use Hughes. Plus we actually have better carriers in the front row now too Underhill has carried better than I thought he was capable of every time he has played for England and with him and Lawes hunting people down from 50 minutes onwards the oppo would be bricking themselves

 

[Scotty]

Yes , you are right - I had forgotten about Underhill but I guess this is due to Curry's emergence .
But would he really replace Hughes in your view ? - I know Hughes has his detractors but I see him as a straight replacement for binny with the bonus that he can come in to the second row - you can't say that he did not have a good game against Ireland.
And I agree with your comment about balance - and I think that is particularly true of our back row unit - they complement each other pretty well and it looks to me like the successor of the famous back/Hill/Dallaglio combination.
I see Underhill as a replacement for 6 or 7 but not 8.

Yes direct replacment for hughes, wilson can cover 8 as can curry in an emergancy. Hughes covers 8 and can cover the others if he has to but he isnt a 6 or 7. Underhill is a great tackler, good at the breakdown and getting a better carrier. Billy has proved he can play 80 min. worse case we end up with underhill curry wilson which is not week especially with the carriers we have in 1 - 5.
Them 4 in any order are our back rows IMO

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Massive advantage to England here, I think three wins in a row is when a team earns a mental edge over the other in international rugby. It'll take a huge performance from Wales and England being a bit off the boil for an upset here. I see neither happening.

England by 6, championship to be won in round 4 for the 4th consecutive year after that.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Wales have been rather crap so far. 9/10 axis didn't really work in either game and the lineout has been awful. Which is odd as I'm sure I saw that last year they only lost 4 lineouts the entire 6 nations. I've been critical of Biggar in the past but with Patchell still gaining back fitness I would start him with Gareth Davies at 9. I've never been convinced with Anscombe as a test 10 and the French game didn't help his case.

 

[Reiser99]

Jones and Marler's combined Wales/England team.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/rugby-union/47279324

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I think Edwards' defence is being a bit over egged - when you look at the stats Wales concede as many tries as anyone else (conceded more tries last year than England did).
Don't get me wrong, Wales have a very good defence - it's just not leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else.

 

[TommiG88]

Nervous already. Will have to be well lubricated prior to kick off.

 

[MikeTheNative]

I think Edwards' defence is being a bit over egged - when you look at the stats Wales concede as many tries as anyone else (conceded more tries last year than England did).
Don't get me wrong, Wales have a very good defence - it's just not leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else.

I agree, it's consistently decent but is it better than all others team defences? Not for me.

 

[bushytop]

I agree, it's consistently decent but is it better than all others team defences? Not for me.

It looked pretty solid during November but hasn't looked to it's best during this 6N.

 

[Tayga]

It looked pretty solid during November but hasn't looked to it's best during this 6N.

They looked good against South Africa and Australia last autumn - less so against France in the first half - I don't think that we have scored too many tries against them since the WC - the games have tended to be close - but then we did score 32 against a very good Irish side and 44 against France ( best victory margin since 1911) so it is going to be very interesting how the welsh defence fronts up - I still think that we got too much firepower and a good balance across the park.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I'm most interested to see how our alternative to a kicking game works, or if we can force the Welsh back 3 to commit to the front line and thus free up space to kick anyway. This is the first proper back 3 we will have faced and we won't be able to repeat what we did before. Having said that, grubbers behind the defence are always difficult to deal with when executed properly. My main concern, which was raised on Scrum V, is that England haven't been properly tested with the kicking game being done to us.

Also we have run blocking lines the same as everyone else but we need to be smart about it. I don't doubt that refs will be looking for that and we don't want to give away penalties on every kick.

Ultimately I think this is a battle of will more than skill and I wonder whether we will go there and bottle it like in 2013 or if the Welsh will get too wound up and make silly errors. Having said that, I can't think of a time where we have gone to Cardiff off the back of performances this dominant in recent history.

 

[dullonien]

Some very confident English supporters on this board! Understand why though. For the first time in a very long time I think this England side has a real balance to it throughout, even without a few first choice players. Curry has filled a 15 year void at 7 (Underhill is a 6), and alongside Vunipola and Wilson there's a wonderful balance there that very few sides can match (Vunipola's sheer carrying ability especially).

There's similar balance in midfield, although I'd be very weary about pinning so much on a fragile Manu if I were English. Te'o just doesn't compare, so the alternative is to completely change the dynamic with Ford or Cips at 10, Fax at 12 and maybe then JJ 13 to compliment the two playmakers inside him.

Wales in ccomparison, whilst winning lots of games just feel a little unsettled. The back row is forever changing due to endless injuries, but there's still a very capable unit available which will test England. Tips is a better player than Curry, but the rest of the Welsh pack need to stand up as well.

I'm also very worried about the uncertainty at 9 and 10. Biggar stifles our attach, but Anscombe had a shocker v France! Patchell ain't ready after his injury issues, whilst Jarrod is too green. Centre is also a concern with Parkes and JD2 off form.

Starting to think this year is a year or two early for Wales, and it may be Pivac who reaps the benefits when the likes of Beard, Seb Davies, Wainwright, Griffiths, Tomos Williams, Patchell, Jarrod Evans, Watkin etc. have all matured. Although quite a few players managed to come through quickly in the run up to the 2011 WC, so if Gats wants to roll the dice he could push them through.

 

[Scotty]

We talk of how our kicking game will go against a good back 3 especially if they use williams adams halfpenny it will deffinatly be a test but defence has been as big of an asset as our kicking game, puttig pressure on the backline, forcing them to kick, into contact with slow ball or into a rushed pass putting slade under the postswith another intercept.

If we dominate them with physical defence then they will put in more loose kicks that are too long and with our back 3 able to counter all day long. And their wingers having to come up meaning we get a foot race that includes May

I want us for a 3rd time to come away being happy with or without the ball. Thats the sign of a good team that dominates play atrack or defence it doesnt matter as the opposition is forced to play into your hands.