[2020 Autumn Nations Cup] Wales vs England (28/11/20)

[TRF_Olyy]

 

[TommiG88]

Oooopphhhh the big one.
I do think England could blow this Wales side away. Will be interesting to see.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Oooopphhhh the big one.
I do think England could blow this Wales side away. Will be interesting to see.

Then again England could just as easily utterly **** the bed and go to pieces if they turn up with no intensity and the Welsh are fired up. I still can't trust England to have the mental fortitude to not go to pieces if we meet tough resistance or if we build an early lead then rest on our laurels. As a matter of fact, I can't think of a time we've built up a lead against T1 nations and then actually maintained it by winning the 2nd half too.

 

[EdBirch]

Hoping we see a bit more in attack from England this weekend.

 

[Jashay]

The pick for 13 could be interesting. Assuming Watson reclaims his Wing slot, then you've got JJ and Lawrence (and arguably Marchant and Slade) competing for outside centre.

My preference would be Lawrence at 13 with Ford at 10, but Eddie might just stick with his 100% centre backline.

I really want Ford at 10 though.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Yeah, I'm hoping for a return to the Ford/Farrell axis

My preference would be Lawrence at 13 as well - nothing against JJ, he'd usually be my starting 13, but I want to see if Lawrence can continue improving on the international stage, and also see how he fairs alongside Ford/Farrell.
Slade and JJ on the bench (unless EJ goes mad and actually wants a back three player there, in which case JJ and Thorley)

I should feel more confident than I do - but Wales always raise their game vs England, especially at home. I think they'll look much better than previous games.

 

[Oliver Madden]

I'm not confident about this game at all. Form goes out of the window when we play Wales. there's been so many times in the past when Wales have been massive underdogs and have turned us over. Granted Wales are currently at a low ebb but I think you'll see a totally different side this weekend. If England don't turn up with the right mentality and play with ambition we could easily lose this.

 

[FLOBALOB]

Thought it was quite funny EJ didn't bring in replacement for Umaga. He daren't I suppose.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

England are +14 away from home, were +11 last week after Sexton and Henshaw were ruled out, Wales' defence is suspect asf. This shouldn't be close.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Wales are poor, in transition, there won't be 70,000 rabid taffs cheering them on, nor any roof issues.

I've laughed at some of the media commentary this week making out we're the best thing since sliced bread because we made a load of tackles vs Ire. But if we can't do a proper number on Wales this weekend we never will. There are no excuses for us not to win this one handsomely. Both on the scoreboard and in performance.

That said, my money's on a scrappy win by less than 10.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Thought it was quite funny EJ didn't bring in replacement for Umaga. He daren't I suppose.

Can't risk bringing someone significantly better in and showing his Umaga love-in to be misguided

 

[MikeTheNative]

Wales this Autumn have struggled in attack and with physicality up front, luckily defence and forward physicality isn't one of England's strengths....................................................
I'm not expecting any positives from Wales' overall game plan but hopefully some of the younger guys are given a chance to prove their worth at this level. Rees-Zammit should be starting, wouldn't mind see Johnny Williams be given a go at 13 as well.

 

[Scotty]

I want to see more attacking intent from England ball in hand but i also want to see the physicality that they showed Ireland last week in defence.

My preference would be a couple of newer lads starting and a very strong bench.

So say
Mako George Stuart
Itoje Hill
Willis Curry Earl(but it will be Billy)
Robson Ford May Faz JJ(or Lawrence) Thorley Daly

LCD(sorry Dunn harsh but LCD has been on very good form)
Genge
Sinks
Launchbury
Underhill
Youngs
Slade
Watson

 

[klitarris]

I want to see more attacking intent from England ball in hand but i also want to see the physicality that they showed Ireland last week in defence.

My preference would be a couple of newer lads starting and a very strong bench.

So say
Mako George Stuart
Itoje Hill
Willis Curry Earl(but it will be Billy)
Robson Ford May Faz JJ(or Lawrence) Thorley Daly

LCD(sorry Dunn harsh but LCD has been on very good form)
Genge
Sinks
Launchbury
Underhill
Youngs
Slade
Watson

I'd be pretty happy with that team. As you say, Billy won't be dropped but like you I would like to see Willis, Earl, Underhill and Curry as our matchday back row. Shame for Launchbury but I would like to see what Hill can do. Backline I mostly agree with, although it won't happen. Youngs will start. I'd prefer Ford at 10 and Farrell at 12 with Lawrence or Slade at 13, but i suspect we might see exactly the same as the the Ireland match. Like you, I want Thorley to get some game time but I suspect JJ has been a stop gap for Watson, leading to Watson, May and Daly with JJ on the bench.

 

[Goodey]

When was the last time England won in Wales by more than a score?

Wales +14 at even odds is a bargain.

 

[ncurd]

When was the last time England won in Wales by more than a score?

Wales +14 at even odds is a bargain.

2003? We did it twice that year (this should shock no one considering where the teams were relatively back then).

History of rugby union matches between England and Wales - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

TBF whilst I hated Wales under Gatland part of the game plan was to keep games low scoring and thus 'sneak' a win even when they were dire. Factor in home advantage and ability to really up their game against us its not a surprise so many wins were tight.

 

[Oliver Madden]

When was the last time England won in Wales by more than a score?

Wales +14 at even odds is a bargain.

I was thinking that myself. Our wins in Wales are always close.
Having looked through the records the last time we won in Wales by more than 7 points was in 2003 in a RWC warm-up. (43-9). The games in Wales since 03 have been one-score games with the odd exception. I don't expect this to be any different.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Yeh but Wales under Gatland v England was a very different thing.
Gatland always took games v England personally, the press articles leading up to it the past 4 years was always Eddie v Gatland rather than England v Wales. (Or the best was Hartley v Gatland)

Pivac IDK if he can motivate the team like Gatland could.
Although England only beat Wales by 3 points in the six nations the actual score was 33 - 16 till the final 2 minutes.

 

[Goodey]

I was thinking that myself. Our wins in Wales are always close.
Having looked through the records the last time we won in Wales by more than 7 points was in 2003 in a RWC warm-up. (43-9). The games in Wales since 03 have been one-score games with the odd exception. I don't expect this to be any different.

Wales during the first 8-10 years of the pro era were spectacularly crap. I miss it

 

[MikeTheNative]

Wales during the first 8-10 years of the pro era were spectacularly crap. I miss it

However bad things are now and they are reasonably bad to be fair. I don't think some realise how bad it used to be.

South Africa 96 Wales 13 - Welsh Rugby Union

June 1998 was a dark day in the history of fixtures between Wales and South Africa as an inexperienced Welsh team came up against an experienced Springbok outfit that swamped them with a bevy of tries.

www.wru.wales