England v Wales: Winners and losers as powerhouse produces ‘statement display’ but ‘Pom Squad’ fails to fire
Ollie Chessum in action for England and Wales prop Nicky Smith receives yellow card.
Following England’s 48-7 victory over Wales at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, here’s our key winners and losers from the Six Nations encounter.
Winners
Henry Arundell
Given an opportunity after impressing for Bath, the speedster showed his finishing prowess by touching down for a hat-trick, taking his record to 11 tries in 12 Tests. Obviously, tougher challenges await but Arundell’s pace and strength is a point of difference, while there has been a notable improvement in his basics.
Whether he keeps his place remains to be seen as competition is high for places but, with doubts over Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s fitness, Arundell offers more out-and-out speed than Tommy Freeman and Tom Roebuck. After showing such promise as a teenager, this could be the year he establishes himself at the top level.
George Ford
England are blessed with a plethora of quality fly-halves but Ford once again displayed why he has usurped the two Smiths, Fin and Marcus. For starters, the 32-year-old is the playmaker that best suits Steve Borthwick’s game plan, and he executes it superbly, but he also has much more variety in his game than he is credited for.
It is easy to forget that when he was coming through the system, Ford was seen as more of a creative fly-half who could pick holes in the opposition defence. His kicking game is something he has developed over time, with the experienced Sale Shark adapting as the sport continues to evolve. It was another classy effort from England’s first-choice 10.
Ollie Chessum
A statement performance from the lock, who was very close to the man of the match award. In fact, we perhaps would have gone for the athletic and powerful forward, who was outstanding in every facet. Chessum was dominant at the lineout, picking the Welsh off, while he was a real presence in the loose.
The key thing is for him to stay fit. Alex Coles deputised nicely for him in the latter stages of the November series, but this display has very much cemented Chessum as the starting lock alongside Maro Itoje – if it was ever in doubt. The second-row has the potential to be a world-class player; he just needs to stay on the field.
Ben Earl
His Saracens form actually hasn’t been that fantastic but, when he gets to England, Earl consistently produces. Despite not being the biggest eight, that does not stop him at the highest level as he always makes ground with ball in hand.
Earl also has a tremendous work rate and he never stopped running in Saturday’s Six Nations encounter. With Tom Willis ruling himself out of international selection, there is more pressure on the 28-year-old, but he remains one of the best back-rows in the sport.
Steve Borthwick
There was plenty the head coach would have liked but he would have also been disappointed with aspects of their performance in the second period, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Overall, though, Borthwick’s big calls were justified and England can go into the Calcutta Cup clash with plenty of positivity.
Freeman had some big carries at centre having been moved from wing and, outside of his hat-trick, the aforementioned Arundell looked comfortable on the wing. In the extremely competitive back-row, Guy Pepper continues to excel and is superb in the tighter areas of the game.
Losers
Dewi Lake
Wales don’t have too many Test-quality players at the moment but one individual who has proven himself at this level is Lake. However, this was a game to forget for the hooker, who had an absolute stinker at Twickenham.
Irrespective of the yellow card, which was absolutely cynical, the other areas of his game were also atrocious. The lineout in particular was taken apart while the scrum was shunted backwards by the English. Lake also made a huge error by failing to tap the ball from a penalty five metres out from the opposition line, resulting in possession being handed over to the hosts – a cardinal sin.
Other cynical trio
Lake wasn’t the only Welshman to spend time on the naughty step during the 80 minutes, with Nicky Smith, Ben Thomas and Taine Plumtree also being punished, and there could be few real complaints. Plumtree was perhaps slightly unfortunate given that Henry Pollock was low to the ground when he grasped the English youngster around the neck but, considering that action prevented a try from being scored, you could understand the referee’s decision to award a yellow card and penalty try.
In contrast, Thomas’ was utterly stupid as he ripped the ball out of Trevor Davison’s hands and then played it – all while on the ground – when England got to within a couple of metres out. It was always going to be a difficult task for Wales but four yellow cards basically made their task impossible.
Freddie Steward
After the change in the ‘escort’ law, Steward was meant to be England’s cheat code but, if anything, this amendment has hampered him more than any other player. If the tall and rangy full-back isn’t dominating in the air then his selection is rather pointless as he doesn’t offer as much as others in attack, while he can be exposed in one-on-one situations in defence.
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It is certainly something Borthwick should be considering looking towards the rest of the Six Nations. George Furbank, who offers a real creative presence, is also in the squad, while Joe Carpenter was superb in England A’s hammering of Ireland XV on Friday. Carpenter is a mix between Steward and Furbank – safe under the high ball but with more power and pace, as well as decent skills – and is someone the head coach should consider.
Ellis Mee
We really felt for the wing who was grasping at air for much of his time on the field. Mee was powerless to stop Arundell, who touched down three times after speeding down that side of the pitch.
He has all the physical attributes to contribute at Test level but it was a torrid game for the Scarlets youngster and Mee was duly hooked with half-an-hour remaining. The 22-year-old certainly needs to shore up the defensive part of his game.
Pom Squad
So effective in November, less so here. In fairness, the match was won by the time they entered the field, so it is not necessarily fair to judge, but it all got a bit loose when the replacements entered the field, while two of them, Itoje and Tom Curry, were yellow carded – with the latter’s an unnecessary cheap shot.
The positives were Henry Pollock and Bevan Rodd, who brought energy, but the more experienced members of the bench – Luke Cowan-Dickie, Itoje and Curry – made some errors which they can’t afford next weekend. It is nothing to worry about as such but Borthwick and the players will be disappointed that they could not provide better impact.