Wales v England: Five takeaways from Rugby World Cup warm-up clash as Steve Borthwick better get the Tipp-Ex out

James While
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Aaron Wainwright for Wales against England.

Aaron Wainwright for Wales against England.

Following a 20-9 win for Wales over England in their Rugby World Cup clash, here’s our five takeaways from the game at the Principality Stadium.

The top line

An outstanding display from an impressive Welsh team, inspired by Aaron Wainwright and led brilliantly by Jac Morgan, saw them take the spoils in the first Rugby World Cup warm-up of this season, as veterans Gareth Davies and George North scored two outstanding tries to see Wales home in an error-strewn encounter in Cardiff.

Wales need to thank an outstanding defensive effort for their win, for England had enough possession and territory to put the game away before half-time, but the brilliance of Max Llewellyn, Dafydd Jenkins and the Welsh back-row in disrupting England’s attack was the key difference between the two teams.

Put bluntly, England simply fell apart under the defensive pressure and attacking poise of their hosts as they delivered one of the poorest performances of their recent visits to Cardiff. They were stuffed in the scrum, beaten on the gainline, had their lineout dismantled and managed literally zero points from the eight minutes they spent in the Welsh 22.

With 12 handling errors, six scrum infringements and three lost lineouts, judged purely on today and allowing for the much-changed England team, you’d wonder if they’re anywhere near the races for Rugby World Cup time.

Wales, on the other hand, can take a lot from this match; their leadership, their sheer doggedness in defence and most of all, the performances of both Morgan and Wainwright, who were absolutely outstanding all evening.

Inaccuracy

Based on the 80 minutes of English attacking play we saw today, you’d wonder if Steve Borthwick’s team were capable of finishing a jigsaw puzzle, so woeful was their ability to close off promising moves.

England certainly showed some skill with ball in hand in the early exchanges, with Joe Marchant firmly pressing his claims for inclusion in a very competitive group of centres. His ability to work with Marcus Smith to prize open the Welsh defence moving right to left was impressive on a couple of occasions and almost led to scores for both Joe Cokanasiga and one of England’s outstanding players, Lewis Ludlam, but in both instances, England were unable to retain and recycle once they’d gone beyond the Welsh primary and into scramble defence.

Part of the English issue was the propensity to take the ball one metre too many into contact, and get either isolated or stripped as a result; a more circumspect carry with a quicker and more accurate ruck recycle would have ensured greater continuity in situations where the Welsh defence was stressed.

The mistakes continued; the lineout was a comedy of overthrown errors; the scrummage starting leaking free-kicks and penalties, and some of the aerial work, particularly that of Cokanasiga, wasn’t close to Test match standard, and even Freddie Steward started dropping balls in the attacking line that a third team club player would be dismayed to spill.

It was an abysmal display in attack by England and one that makes you wonder what they’ve been doing at Pennyhill Park for the last 10 weeks.

Wainwright and Morgan

One moment of brilliance from Wales’ superb number eight Wainwright showed how you unlock a defence and just how key his silky skills might be over in France; Sam Costelow finally got some space to kick crossfield, and Wainwright’s catch, drive and divine offload to the rampaging skipper Morgan saw Davies scoot over under the posts for an outstandingly executed try that went against the overall theme of inaccuracy.

Wainwright was absolutely magnificent all evening with some thundering runs, showing pace and power with accuracy in carry, precisely what you need from a footballing eight, and he, alongside an exceptionally impressive skipper in Morgan, put in performances to remember.

In fact, Wales found depth in their team they probably were not aware of; Henry Thomas’ introduction on the tighthead saw Ellis Genge hinge like a piano lid on at least three occasions under the pressure of the Montpellier prop; Costelow showed admirable poise under the pressure of the England rush defence (about the only thing that went well for the visitors) and with Dan Biggar coming on and upping the pressure, they look well served in all of their half-back berths.

The fringe players

For Wales, the big successes other than Morgan and Wainwright was the combination of Llewellyn and North in the centres, the power of Thomas in the tight and the tireless pressure of both of their locks in the lineout and set-piece. Wales made significantly fewer errors than England, and Gatland will be very pleased at his team’s work.

For England, it was hard to find many plusses. Marchant was by far and away their best player, showing real intent with fast footwork and some silky passing, but both hookers looked way below Test standard, and you’d have to wonder why Jamie Blamire and Theo Dan have been selected over and above the reliability of Tom Dunn and the footballing ability of George McGuigan. George Martin’s effort never dropped off during a bruising 80 minutes, and Ludlam had a big influence on early proceedings, but given Wales’ second-half evisceration of England, it was hard to find too many positives.

Moving forward

England announce their squad on Monday, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Borthwick will be getting through more Tipp-Ex than black ink in his preliminary selection sheet.

Out of those we saw, question marks have emerged that didn’t previously exist, and although this defeat will be played down, the lack of cohesion, accuracy and ambition was highly concerning.

Next week the two sides meet again – it’s imperative England field their best Test side and get some form of footing, as the simple truth of Borthwick’s reign is he has two wins from six, a lamentable record given the amount of resource at his disposal.

Wales and Warren Gatland can go to Twickenham knowing they’ve the basis of a set-piece, a defence and a couple of outstanding players, allowing him to tweak and hone his plans from a platform of success.

Make no mistake, England cannot afford to lose next week – their fans expect much better, and it will be intriguing to see how they respond.

READ MORE: Wales keep England try-less in dour Rugby World Cup warm-up victory

England Jac Morgan Steve Borthwick

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