Warzone: England v Wales

Editor

Thinking about laying down a cheeky fiver on an England win over Wales on Saturday? Think again…

Thinking about laying down a cheeky fiver on an England win over Wales at Twickenham on Saturday? Think again. Hildy Johnson, our 'special' correspondent, believes that the Welsh loose forwards are literally head and shoulders above their English opponents…

If you tune in to tonight's weather forecast, you'll find Michael Fish advising any potential Twickenham revellers to pack long johns, thermals, lycra undergarments and snow chains for their annual pilgrimage to HQ.

It's hardly surprising that those sages 'in the know' are predicting the sort of tight game where forwards huddle together sharing curry-breathed mauls and wingers are carted off to West Middlesex Hospital to have frostbitten digits amputated.

If the cold snap arrives as predicted, then the players of both teams might be forgiven for asking Twickenham's ground staff to leave the undersoil heating on during play, whilst Flood and Henson are rumoured to be considering taking the battle of the hairdos to new levels by playing in heated rollers.

In short, going to be one of those days when the ball is best placed up the proverbial jumper (admittedly rather difficult if you're Adam Jones sporting a DriFit shirt) and kept close to the pack.

Strange, therefore, that after a season or so of committing themselves to so many hard-driving back row juggernauts that only Eddie Stobart remains uncapped, Ashton and his cohorts have gone full circle and have selected a back row full of spring time pace and hard ground handling. Wales, on the other hand have picked a Gatland-inspired unit of nous, grit, grind and grunt.

Who has got it right?

It's true to say that the Rugby World Cup saw a new breed of loose forward come to the fore – the like of Juan Smith and Julien Bonnaire, men light enough that they can catch rugby balls like salmon catch flies; Rodney So'oialo and Sergio Parisse, players that in days gone by could have played in the centre; David Wallace and Richie McCaw, who are probably as fast as the wingers outside them.

Ashton has looked to emulate this, picking pace from six to eight, despite only one of the trio having anything approaching international experience. Wales by comparison, have more caps than a beer-bottling factory. Consequently, and for the first time since Max Boyce last tuned a guitar, the men in red appear to shade it in the area of the game that always matters most: the loose forward battle.

Despite his onset of Ospreyitis, Gatland knows a prize fighter when he sees one. Safe in the knowledge he had hard-yard and line-out options aplenty with Jon Thomas and Ryan Jones, and with no obvious candidate on the openside, he managed to persuade one of Wales's finest, Martyn Williams, out of premature exile before Dai the Jeweller had even finished engraving his gold retirement watch.

It's testimony to the respect Gatland commands that Williams didn't think twice before placing his pension fund back on ice. When the Cardiff man's intelligence and footballing skills are factored into the Ospreylian mix of power and passion, the combination offers potentially the best back row Wales have fielded since the days of Merve, Morris and Taylor. And what's more they all have been around long enough both at club and international level to know each other's games inside out and back to front.

England on the other hand, are a mix of youthful exuberance and – with Lewis Moody occupying the number seven shirt – outright lunacy. When fans of all nations see Martyn Williams strutting his trade, many remark upon his footballing brain. In stark contrast, the same supporters, when watching Moody's commitment and fearlessness often question whether or not he even possesses a brain.

The other two, James Haskell and Luke Narraway, are young enough not to have even opened a GCSE paper when Williams was receiving his first cap. However, the young Wasp Haskell has impressed all with his sheer commitment and power play, whilst Narraway, quick enough to play regularly at seven, adds a new dimension of pace at number eight. For the England fan who has feasted on a ten-year diet of Richard Hill and Lawrence Dallaglio's rugby brilliance, and latterly Martin Corry and Nick Easter's commitment, they have an act of the size of Frank Sinatra to follow.

Despite the pace advantage England possess, many judges agree that a modern pack needs a minimum of four and a preference of five proper jumping options in the line-out. If one could offer just a single reason why South Africa won the World Cup, it was the consistent brilliance of their line-out. Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha and Juan Smith had almost enough time to chew their biltong and down a Castle before providing the ball on a plate for their backs to use as they wished. England suffered by picking Simon Shaw, a 20-stone lump who needs a crane licence before he can be lifted, and one primary back row jumper, Corry.

On Saturday, it's here that Wales clearly have an advantage with Jon Thomas able to play regularly at lock and Ryan Jones towering over his opposite numbers. Williams too, whilst compact, offers a useful auxiliary option and is often thrust skywards by his locks to take back ball. England, on the other hand surprisingly haven't used Moody to catch anything other than restarts and neither Narraway or Haskell are anything more than secondary jumpers for their clubs. With Shaw anchored to the turf at two, it leaves England with the option of Steve Borthwick and, er, Borthwick and ,hmmm, Borthwick. Like it or lump it, this is what wins or loses rugby internationals.

For those rugby fans who have long criticised England for reliance on forward lumps, there has been a welcome glow of approval for such a dynamic loose forward selection. In Wales, who have rarely fielded a back row able to scrap for ball good enough for their talented backs, there is a frisson of excitement as a truly world class unit is assembled.

With Siberian winds howling louder than a Parisian crowd, one wonders if Corry and Dallaglio's retirement has come one campaign too early and that England need men in their mould. Certainly it looks set to be the sort of day that their skills are made for and the betting man can't help but fancy a Williams inspired Wales will edge this Twickenham micro-battle for the first time in many a year. Clearly it is they who have the 'biff'. Let's hope Gatland's Ospreyitis doesn't prove terminal for the hosts.