England versus Wales - The View From Twickenham

Two weeks ago Stuart Lancaster said that the win over Ireland would count for nothing if England didn’t press on from it and in front of 81,641 at Twickenham England did just that sweeping aside the Welsh team that annihilated them last year. Before kick-off we were bombarded by statistics that all pointed to an extremely close and tense match however as hoped and predicted England took it to another level and brutally brushed aside their Welsh counterparts to win their first Triple Crown in 11 years.

From the outset England meant business, they were cut-throat and ruthless and as much as it was Wales’ game in Cardiff a year ago at Twickenham, on the 9th March 2014, it was all about England. For the full 80 minutes they eclipsed Wales man for man in terms of their physicality, work rate and intensity. Defensively their line speed was phenomenal and their tackle completion rate high... in terms of their attacking play the breaks came from all over the park including the most unlikely of individuals – Mr David Wilson!! Ben Morgan carried like a man possessed and more than filled the shoes of Billy Vunipola, Joe Launchbury worked himself silly, Owen Farrell kicked flawlessly and MOM Courtney Lawes showed exactly why he is now considered by all to be a world class player. For all Wales’ experience and caps they appeared to be slightly rudderless out there on the Twickenham turf and dare I use the phrase one dimensional? Wales looked a shadow of their former selves, their half backs were a little slow, their scrum was sometimes a little shaky and Leigh Halfpenny provided the only real spark from the kicking tee.

Now you may be thinking at this point, why has she not talked about England’s stand out player? Well don’t worry I’m about to do just that; as expected Mr Mike Brown was sensational, whilst Halfpenny contributed in terms of points on the board, England’s 15 contributed in so many ways. Mike exploited the visible gaps in the Welsh defense and created his own gaps that were invisible to the rest of us. In total he made a staggering 156m from 18 carries, the most that any individual player has made during this RBS 6 Nations. On top of that he kicked like a 10 and played the match with that intense competitive glint in his eye that we all love him for.

Let’s be clear here… England were brilliant however they weren't flawless and must be faulted for giving away needless penalties throughout and obviously this is something that Stuart Lancaster will wish to address and nip in the bud quickly however the significance of this result is once again huge.

With this victory England achieved a number of things; first and foremost they put to bed the demons of Cardiff a year ago… the sleepless nights and haunting memories will now be replaced by sweet victorious Twickenham filled ones. Secondly England created a strong platform to work off for the rest of the RBS 6 Nations, New Zealand and of course a certain tournament next year. You won't be surprised to hear that after the game both coaches said that this result will have little influence on that Pool A clash however we all know deep down that an England win was absolutely vital. Finally and most importantly England proved that they do mean business, they proved that their coming of age against Ireland really did happen and that they could be serious contenders come 2015 and that is why all England fans should be very proud of their men right now. 

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