Wales and England elected to spend another week attempting to best the "greatest" teams in the world. Wales lined up against a significantly weakened South African side, while at the other end of the M4 England hosted inconsistent Australia at the stadium dubbed "HQ". Both managed to record victories in their final attempt against the so called "Big Three", but the journey to get there for both teams was rather different.
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| Electric May - scores his first international try |
We'll analyse the host nation of next year's Rugby World Cup first, England. It has been a long autumn campaign for Stuart Lancaster and his coaching staff, after being beaten by Ireland to the 6 Nations championship they then toured New Zealand, and almost stole two games from under the All Black's noses, but there were certain cracks that were beginning to appear. So they came into November looking to avenge the white-wash from the summer with New Zealand up first. It was a game of two halves, with Jonny May setting an electrifying start, until the rain came lashing down and despite running a perfect lineout, England lacked cohesion and control of the game. A weakness which continued throughout the remaining campaign, as the half-backs - that had seemingly carried England to serious world cup contenders - lost major direction. This problem was categorised when New Zealand went down to 14 men, but Care and Farrell couldn't provide any territory for the men in white and New Zealand were returned to their full compliment with not net-loss of points. The problems for Care and Farrell continued the next weekend against a South African team which had been comprehensively beaten by Ireland the week before. Both players were directly responsible for the loss of 10 points early on in the game, Care most obviously as he stalled too long at the ruck allowing Serfontein to pick off his pass and race in from half way.
In the end the pairing was dropped from then out - although Farrell did get a run out at centre - as the highly praised George Ford stepped into the 10 shirt. He proved to be much more composed than his former Under 20's team mate, perhaps due to the considerable difference in game time at fly-half he has had this season. Consistent game time in any position is crucial, however in the pivotal role it is practically mandatory to maintain quality performances (see Daniel Biggar's improvement for Wales). Ford had an enduring time against Samoa, getting constantly flattened by the hard hitting islanders, but despite this he remained calm, level headed and continued to execute skills perfectly. As mentioned with the introduction of Ford, Farrell was given a chance to relieve the conundrum at centre for the Englishmen. However he proved little ease to the biggest question Lancaster has in the lead up to the World Cup, who England should pick at centre.
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| England's missing man - Tuilagi |
In all reality England had a noticeable void in their attacking threat this year with the rampaging Tuilagi out through injury. It is safe to assume - considering that no one successful filled the whole - that "Manu" will be selected in a heartbeat should he be fit for an international fixture. Defensively he offers the hard contact typical of the south-sea islanders, but he can get a little rash with his attempts for the "big hit", and good players are often capable of working around this rush. The inside centre position still provides a big problem, with the physical factor filled by Tuilagi, most coaches would look for a ball-playing centre to compliment him. Yet the three previous players to be selected for this role have come up lacking: Farrell remained lacking in that position without experience; Eastmond was hot and cold in attack, while noticeably minute in defence; and Billy Twelvetrees while providing a solid kicking option, was majorly inconsistent in attack leaving his support players confused far too often. There are two other options at 12, who have international experience, both fill a similar physical position to that of Tuilagi. Brad Barritt is the definition of defensive security, but provides little if anything in attack, and England's continued stalling efforts to play a wider game would all but die with him. The final option would be Luther Burrell; he certainly provides a very physical offensive option, if a little less pace than Manu, but what he does supply is a very clever pair of hands. It is something often under rated of being able to execute a subtle, soft pass while under pressure, and it is something that Burrell has developed with Northampton Saints - playing with the likes of the Pisi brothers will only enhance a person's offloading ability. This would be my selection for England's quest for World Cup glory, with the likes of Jonny May and Rokoduguni will provide pace, and agility on the wings to round off the attack.
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| Ben Morgan scores one of two tries - surely cemented his starting place |
Enough about the struggles for the white shirts, there have been some notable bright points worth mentioning. Primarily is the England pack, at set piece they have been practically perfect in both power and precision, thus providing the half backs with practically perfect possession at any point on the field. Even against the South Africans who had turned the lineout into a vicious weapon, the England lineout performed perfectly and it lead directly to two tries in front of the home crowd. Against Australia, the scrum totally demolished the Wallabies providing multiple penalties and supplying Ben Morgan with two tries. Ben Morgan was another highlight of England's campaign, the former Scarlet has put in some huge performances, barrelling through more defenders than he should in an effort to gain ground, as well as scoring some very good tries. All in all it has been a mixed campaign for England, especially in light of the steps forward in previous seasons, England have now got eight games to get their backs making better use of the ball the pack is providing, before they face Fiji in the opening game of the World Cup.
Across the Severn Bridge Wales had looked to improve their recent trend against the Southern Hemisphere. Suffering from a plethora of record losing streaks Gatland was constantly caught saying the performances were more important than the results this year. I'm sure that many people would have taken 4 losses in November for World Cup success next year, yet the Welsh public was still crying out for a win. It didn't come against Australia where three individual errors cost a whopping 21 point in the first half, as the Wallabies capitalised on shaky Welsh tackling and an unnecessary miss-pass from find of the series Rhys Webb. A week later Wales came up against another team from their World Cup Pool - Fiji - and put in one of the worst performances of the Autumn (for all teams involved), as they continually coughed up possession against a team who thrives off turnover ball. If Fiji possessed any greater control of the game or put away a couple of chances the Wales autumn would have been bleak indeed. As it was Wales went into a test against the best team in the world, and for almost 70 minutes looked to be pulling off a shock win. With their ferocious blitz defence, typified by two top tacklers Lydiate and Roberts, causing the All Blacks to look uncharacteristically poor with ball in hand. That was until the final ten minutes when substitutions begun to tell and New Zealand took a firm grip to throttle the game and leave the capacity crowd speechless.
And so the men-in-red took the field one last time against the Springboks. Although the game lacked for excitement, tries and general "Welsh" play, what mattered was the win. Never mind that South Africa were missing almost a dozen players due to IRB Test Window regulations and injuries, Wales took on the most physical team in the world in a bone juddering game which left many people's ears ringing from the collisions picked up on the referee's microphone. The performance against South Africa was a perfect summation of Wales Autumn in retrospect. Firstly there were the errors within the game; multiple players often on more than one occasion were guilty to making the wrong decision at the wrong time. For example Scott Williams gifted South Africa a 5m scrum with two minutes left, when the ball was already seen to be going dead - giving Wales a scrum on the halfway line. Even the practically faultless Dan Biggar opted to attempt a 40m drop goal with little protection, which while admirable could have cost the team. It does seem to be a trend with Wales that they are the almost team, and one or two small errors in the game often cost them the result, how the coaching staff attempt to rectify this is beyond me, but maybe with the win under their belts against a SANZAR nation they'll begin to close out the close games.
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| Wales attempt the infamous 15-man maul |
One other major weakness in Wales' game at the minute is the linout. After a faultless lineout against Australia it begun to crack and practically implode against Fiji and New Zealand denying Wales with crucial possession and territory far too often. Reserve hooker Scott Baldwin's efforts at throwing in were highlighted often by fans and pundits alike as a primary cause of the issue, however even with the return of Hibbard for the New Zealand game the lineout didn't provide the 85-95% requirement to succeed on the international stage. The forwards coaches should be commended on their efforts to attempt the ball at the tail which provide much more effective possession for the backline, however far too often these balls were either picked off by an opposition jumper getting in front of the Welshman, or the ball not being delivered straight.
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| Shaun Edward - Wales Defence Coach |
After the Australia game I had feared I would be discussing Wales's tackle completion, after two rather simple tackles were let go and it cost Wales 14 points. However it was evident against New Zealand and South Africa that defence coach Shaun Edwards has reminded the Welsh players just how effective their defence had been in the past. In fact they became so reminded that it became a weapon. With the hard blitz Wales seriously cut down the amount of time the opposition 10 and 12 have on the ball, the pressure of seeing big men of the likes of Roberts, Warburton and Lydiate rushing at you often causes dropped balls, forwards passes or incorrect decisions. And even should the opposite team react calmly and attempt to distribute the ball away from the main blitz, Jonathan Davies shuts it down. His contribution is often overlooked, he doesn't make a lot of tackles what he does instead is read the trajectory of the phase and with alarming regularity predict where the ball will be and in who's hands when it reaches his channel. This allows him to make multiple man-and-ball tackles behind the gainline. In fact Wales' system became so well drilled in the last two games that even attempted chip-kicks over the rushing defence didn't work because the fly-half was under so much pressure. The only problem that arose with the sheer intensity of the blitz was fatigue plays a huge role, and it was really brought to the fore against New Zealand. If Wales can maintain their defence against the best in the world for a full 80 minutes, then they could become a force to be reckoned with.
While Wales's defence is in extremely good knick the attack still seems a little lacking. The threat is certainly there - it always has been - George North runs in tries for fun at Northampton, Alex Cuthbert is running at try every two games on average, and maverick Liam Williams can unpick a defence with ease. However this threat wasn't consistent through the Autumn series. Against Australia three excellent tries promised much for Wales' attack, the trial of George North at centre (even if for less than a half) seemed genius, it got his hands on the ball far more often and Wales looked to attack from deep. Against Fiji two early tries continued the belief of a new fresh Wales attacking, looking to attack wide early and use their incredibly dangerous wingers. However come New Zealand and South Africa, North and Cuthbert were instead asked to chase high balls and contest in an attempt to regain possession. It is not a bad use for fast big men, but both have shown their extreme danger with ball in hand and I for one would like to see them receive it in the mid-field and attempt to go through defenders. The major attacking threat all autumn in a red shirt was aforementioned Rhys Webb, who brought his innate eye for a gap at rucks on to the Millennium Stadium turf. Against Australia he ran in from 40m and once again against New Zealand his threat lead to a Faletau break, before being given his just desserts to cross the white-wash.
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| Ospreys Webb and Biggar - the key to success? |
Rhys Webb has become a crucial member of the Welsh team now that is for certain. His speed at the breakdown only aids the gainline battle so often fought by Jamie Roberts, not to mention his box-kicking. Mike Phillip's kicking option has always felt a little insecure for Wales, but with Webb the majority of his kicks and contestable in good areas of the pitch. Both he and Dan Biggar have earned their shirts the hard way, battling other players, loss in form and generally being overlooked. But now this partnership is all but certain to be the one to take Wales to the World Cup. In Biggar Wales now possess a controlling influence on the field, which could just be what they need come those "two point games" they so often stumble upon. Biggar kicks out of hand superbly well even under pressure he finds the right kick to get his team out of trouble, not only that but he contests the ball in the air as good as any international fullback (except maybe the peerless Israel Folau), which allows him to chase his own kicks with confidence, increasing the chances of regaining possession. Biggar also offers the very definition of defensive security. His actions against South Africa have already become heroic; with behemoth Springboks running down his channel all day he continually put them on the floor and remained level headed enough to marshal his team to victory. And that is what typifies his importance to Wales now, there was a moment with less than a minute to go - after excellent work at the scrum Biggar had gotten Wales out of their 22 - when Biggar called in all his major players: Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton, Jamie Roberts and Rhys Webb; and detailed exactly how he wanted to play out the remaining minute of the game. That is what you want to see in your fly-half, the confidence to tell players who have captained the Lion's how to run the game.
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| Competition for the #10 shirt from Anscombe |
In reality there is little Wales need do before they head into the World Cup - other than lineout issues. Almost certainly they need to beat England in Cardiff in the opening game of the 6 Nations and continue the current high in the national game after defeating South Africa. But they have now found the ever lacking replacement to Adam Jones in Samson Lee, who has been a scrummaging revelation this autumn. So perhaps what the coaching staff must look to accomplish is building strength in depth for their players. At fly-half Gareth Anscombe has finally arrived and will look to push Daniel Biggar; at scrum half try-machine Gareth Davies is currently out injured by could mount a serious contention for the No. 9 shirt. This is something the coaches must encourage and force their players to better themselves before RWC 2015. Lastly they need to re-discover the ability to score tries, we have seen superb glimpses of it in matches gone past, but the big teams always convert pressure into points and far too often we have seen Wales waste chances in the opposition 22. Perhaps there is an argument for Liam Williams to start in place of another, in an effort to increase Wales' threat on the ball...
Predicted 6 Nation Finishes:
England: 3rd
Wales: 2nd
Jonathan Sexton (Ireland and Racing Metro) - Superb, no other word, has formed a lethal partnership
New South Wales Waratahs vs Cantebury Crusaders (Super XV Final) - A game full of passion, plenty of tries, and a nail-biting conclusion all you can ask for.
New Zealand - Not quite as good as they were a year ago, losing to South Africa, but still undeniable #1 in the world, need to pin down first choice 10 for World Cup.
Nigel Owens (Wales) - Has there been a better ref in recent memory? His compassion for the game is legendary, understanding that the game is the most important. His quips are superb too, keeping everyone lighthearted
Scrums - They continue to plague the game, what used to be very quick and efficient method of restarting the game, has become a snore-fest as fans lose interest for two minute periods throughout the game. There is a simple solution really and it's making sure the players do their jobs:
