[2022 Six Nations] England vs Wales (26/02/22)

[TRF_Olyy]

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Is the ref for this still that utterly dreadful one from that Quins game? If so then this is going to get messy!

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Unfortunately I can see Wales getting fired up for this whilst England don't seem to get fired up for any games now. If we sleep walk into this like we did against Scotland and don't take our chances then it could be another embarrassment. Even though we had the ball and territory for huge chunks of the game against Scotland, it didn't feel like we were able to do anything with it, whilst on the flip side it felt like our defence too easily just switches off. A pet hate of mine. You'd think with career professionals they would be told never switch off, especially when the opposition have just got a penalty/free kick/set piece and yet they consistently do it and keep getting caught out.

Both teams look very poor but I think Wales will have more fight and motivation than England.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Mentioned in another thread (maybe the tournament predictions thread?) that England only seem to get fired up with written off vs SH sides, whereas Wales easily raise their game vs us
Hopefully we can pull out a performance, but who knows

Think it'll be close either way, no more than a try either way - England should be favourites because we're at home, but on recent history....

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I think England will win this fairly comfortably to be honest. I don't think they have to be better than they have been to win. They really should have beat Scotland but managed the game poorly and Scotland played far worse and really lost despite themselves in Cardiff.

I don't think Wales have an away win in them but I'll be hoping they pull it off because you always want to face an England side on a downer, they rarely turn it around during test windows.

 

[Jashay]

I think England have easily got the firepower to win this, and home advantage too. My concerns would be our perennial discipline issues, and Ben Youngs starting.

Not in just my usual 'why are we still playing Youngs?' way; his main point of difference is his kicking, but the Welsh backs are traditionally really, really good in the air so we rarely get much from it. As well, Wales have been hard to bash through recently; their weakness seems to be on the wing, with quick ball to the outside exploiting a narrowed defence. And since Youngs can't give quick ball to save his life, I think starting him will make things needlessly difficult for us.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Adams got rings ran round him at 13 in Ireland. Watkin, an actual centre, made such a big difference against Scotland. If we see more of the Wales that played Scotland then I would still say England by 7 but any drop in performance more than that will really cost Wales.

 

[Jakedood]

I think England have easily got the firepower to win this, and home advantage too. My concerns would be our perennial discipline issues, and Ben Youngs starting.

Not in just my usual 'why are we still playing Youngs?' way; his main point of difference is his kicking, but the Welsh backs are traditionally really, really good in the air so we rarely get much from it. As well, Wales have been hard to bash through recently; their weakness seems to be on the wing, with quick ball to the outside exploiting a narrowed defence. And since Youngs can't give quick ball to save his life, I think starting him will make things needlessly difficult for us.

Discipline issues would say fair enough, but actually England have been much improved so far this 6N, most penalties given have been under pressure on the Goal line, and very few of the "3 pens in two mins" that takes an opponent from one end of the pitch to the other, or the daft dumbass ones around halfway when under zero pressure

 

[Bada-Bing!]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60455167

Taulupe recalled.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60455167

Taulupe recalled.

He was pretty anonymous on the weekend imo

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

My favourite game of the 6N.

I reckon we'll only have 5 starters from last years fixture where we fielded:

Vunipola, George, Sinckler, Itoje, Hill, Wilson, Curry, Vunipola, Youngs, Ford, May, Farrell, Slade, Watson and Daly.

Injuries have obviously played their part but there's been a changing of the guard too. From the bench that day Earl, Martin and Robson have also disappeared.

Depends which Wales show up but I can see this being horribly close.

 

[Lé Ddanno]

Is the ref for this still that utterly dreadful one from that Quins game? If so then this is going to get messy!

Adamson. Yes.

 

[big ginger 8]

An England vs Wales game with Adamson reffing?

The servers are going to explode.

 

[Which Tyler]

An England vs Wales game with Adamson reffing?

The servers are going to explode.

England and Wales - united against a common enemy, briefly, before getting on with things again.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Chessum is the new Martin.

 

[die_mole]

Ban URC refs

 

[Welsh Exile]

It's funny because it always seems to me that England raise their game for us as well. It's an intense rivalry that works both ways. For sure, Wales normally raise their game by 5% or so when we play the old enemy but England hate us as much and tend to get massively up for it, especially at home.

I just don't see how we win this. I don't see how we beat any top, physical side at the moment. We don't have any system or structure to our attack or overall play. It could be a bit of a hiding like it was in Dublin imo.

Having said that, England don't like it up them and if, and it's a big if, we can get parity up front and don't let them bully us then we might have a chance but I'm not holding my breath. Head says england by 20.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

England hate us as much and tend to get massively up for it, especially at home

Nah, Ireland and France are our biggest rivals/gee-up games in the modern game (plus Aus, if we're including the SH) - England/Wales being a big thing has been fading for years, feels more like an amateur era thing these days

 

[Welsh Exile]

Nah, Ireland and France are our biggest rivals/gee-up games in the modern game (plus Aus, if we're including the SH) - England/Wales being a big thing has been fading for years, feels more like an amateur era thing these days

Maybe. I'm not so sure its like that for the players, though. Or the majority of your fair weather English rugby fans. No way to really tell, though.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Maybe. I'm not so sure its like that for the players, though. Or the majority of your fair weather English rugby fans. No way to really tell, though.

I think the players look much more up for games against Australia and Ireland than wales these days. I'm not sure about fans in general, the welsh obsession with England is the issue though.

If the welsh players were up for SH teams like they were for playing England they could possibly become a tier 1 team again.