Lancaster’s decision to drop George Ford at fly-half in favour of Farrell and start Sam Burgess at inside centre paid off to the extent that Wales’ power game was nullified, but Carling insists it also deprived England of the creativity they needed to kill off the match.
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There had been fears the 28-year-old could be cited after his shin connected with Welsh fullback Liam Williams’ head 14 minutes from time as the back-row forward attempted to hack a loose ball towards Wales’ line.
We felt we had good ascendency in the drive, but it did not come off. “We coped with (the injuries) and I am incredibly proud of the boys”.
Captain Chris Robshaw took responsibility for the decision afterwards and has been widely criticised but Woodward, who led England to the 2003 title in Australia, insisted the blame lies with the team management as a whole.
Stuart Lancaster’s team gave away 12 penalties against Wales, whose victory enabled them to move up to second in the world rankings as England dropped to sixth, and Youngs revealed that he was having to constantly tell his forwards to keep their discipline.
“I don’t know where Lancaster goes now”.
“We’re delighted to have both of them in the squad, the door opens for them”. It’s silly and dumb. As a squad, we felt that those last 20 minutes was what we had worked for all summer, and we came through. “When you look at each other and everyone’s putting the graft in and suffering, you are willing to go the extra step for the man next to you”.
“When it is showtime and you have to do the right thing at the right time, they [Wales] did and we didn’t”.
Biggar, who has taken over Wales’ kicking duties from Halfpenny, slotted 23 points in in the epic 28-25 win over England and spent sometime at fullback in the match as casualties mounted.
“If I’m involved I think it will be the biggest game of my career”.
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Robshaw said: “That call comes down to myself”.
“There’s a tough game coming against Australia but Wales have got to play Fiji (who knocked the Welsh out of the 2007 World Cup) and Australia so it is all to play for”.
“The atmosphere was brilliant, and these are the type of games you want to be involved in”.
“We’re optimistic on Ben Morgan”.
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“History shows there are always injuries and call-ups during the World Cup and we have continually stressed that the disappointed players must do everything to ensure they are ready should that call come”. Wales finished that game with a flyhalf at fullback, a wing at centre, and a scrumhalf on the wing.”JJ we are going to have to wait and see how he trains – or if he can train – on Tuesday which may effect when we announce the team”.
