It summed up the evening.
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Wales were forced to put scrum-half Lloyd Williams on the wing against England after Amos’ shoulder injury.
A few Wales supporters were in the building, though, and not afraid to cheer on the Red Dragon whenever Warren Gatland’s team made a dent on the scoreboard.
England endured a morning of contrasting emotions as they began the countdown to a seismic World Cup showdown with Australia. We always have done and we always will. I thought we played some great rugby in the first half: “it was a professional and well-executed performance so I’m certainly not going to sit here and hang anyone out to dry”. “At half-time we were in control and had momentum”.
Stuart Lancaster looked displeased with his players’ decision-making on that occasion when he spoke to the media after the game, but as Farrell points out the coach has to trust his on-pitch leaders to accurately judge the flow of the game. To lose from there was criminal. “It’s never happened that a team’s gone along, lost in a pool game and either ended second or first”, added White.
“The players chose to go to the corner”, said Lancaster, and there was the distinct impression he’d have preferred to go for the posts. I’ve listened to Stuart Lancaster say for years that “I don’t have the leaders and therefore we’re having to make all the decisions as coaches”.
“If you are not fresh mentally and physically you go in with a little bit more anxiety and stress”. It’s something to jump on.
England have reportedly been accused of spying on upcoming Rugby World Cup opponents Australia after a photographer fled from the Wallabies’ training base at Bath University.
The inquest into England’s defeat already seems to be under way and the main bone of contention was their failure to take the three points after being awarded a penalty when Wales had just taken the lead. England can do it, they can win the line-out and get the winning try. “We just kept letting them back into the fight with ill-discipline and penalties”.
“We have to learn from that. 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”. We have to get better, simple as.
“That’s what we will focus on”.
“We got a bonus point against Fiji with the game against Australia to come, so we would have been very much still in the pool with no sense of panic”. The next job is a daunting one, with England’s woes at the breakdown likely to be exacerbated by a meeting with Matt Hooper and David Pocock.
Are Wales there for the taking?
On a day that witnessed strong criticism of the manner of Saturday’s defeat by underdogs Wales, England were savaged by Carling, who led the team 59 times in 73 worldwide appearances.
That task has been enthusiastically embraced by people outside the camp: Robshaw’s call to risk losing the match by trying to win it, rather than settle for an honours-even outcome, has been criticised by all and sundry. As players you are the only ones who can do something about this situation. He was referring to that last lineout, but it applied to the game itself.
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Wales responded with a kick from Dan Biggar but another from Farrell ensured the Eton Manor folk were happy for the time being, but the atmosphere was now starting to get tense. They pulled England’s trousers down.
