Monday 9 February 2015 17:53, UK
The loss to England on Friday may have caused irrevocable damage to Wales and their World Cup hopes, says Sky Sports pundit Stuart Barnes...
It was an excellent start to this season's Six Nations for England. To win in Wales is always an achievement for any England side. The manner of this one was especially gratifying for English supporters. After three worryingly muddled performances in the autumn, this performance backs up the victory against Australia to suggest they are back on track.
Wales showed in the first 10 minutes against England how good they can be when everything clicks. The next 70 were a reminder of how limited their game plan is when things do not click.
The track of course leads to the World Cup where, as is hoped, England need not worry about winning on the road. England gained a precious psychological advantage against Wales. Whilst the tedious talk of 11 players being missing for the match (post-match, I came across the ludicrous claim of 13 first-team men missing in some paper) was always an exaggeration, it is true to say that England will have more depth in the front row, more firepower in the second row and more options for selection in the centre when next these teams meet. Wales were at full strength in Cardiff.
The second half was a strong performance with George Ford guiding the team, James Haskell inspiring the pack and Jonathan Joseph injecting that little bit of magic. All three play in positions where pre-match babble had it that England were weakened by injuries.
Owen Farrell is not even a debating point as a rival to Ford. The feel and fluency for the game he possesses is what England have lacked. In the second row, there were some sterling efforts, especially from Dave Attwood. Courtney Lawes, however, remains the leading lock – but England need not rush his return.
In the centre, Stuart Lancaster would have started Luther Burrell and Brad Barritt had the Saracens centre been fit. Now Lancaster has options but even a returning Manu Tuilagi cannot expect to waltz back into the team. Joseph’s performance alongside the power of Burrell was a well-balanced act and they deserve a vote of trust.
If England are to win a Grand Slam, there remains a formidable obstacle in their way. Ireland did as expected and beat Italy with a hard-working display in Rome. It lacked excitement, flair, anything to get the pulse going. But that appeared to be the tactical point of Joe Schmidt's game plan. Italy were given nothing.
Ireland's ball retention was exemplary in the second half. The writing was on the wall. I may not have seen England's win coming until about the 45th minute in Cardiff but I worked out that if Italy were placed under sufficient pressure, they would likely crack around the hour mark. The home team had few soft penalties, no out-of-the-blue interceptions, nothing to get the crowd going. Starved of hope, the yellow card on the hour was the catalyst for Ireland to up the ante. Two tries followed in quick succession. Game over.
Against England, there is likely to be a different Irish team – especially if Sean O’Brien can shake off his injury curse – with a completely different style of play. Ireland are another team with Johnny Sexton steering them. Ian Keatley was accomplished but when Schmidt gets his chief lieutenant on the field, their capacity to vary their game multiplies. Ireland will be content with a job well enough done on the first weekend of the season when Italy are freshest.
France won but it was hardly the embodiment of efficiency, flair – whatever gets you going. Home advantage backed up by the extra bulk of their pack and a solid controlling game from Camille Lopez saw them home against Scotland. In terms of their ability to dominate territory in the second half, they were deserved victors but the inability to create and nail chances is a worry. They were second to Scotland – if not on the points board – when it came to invention. Do not bet on the short-term winners having a better future than the day's losers.
Scotland has penetration, invention, rugby brains and in the Gray brothers, quite a pair of locks. They have to find more 'grunt' but even though they lost the match, Vern Cotter will see the game as, if not continued improvement from the autumn, then certainly not regression. Had the match been in Edinburgh, the chances are France would have lost; it will be a shock if France even push Ireland to the limits in Dublin next weekend.
As for Scotland, they have to back up the promise of Paris with a win against Wales in Edinburgh. Warren Gatland is in a hard place. Having stated the Six Nations is secondary to the World Cup, he selected his strongest team to beat England and guarantee breathing space. The Friday night loss allows for none.
Wales showed in the first 10 minutes against England how good they can be when everything clicks. The next 70 were a reminder of how limited their game plan is when things do not click. Wales have the power to win but don’t bet on it and even if they do win, don’t think it puts Wales back on course to qualify from their World Cup pool. Some damage has been done. It might just be irrevocable.
Scotland versus Wales is my pick as the most intriguing game of round two. England have little to win and much to lose against the limitation of Italy. With Ford growing into his role at fly-half, I expect them to keep to the path that leads to Twickenham 2015.
Stuart answers your emails...
Got a question for Stuart? Email him at skysportsclub@bskyb.com, Tweet @SkySportsRugby #askskyrugby or use the feedback form on skysports.com.
Hi Stuart. Why isn't the dive-at-shins, no arms "tackle" used in ruck defense not penalised?
Krys Jilks
STUART REPLIES: Krys, because nobody has had a headline injury as a result yet. When that happens, the authorities will react and the obsession with touching someone in the air will be forgotten. Reactive is the word that answers your question.
Stuart, the pre-match music, lights and fireworks at Millenium – acceptable or over the top?
Karlos Fandang
STUART REPLIES: None of the above are my particular cup of tea but if everyone else likes it, where is the harm? If a team is being made to wait for the others on a cold night, well, there's no place for gamesmanship. I think Wales suffered from being too clever off the field and not on top of their own game on it.
Morning Stuart. Is it as simple as England vs Ireland for the Six Nations crown?
Sam Osborne
STUART REPLIES: No, Ireland has other difficult away games. Is it as simple as Ireland being the only team with a chance of stopping England winning the Grand Slam? Now that is the real question, Sam.
