Wales 20 England 9
by DAVID NICHOLSON at the Millennium Stadium

AN inexperienced Welsh side defeated an experimental England 15 in a stodgy encounter in the first of the two teams’ World Cup warm-up matches at the weekend.

But it will be Wales head coach Warren Gatland who will have greater cause for optimism as his side, with three debutants, managed to keep England try-less.

With only two victories in their last 10 games, Gatland believes his squad benefited from their pre-World Cup fitness camps in Switzerland and Turkey.

“I think we’ve done a lot of work as a group in the last eight weeks, the line-out defence was excellent and we competed well,” Gatland said.

But the home side had a torrid first half at the scrum as they were penalised four times by referee Nic Berry. 

Gatland took charge of the ailing Welsh team just before the 2023 Six Nations Championship and was typically bullish about his men’s performance at the scrum. 

“Despite the scrum penalties, I thought we dominated there. I need some clarity from the referee in terms of the decisions."

After a lacklustre contest between two sides desperately trying to find a winning formula after a disappointing Six Nations it was back to the drawing board for England's head coach Steve Borthwick.

With his World Cup squad announcement expected on Monday, Borthwick said he would reflect after his side’s latest defeat.

England were in front 6-9 at the interval in Cardiff after flyhalf Marcus Smith had kicked three penalties but failed to score after the break.

“I will reflect where I am in terms of the squad selection and whether this game changes anything or clarifies anything regarding that,” Borthwick said.

But his side made repeated handling errors in a stuttering attack that failed to breach the home team’s try line.

The English line-out also failed to function in the second half with the Welsh snaffling the ball repeatedly, including when the visitors had promising attacking line-out positions.

Ominously the scrum also failed in the second half as the resurgent Welsh team won repeated penalties. 

“Our line-out and scrum went well in the first half, but at the mid-point in the second half we faltered,” Borthwick admitted.
But it was the unforced errors that will worry England as its toothless attack failed to dent the Welsh defensive system.

“We also made a large number of handling errors against a team that jackal hard for the ball. We couldn’t sustain pressure because we turned the ball over,” England's coach said.

Tries from scrum-half Gareth Davies and centre George North rewarded Wales’ dominant second-half show, although injuries to Ryan Elias and Dafydd Jenkins threatened to take the gloss off their victory.

Welsh winger Louis Rees-Zammit thought he had scored a late try after he chased his own kick, only for video referee Joy Neville to rule it out for a knock-on.

The winger looked sharp and was lightning quick as he repeatedly threatened to breach the visitors’ defence.

The two sides meet again at Twickenham next week and it is expected that Borthwick will name his first-choice team.

Gatland is still building and wants momentum for his squad.
“The pleasing thing is there’s a group of players who will get an opportunity next week who are desperate to perform,” Gatland said.