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Wasteful England Must take Chances Against Wales 6 views 0 Images
27 February 2014 by Englandfan
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England’s 13-10 victory over Ireland will go down as one of the most impressive results of Stuart Lancaster’s reign as head coach but his side will need to improve if they are to stand a chance of defeating Warren Gatland’s Wales in the next round of matches.
England, and Lancaster it seems, learned from the pain of their last ditch defeat in Paris in the first round of this year’s Six Nations and stuck with the majority of their starting line up for most of the game. Pre-planned substitutions damaged England’s rhythm against France but, with such a slender lead, Lancaster wasn’t going to make that mistake again. Danny Care in particular showed the value of maintaining players in key positions and the try-scoring scrum-half was pivotal in England’s victory.
For their part, Ireland came into the game still in the hunt for a first Grand Slam since 2009 and they will feel aggrieved to have come away from Twickenham with nothing. The Irish dominated up-front, spoiling English ball at the scrum and slowing Care down at the breakdown.
In the backs, however, England had the edge and could have won the game by a greater margin. Jonny May had a try disallowed in the first half, just after Owen Farrell had bombed a three man overlap and towards the end of the game England missed another golden opportunity by keeping the ball tight rather than spreading right to the unmarked May and Jack Nowell. Against Wales, these half chances will need to be converted otherwise the English dream of a triple-crown will end in disappointment.
England’s defence was outstanding against Ireland, but fans of rugby betting will know that won’t be enough to beat Wales on 9th March. Those who enjoy a bet on rugby will be tempted to back England to beat Warren Gatland’s men but if the profligacy that they showed against Ireland is in evidence again then they will be facing an uphill battle.
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