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How are England better than Wales? 26 views 0 Images
26 September 2013 by Englandfan
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As we look ahead to the Autumn tests, we find England sitting a lofty third in the world rankings behind South Africa and New Zealand, but ahead of Australia, France and Wales.
The fact that England sit above Wales in the rankings seems rather absurd. England were in pole position for the Grand Slam at this year’s Six Nations, and being heavily backed to do so by Betway punters, before being smashed 30-3 by Wales in the deciding game.
In fact, England have lost their last three games to Wales after so many years of being able to boast supremacy over their neighbours. Both teams are filled with talented and promising young players bursting with potential, Wales perhaps more so, with plenty of stand-out individuals, but as a cohesive unit Wales are by far the stronger side. The Six Nations earlier this year highlights this, as do the various embarrassing off-field problems the English players have experienced over the last three years or so.
This summer’s Lions tour down under was a fantastic achievement for British rugby as a whole, with some stand out performers. The stand out players were undoubtedly from the Welsh contingent. The likes of George North, Leigh Halfpenny, Jamie Roberts, and Alun Wyn Jones were fantastic. Were it not for the Welsh players in the squad, the Lions would have stood little to no chance of beating Australia over the summer. In the final test against Australia there were 11 Welshmen in the 15-man line-up in comparison to England’s two.
It’s not much of an argument; Wales are by far the superior rugby team, so the fact that England are three places above them in the rankings is baffling and unjust. Just as always seems the case with the mysterious football world rankings from FIFA, England’s tradition, history and standing in world sport seems to propel them further up the rankings than any actual real-life form or momentum in major tournaments against similarly rated sides.
Come Autumn, England will try their might in the rugby arena against New Zealand, Australia and Argentina while Wales face Australia, a South African team trying to close in on the world’s top ranking, Argentina and of course Tonga. These games will give us a far better idea of the relative strengths of both countries as we look ahead already to what should be an intriguing and closely fought 2014 Six Nations.
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