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England v Wales ratings

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Six Nations

Wales ended 20 years of miserable failure at Twickenham with a stunning second-half performance to upset World Cup finalists England in an enthralling Six Nations clash on Saturday.

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My colleague Tom Fordyce and I were both at Twickenham. Here are our ratings for each player on both sides. See whether you agree and give us your own thoughts on how they did.

ENGLAND RATINGS by Tom Fordyce

Iain Balshaw - Targeted by James Hook with early garryowen and got nowhere near it. Two good breaks in first half, the second a lovely acceleration off his left foot to start the move that almost led to a try for Paul Sackey. Made another good break in his own 22 at the start of second half and took great cross-kick from Wilkinson before it all fell apart. Penalised for holding on after errors by team-mates left him in the lurch, and then had his kick charged down for Phillips' try. 6

Paul Sackey - Took a neat pass from Shaw for a charge in first 10 minutes and then almost polished off England’s best move of the match, only to be held up by Hook and Huw Bennett. Barely given a sniff in the second half. 6

Mike Tindall - Good clearing kick from deep early on, and an excellent take from the re-start after Hook’s second penalty. Stretchered off as England began to wobble. 6

Toby Flood - Good steal in his own 22 early on and built an impressive display from there, kicking from hand well and languid as ever on the run. Nice support and line for England’s opening try, and made another break from his own half shortly afterwards which should have led to more. Poised kick led to Shane Williams error and England’s first penalty of the second half but faded from there. 8

David Strettle - Brilliant early run, scything through Welsh defence. Then forced off with the game in his infancy after injuring his left ankle. Tough on the promising winger. 8 while on

Jonny Wilkinson - Two solid penalties early on to establish the England lead, although he put his first cross-kick out on the full. Cute cross-kick for Vainikolo led to Flood’s try, but had a nightmarish second half. A dreadful pass led indirectly to Wales’s first try, and then two poor kicks gave fresh impetus to the remarkable Wales comeback. 6

Andy Gomarsall - Excellent kicking early on with good breaks from scrum, plus alert covering when Williams threatened. Left in trouble as his forwards were squashed in the second half and failed to respond to the onslaught. 6

Andrew Sheridan - Great gains on the drives in the first period, making hard yards. Gave daft penalty away when he interfered with Alix Popham at the line-out and helpless as the visitors’ pack grew in strength as the match was turned on its head. 6

Mark Regan - Another rock-solid game from the old boy up in the tight exchanges, although didn't always find his targets at line-out. Could only watch in horror from bench as England threw it away. 7

Phil Vickery - His eyeballs almost popped out during National Anthem, but despite his best efforts to lead from the front, failed to stem the second-half red tide. Replaced by Matt Stevens with the game in the balance at 19-19. 6

Simon Shaw - In his first Six Nations season start since 2000, gave away a debatable early penalty to make it 3-3. Dominated around the fringes as England built that big lead but then faded with the rest of his forward colleagues. 6

Steve Borthwick – Set up England’s early dominance with a succession of stomping drives, and made a brilliant steal from Martyn Williams after Henson’s kick set up chance in later stages of first half. Enforced switch to flanker after injuries to Moody and Rees spare him some of the blame for what happened afterwards. 7

James Haskell – Gave away a silly penalty early on for taking out Wyn Jones to set up spell of Welsh pressure. Great pace and pass to put Sackey away for near-try at end of first half and, at the death, made powerful run as England reeled. In between, given lesson by the experienced hands in the Welsh pack. 6

Lewis Moody – Went off early with injury and replaced by Tom Rees. Not on pitch long enough to make any real impact. 6

Luke Narraway – Took his time to settle early on before a good line-out take and good barrelling drive from own line in second half calmed his nerves. Made a try-saving interception when Wales had men over on the left but helpless as Wales ran riot in that extraordinary finale. 6

Replacements:

Lee Mears - Came on for Regan as an impact sub but could do little against an increasingly effective Welsh front row. 4

Matt Stevens – On for Vickery just after Wales’s first try and helpless as they scored their second a minute later. 5

Ben Kay - On for Rees at half-time as England’s injury list lengthened and left reeling by the Welsh pack. 5

Tom Rees - On early for injured Moody. Did well against Martyn Williams before making way for Kay at half-time. 7

Danny Cipriani - Came on for the injured Mike Tindall with 17 minutes to go and went to outside centre. Dropped in it by Wilkinson’s awful pass before the first Welsh try. Not a Six Nations debut to remember. 5

Lesley Vainikolo - On early after injury to Strettle. Put in a great tackle on Mark Jones from Hook’s cross-kick, and then a good gather from Wilkinson’s cross-kick to set up Flood try. No ball in attacking positions from then on. 7


WALES RATINGS by Bryn Palmer

Lee Byrne – Mixed bag. Caught his own up-and-under one minute, then followed it with a poor kick straight to Balshaw the next. But came on strong in second half and scored the game-changing try. 7

Mark Jones – Had the misfortune to find himself up against Vainikolo after Strettle’s early departure. Ducked under the Tongan’s charge the first time, but was outjumped by him for Flood try. Little chance with ball in hand, but tidy contribution. 6

Sonny Parker – Dropped the opening kick-off, and little in evidence thereafter. Hardly justified his selection ahead of Tom Shanklin, and withdrawn early in the second half. 5

Gavin Henson – Struggled to impose himself in first half, although a clever chip almost produced a try for Martyn Williams. Far more involved in second half, one side-stepping break past two would-be tacklers a sign of his increased confidence. 7

Shane Williams – Infuriating in patches. With three men outside him, opted to kick, which went straight into touch, and then decision to run from his own line with defenders bearing down on him cost a penalty. But lively on the counter-attack. 6

James Hook – Started well with his kicking from hand, before booting one out on the full. But one poor pass to Henson aside, hardly put a foot wrong thereafter. Kicked six out of six at goal, several from wide out, produced a vital try-saving tackle on Sackey at end of first half, then deceived the same player to create try for Byrne. Inspired. 9

Mike Philiips – Little of his trademark strong running in first half, but his passing held up well under pressure in first half and played a superb hand in the second, charging down Balshaw’s kick and then showing tremendous strength for his try. 8

Duncan Jones – Put in his fair share of tackles around the fringes in the first half despite being part of a front row on the back foot at scrum-time. But was a willing workhorse and ball-carrier in the second. Got his just reward. 7

Huw Bennett – Hit his targets at the line-out well for the most part, only missing with one to the tail, and crucially got an arm under the ball to deny Sackey a try.that might have put the game beyond Wales. Earned a breather after an hour. 7

Adam Jones – Struggled at scrum-time against Sheridan, but refused to throw the towel in and kept at it before being replaced by Jenkins five minutes into second half. 5

Ian Gough – Got through a mountain of work in the engine room, helping the Wales pack get on top in the second half as the England pack disintegrated. Also won ball at the front of the line-out. 6

Alun Wyn Jones – Wales’s go-to man in the line-out, where he was outstanding, and disrupted a fair few of England’s throws too. Made plenty of tackles too, cementing his reputation as Lions lock-in-the-making. 8

Jonathan Thomas – Knocked out and forced off injured after just 13 minutes, so too little time to be awarded a mark.

Martyn Williams – Might have scored in first half when Henson’s clever chip just eluded him, and experience came to the fore in the second half as he exploited England’s loss of both their specialist open-side flankers. 7

Ryan Jones – The new Wales captain did most of his best work in defence for the first 40 minutes, apart from conceding one penalty as his side struggled to cope. But showed his class as the game wore on, one overhead pass a delight, and winning ball at line-out too. Kept his head in the frantic last 10 minutes. What a start for him. 7

Replacements:

Alix Popham – Into the fray after just 13 minutes, he put his burly frame about to good effect in defence, although twice penalised at the tackle area. Provided more ballast to the back-row effort as the game wore on. 6

Tom Shanklin – Replaced Parker five minutes into second half when Wales were 19-6 down, and played his part in the revival that yielded 20 unanswered points. 6

Gethin Jenkins – Came on at tight-head for Adam Jones after 45 minutes and helped steady the Welsh scrummage and provide some extra grunt in the loose. 6

Matthew Rees – Appeared for the last quarter and continued where Bennett had left off, finding his target in a much-improved Welsh line-out. 6

Ian Evans – Replaced the injured Wyn Jones for the final minutes, there at the finish to help kick-start the celebrations. 6

Latest 10 comments

Read members' comments or add your own

posted Feb 7, 2008

Imagine this senario. England vs Australia in Sydney. For much of the first half England misfire, turn-over the ball and the Aussies start to build up a decent lead. Come the second half the Aussies begin to lose control of the game. England begin to exert pressure and capitalise upon the Aussies' errors and soon the scores are level. Then, in the last quarter England turn the screw, score a couple of quick tries and win the game by a respectable margin. Question: How would the English fans react? Answer: Just like the Welsh! So, what's the problem?

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posted Feb 7, 2008

"Worried or very worried?" said John Inverdale with glee to Jonathan Davies on Saturday, echoing the 1999 half time discussion. The whole English media response has been one of curmudgeonly, parochial navel gazing ignoring the contribution of Wales in winning the game. You must remember that rugby dominates popular culture in Wales in a way that is alien to the English and success at the game is vital, despite this the Welsh response has been one of joy and glee, but recognising a work in progress (seen Scrum V, BBC Wales on Sunday night?). A man who is tired of beating England is tired of life so give us a break, get over it and move on (though hold your breath and beware Italy).

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posted Feb 9, 2008

I dont know, I hear all this talk about how England let thamselves down and they 'lost' to to wales in the second half, but we can easily reverse the perspective. Wales made a fair amount of running early in the th first half, and 'let', England into the 1st half with an alarming amount of turnover. Wales only had itself to blame for a poor 1st half, and if it had not turned over half the possesion that it did. England would have been lucky to be in front at half time. Talk of how England let Wales gain a flukey win is a blinkered approach, and simply ignores the facts, Wales have beaten England 3 times out of the last 4 encounters. England fans belive they are a better side, but the actual results speak differently. Wales let England into the 1st half andstomped them out of the 2nd

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posted Feb 9, 2008

Played two, won two. Well done Cymru. Bendigedig!! okbiggrin

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posted Feb 9, 2008

Heres 20 words for you: you were LUCKY. All your points were delivered on a silver platter by inept England. Us Scots will stuff you!

---------------

Here's 2 for you...

Ha Ha!

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posted Feb 9, 2008

Here we go, another win for wales and the knives are out already, and what are we hearing this week........ Wales were lucky again, never a try, scotland playing badly lost the game!!!

Well all of that aside, we've only got 2 sides 2 for 2 so far after almost 1/2 the competition.

And for all those fairweather english and scottish supporters, the flower of scotalnd is wilting as much as the chariot is off the rails...........
Wales beat you both, neither of you could scrape more than 1 try against them and youre looking to at wales as a scape goat, well heres a thought, how about directing your energies at how your team can do better instead, it'd be much more constructive for your team.

Oh forget it, heres another thought, carry on criticising as gatland and the whole welsh squad quietly make you look like idiots ......

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posted Feb 9, 2008

what do you think now, how inept were england, do you think they were as bad as the scottich today, because i dont think so.

Never have i seen an international team more inepth than scotland..
They had no clue, walesd played badly and you didnt even look like gettin a flukey try!!

Keep on bleating while we go about our business.

See Ya

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posted Feb 9, 2008

All this "never a try!" nonsense is extremely irritating! There were four match officials. The fourth official is better qualified than any self-styled pundits to make a judgement. Same applies to any other major sport such as premiership football or tennis etc. How often on MOTD do the analysts, with the benefits of technology "prove" that player 'X' was offside, etc., etc., hindsight being the exact science it is! The try was awarded. End of story. Would Scotland..or England fans be bleating if THEY had had the rub of the green in such circs? I think not! For what it's worth, I think it WAS a try...just...but it could have gone either way. That said, Wales would've won without it anyway.

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posted Feb 12, 2008

There isn't a problem sabrejet. I never said there was; the context being my response to wondertaff's begrudging comments about the Enland fans.

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posted Feb 12, 2008

Only just had chance to catch up on your posting last week, sorry tripphip. You provide a [Welsh] rose tinted spectacle review of the 1st half. England were vastly better than Wales in that period and should have been ahead by significantly more points than they were. However, and as I said previously, Wales were simply superb in the 2nd half.

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