AS LONG AS WE BEAT THE ENGLISH…AND WE DID!

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

As the song goes….’as long as we beat the English, we don’t care’. Wales versus England – there is no bigger rivalry and despite always creating a huge amount of interest, this game also has the added attraction of being part of the World Cup. A World Cup, hosted by England and one that the ever-confident English have already predicted they have won.

The build-up to the game started in earnest with Llanelli’s own Scott Quinnell bringing Victoria Station to a standstill with a powerful choir-led performance of Mae Hen Wlad fy Nhadau. The leaking of the English team on Tuesday and a ‘who is Scott Williams?’ comment from England’s surprise inclusion of Rugby League convert Sam Burgess seemed to benefit injury-struck Wales who often enjoy their under-dog tag.

The winner of game almost certainly guarantees themselves a place in the knock-out stages of the competition, with the loser facing the prospect of having to beat Australia to progress, this match is almost certainly a Cup Final for both teams.

Not that it was required, but to add to the drama, darkness fell on Twickenham as the teams congregated in the tunnel. Anticipation was huge and the atmosphere electric as the teams ran out onto the pitch for a game that means everything.

Wales were awarded the first penalty of the game for not rolling away offering Dan Biggar the opportunity to give the men in red an early lead. Ever-confident, Biggar made no mistake with his effort to give Wales a 3 point to 0 lead.

Wales were obviously on the front foot as play continued just outside the English 22 as the sound of ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ filled the stadium, testament that Welsh supporters found it practically impossible to get tickets for the World Cup matches.

With the scrum proving a problem for Wales as referee interpretation again favoured England, Owen Farrell levelled the score to 3 points all.

Good phase play from Wales saw them play into the English half as Biggar possibly took the wrong option by attempting a drop goal that sailed wide of the posts. He was able to give Wales the lead once more though with his second penalty attempt and once again 3 points separated the teams – 3 points to 6.

That lead didn’t last long though as Farrell proved that the English continue to be the Kings of the drop goal as the score became all square once more at 6 points all.

Again the scrum proved a problem for Wales, as England continued to push from the side rather than forward and Farrell relished the easy penalty kick, in front of the posts to give England the lead for the first time, 9 points to 6.

England scored the first try of the game following a good positional penalty from Farrell. With the Welsh defence in apparent disarray due to the English decoy runners, Wing Jonny May strolled over in the corner. Farrell added the conversion and suddenly England had opened up a 10 point lead – 16 points to 6.

As the set piece of the Welsh began to struggle, particularly the line-out, the errors began to creep into the game. Despite this, Wales managed to keep ball in hand, albeit rather laterally.

A missed knock-on from Mike Brown could have put Wales in a strong attacking position, however they relied on a typical powerful break from Scott Williams which resulted in another penalty attempt for Biggar to bring Wales within a converted try, 16 points to 9, as the first half reached its conclusion.

The second half didn’t start well for the Welsh with Farrell kicking England 2 scores ahead and restoring the 10 point cushion to 19 points to 9. However, this advantage was soon cancelled out following a well-struck kick from Biggar to slightly narrow England’s advantage to 19 points to 12.

The arrival of Scarlets’ front row duo Samson Lee and Ken Owens offered some hope for an improvement in the set piece, but it was England who again kept the scoreboard ticking over as Farrell slotted another to again restore the 2 score advantage – 22 points to 12. Again, this advantage was cancelled out a matter of minutes later as Biggar continued with his 100% penalty kicking record to make it 5 from 5 to bring the score line to 22 points to 15.

Another penalty from Biggar narrowed the gap again to 22 points to 18 and the confidence in the Welsh team was evident as George North finally got his hands on the ball. However play was soon back in the Welsh half following an interception from Wing Anthony Watson.

More worryingly from Wales was the sight of Centre Scott Williams down injured and consequently stretchered off from the pitch, further adding to the injury crisis, very disappointing for the in-form Centre.

The injury nightmare continued for Wales as Hal Amos left the field with what looked like a possible dislocation and Liam Williams left on the back of a stretcher after being kicked in the face, leaving him out cold.

With the change of personnel, and several players playing out of position, it was not ideal to be defending so close to try line, and despite heroic defending from the men in red, England were awarded a penalty under the posts despite having kicked away their advantage.

Farrell continued his faultless kicking to give his team some breathing space as Wales just clung on to the losing bonus point – 25 points to 18.

Suddenly it was game-on as a kick from Lloyd Williams saw Gareth Davies demonstrate his pace to gather the ball and dive under the posts. The added conversion saw the game enter the last 8 minutes of the game all square at 25 all.

With the seconds ticking away, England were penalised for holding on and a combination of Dan Biggar’s confidence and his accuracy with the boot saw Wales re-take the lead 25 points to 28 with a huge kick from just inside the English half.

With just 3 minutes remaining England were awarded a kickable penalty, but like Japan last week, opted to kick for the corner. Defending for their country, the Welsh forwards put an abrupt end to an attempted English rolling maul, bundling it into touch.

As the heart rate of the whole of Wales exploded, Wales somehow, in the face of adversity, clung on, with a nation breathing a collective sigh of relief followed with an almighty cheer as the ball was kicked dead for a Welsh win that will go down in history…..beating England, in their own back yard…..in the World Cup…..each player a hero.