WOAKES IS IN WORLD OF DANGER
IRELAND KEEP HOPES ALIVE
1949 Wales 9-3 England 1959 Wales 5-0 England 1969 Wales 30-9 England 1979 Wales 27-3 England 1989 Wales 12-9 England 1999 Wales 32-31 England 2009 Wales 23-15 England 2019 Wales 21-13 England how he went after Rhys Patchell and Johnny Sexton in previous campaigns when it suited him.
Blaming Sinckler for England’s defeat would be unfair on a night of hymns and arias, records and revenge in which Wales rode the wave of passion created by their fans inside a raucous Principality Stadium.
In 2013 they won the second
xIRELAND avoided an upset as they recovered to beat Italy in Rome.
The victory means Joe Schmidt’s side still have hopes of retaining their
Six Nations title.
The hosts led 16-12 at the break but Keith Earls half 21- 0 to deny England a Grand Slam. Six years on they made do with an 18-3 last 40.
Only when the win was in the bag, courtesy of superb tries by Cory Hill and Josh Adams created by superb Dan Biggar, did Gatland finally allow himself to lob a grenade. “I look back on England in the last few years,” he said, from his unbeaten perch
two points clear at the top of the table. “And when it’s really mattered, I’ve questioned whether they can win these big games.”
Jones did not like that one bit. “No comment,” was his terse response. Nor did Jamie George, whose 24 tackles fell just one shy of England’s best player Tom Curry.
“That’s unfair,” said the hooker. put Ireland ahead 11 minutes into the second half before Conor Murray (below) dived over to give the vvisitors their fourth try. Ireland earned a bonuspoint p victory and Schmidt said: “The bottom line is the win and the bonus point.” Wales 3 England 3 Ireland 3 France 3 Scotland 3 Italy 3 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FA0 71 47 0 1 89 49 2 1 68 61 1 2 54 78 2 2 56 69 1 3 51 85 0 DAN BIGGAR has revealed England’s miracle plays from previous encounters provided the inspiration for Wales’ night of glory.
Super-sub Biggar came off the bench to mastermind Wales’ comefrom-behind victory as the home side rallied to finish by far the stronger.
It was in complete contrast to the last two meetings when Elliot Daly’s last-gasp try and Sam Underhill’s wonder tackle broke Welsh hearts.
“Both those games ended in us losing and there was a real resolve among the boys not to let this one slip,” said Biggar (celebrating with Liam Williams, top right).
“We were aware England could strike from anywhere and knew if we didn’t win then, more than likely, they would go on to win the Grand Slam.
“You could see the hunger with the boys in the last 30 minutes, some of whom had never beaten England. Physically, we were excellent against a huge English pack. That got us over the line.”
Biggar (top, left) was also architect of the win 12 10 9 6 5 0 that effectively knocked England out of their home World Cup in 2015 and, after sharing in a national record 12th consecutive victory, his focus had shifted to bigger prizes.
“Let’s see if we can get it to 14, and go from there,” he said referring to the Grand Slam, when asked if he would celebrate the record. “The World Cup is coming up, so we are conscious of not peaking too soon.
“We’re winning and it feels great. But I’ve also played in teams where losing became a habit, so we have to keep delivering.
“Every victory we have at the minute is just another step to grow the team to the World Cup.”
Next up for Wales is a trip to Scotland, whom coach Warren Gatland has never lost against, followed by Ireland back in Cardiff.
“We’re in a great position,” added Biggar. “But one slip-up would probably mean we don’t win the Championship.
“It would be the perfect way to finish off a great reign by Warren, but the next two games will present veryery difficult challenges. challenges.”
“Warren can say what he e likes. He is in a position of power after winning. They scrapped and probably were (more streetwise). e). We needed to be a little e smarter in our discipline.
“But we’ve won big games s before and will win big ig games again.”
England, who lose Courtney rtney Lawes for the remainder of the Six Nations with a calf strain. ain. reurites, remain odds-on title favourites, given Italy and Scotland have still to come to Twickenham. am.
But Wales have leapfrogged ogged them in both world rankings gs and championship standings.
And they are coached ed you-know-who.
WALES - Tries: Hill, Adams. Cons: Biggar. Pen: Anscombe 3. ENGLAND - Try: Curry. Con: Farrell. Pen: Farrell 2. ENGLAND’S World Cup plans could be thrown into disarray by a chronic knee injury to Chris Woakes that is in danger of flaring up at any time.
The leader of their ODI seambowling attack insists the ongoing tendinitis he has been managing for most of his international career will not cause him yet another World Cup heartbreak.
And yet Woakes freely admits soreness arises “all of a sudden” which would leave England with a huge dilemma during the tournament.
Woakes said: “My knee is something I’ve had to manage for almost eight years.
“It’s not something I’m overly worried about, but of course it’s in the back of my mind.
“I’m keeping the rest of my body in good condition and doing everything I can to stay fit. If something freak happens and I break down, well that’s part of professional sport.”
It seems inconceivable Woakes won’t be starting the innings with the ball come May 30.
A foot injury ended his World Cup early four years ago.
But this time he is determined to show off the skills that have kept the likes of West Indies destroyer-in-chief Chris Gayle (above) quiet in the early part of the innings.
And with no T20 cricket for him to follow this series, Woakes is set to return to the side in Grenada with the Windies riding high on the success of a 26-run win based on the big hitting of Shimron Hetmyer. PROBABLE TEAMS.– West Indies: Campbell, Gayle, Bravo, Hope (wk), Hetmyer, Pooran, Nurse, Holder (c), Bishoo, Cottrell, Thomas.
England: Roy, Bairstow, Root, Morgan (c), Stokes, Buttler (wk), Moeen, Rashid, Woakes, Curran, Plunkett.