Revenge win lifts Wales to No 1 spot
● Victory over England continues two years of consistent success under Gatland
WALES ENGLAND 13 6
Treat the rugby union world rankings with reverence or disdain, as you wish, but when they are officially updated this morning Wales will be No 1 for the first time since the system was introduced in 2003. It reflects a consistent series of results, performances and selection under head coach Warren Gatland over the past couple of years, continued in Saturday’s 13-6 win over England, even if a sceptic might point out that the deposed world leaders, New Zealand, have lost only once in 31 meetings with Wales and England in the lifetime of the rankings, and have won the last two World Cups.
The rankings are likely to alter again in the coming weeks, such is the bunching among the top five, also including Ireland and South Africa (currently third and fourth respectively with England fifth). For now, Wales and England will pursue their markedly different schedules – geared to the relative strength of their opening World Cup fixtures next month – with the Welsh going to Turkey for a “heat camp” this week, and a plan to bubble-wrap top players for the subsequent warm-ups home and away to Ireland, while Gatland’s England counterpart Eddie Jones should unveil a more familiar line-up against the Irish at Twickenham this Saturday, with Italy at Newcastle on 6 September to follow and a training trip to Treviso in between. Having hitherto been mix-and-match, Jones said England were “going from the mix to the match”. The only try in Cardiff came with 32 minutes gone, in a haphazard fashion, as England’s Anthony Watson was making his way to the sin bin, and scrum-half Ben Youngs was waiting to replace Willi Heinz, who had gone off with a head knock. Maybe England’s captain George Ford bungled by failing to prevent referee Pascal Gauzere restarting until Youngs was on, but Ford was preoccupied with Watson. Next thing the temporarily 13-man England knew, Wales’ stand-off Dan Biggar had fired a cross-kick one way to Josh Adams, and then another over to George North who scored on the visitors’ unprotected right wing.
“It happened, we had to cope with it, and we didn’t cope,” said Jones, and the try gave us the fun image of Welsh hooker Ken Owens with arms outstretched, apparently in mock despair as North accelerated forward to nab a score Owens might otherwise have taken.
North posted humorously on Instagram: “Sorry @ kenowens1088. You looked a tad confused what was happening anyway.” And Owens, left, told reporters: “I thought it was going to be mine at one point but it was more relief that it wasn’t going to bounce off my chest. I think rugby can get a bit serious, so we scored a great try and we will have a bit of fun with this.” It speaks of a Welsh side comfortable in their skin. They sorted out the line-out yips of the previous week’s loss at Twickenham, and Biggar did what Biggar has always been able to do: retrieve high balls and manage a game without fuss.
The 1970s icon JJ Williams says Wales won’t win a World Cup with Biggar starting, and Gatland did prefer Gareth Anscombe to Biggar last season. But Anscombe is out of the picture injured now, and Gatland will try Plan C with back-up stand-off Jarrod Evans against the Irish.
Leaving aside the try, a definitive worry for England’s gargantuan pack was the two failed line-out mauls in prime attacking positions. Jones blithely promised a solution: “We’ve got other options from the five-metre line which we haven’t shown yet and won’t show for a while.”
Meanwhile, Biggar acknowledged “that Saracens group” of Jamie George, Owen Farrell and George Kruis made a difference for England as second-half substitutes. England’s squad captain Farrell was afterwards asked if recent results had shown the World Cup is wide open. “Yes,” said Farrell, before highlighting why these warm-ups are questionable contributors to the rankings. “There’s a fair amount of experimentation as well. It’s not all guns blazing for everyone at the same time.”