‘We broke off our structure’ – Edwards get to the root cause of Daly’s try
SHAUN Edwards has delivered the most detailed analysis yet of what went wrong in the build-up to Elliot Daly’s match-winning try for England.
With just five minutes left on the clock, Wales were ahead 16-14 and had stolen possession at a ruck metres from their own line through Liam Williams.
But Jonathan Davies’ clearing kick went well infield and England ran the ball back with devastating effect, with winger Daly crossing in the left corner.
Owen Farrell added the conversion from wide out to put the visitors in front 21-16 and there was no way back for Wales.
Now defence coach Edwards has revealed exactly what went amiss, with the clearing kick coming too soon, meaning there weren’t enough players to join the chase.
“What happened was that we broke off structure,” said the former rugby league international.
“From any unstructured turnover, where the backs turn the ball over, we are supposed to go two rucks to get our backs back up on their feet to fill the pitch.
“We didn’t do that. We passed it back to the kicker after one ruck, which was a mistake. It should have been two rucks.
“I don’t think Jonathan expected the ball because he expected a tworuck exit play. That is probably one of the reasons why his kick wasn’t as accurate as normal.
“But everyone makes mistakes. If one of us makes a mistake, we all make a mistake together.
“I always say to the players if they miss a tackle, I miss a tackle. It’s not a matter of us and them, it’s a matter of we.”
Edwards acknowledges Wales will need to have a better kick-chase than in that instance when they take on the counter-attacking Scots at Murrayfield on Saturday.
“Our kick-chase wasn’t set up because we expected it to go another ruck after the turnover,” he explained.
“We didn’t have our kick-chase in position. That was the issue.
“We have worked very hard on our kick-chase over the last four or five games, and hopefully it will be at its best at the weekend, as it will have to be against such an explosive back three.”
Looking at the threat posed by Scotland, Edwards said: “Any team that was within a hair’s breadth of a World Cup semi-final, you have to respect that standard of play.
“They’ve got that momentum in the last few seasons. The World Cup is always the biggest test of you as team. It’s the biggest competition and it’s when as coaches you have the players for the longest period. We’re very,
very aware of the threat from Scotland.
“Obviously Stuart Hogg is the talk of the town at the moment. In the Six Nations he’s one of the most dangerous players around.
“But everyone knows games are won and lost up front and that advantage line will be pivotal in who wins the game.
“Both teams are very competitive at the breakdown. We practice turning the ball over and our defensive ruck skills every day of the week.
“The Scots compete heavily on the ball and it will be a Battle Royale at the breakdown, within the laws of