Williams fears Wall of Shame
Scott Williams is desperate to avoid the ‘Wall of Shame’ in the Wales teamroom after their World cup opener against Uruguay. anyone who makes a mistake against the South american minnows on Sunday will be named and shamed on monday morning, when defence coach Shaun Edwards pins up his feedback.
the mix-and-match line-up will be desperate to impress ahead of the Pool a tie against England next week, with starting positions still up for grabs for the trip to twickenham.
‘You don’t want to be the one up on the board on monday morning,’ said centre Williams. ‘ We will know if we have made some defensive errors — Shaun isn’t scared of embarrassing anyone. i think everyone has been on the wall of shame and you can’t rub it out!’
Edwards believes ‘ unpredictability’ will be the South americans’ biggest threat but has a far better idea of what to expect from England.
‘ they scored the most points in the last two Six Nations and are a very potent attacking team,’ said Edwards. ‘ they have some electric backs and play expansive rugby, but they can
also hit you through the forwards with a mauling game.
‘Ben Morgan is an outstanding ball-carrier at No 8, while they’ve got guys like Anthony Watson and Jonny May in their back line. Jonathan Joseph is probably in the top three No 13s in the world and was top try scorer in the last Six Nations.’
Edwards has been paying attention to England’s rugby league-style moves, which he previously criticised for illegally using blockers to create space for the ball carrier.
‘England do it fantastically well and that’s one of the reasons why they scored so many tries in the last Six Nations,’ said Edwards. ‘It’s good to get over 90 per cent tackle completion and you want your collision dominance to be high as well.’
With a background in league with Wigan and Great Britain, Edwards has been monitoring the progress of Red Rose code-switcher Sam Burgess, who could feature against Wales next week.
‘It was a big change for him to change sport and position, from a forward to a back,’ said Edwards. ‘I was very impressed by the way he played in the Premiership final, sometimes you see the merit of a player when he’s in a losing team. We know how much guts and bravery he’s got and he’s acquitted himself very well.’