SIR CLIVE WOODWARD’S VERDICT
THIS is the biggest World Cup pool game ever and the most meaningful England and Wales encounter in their long history. Given that, and the extraordinary build-up over the last two years, don’t be surprised if it all kicks off at Twickenham tonight.
There are some fiery characters in both teams and the stakes have never been higher. This match has the potential to get ugly but it could also be one of the greatest rugby occasions any of us have ever witnessed. I hope and trust it will be the latter.
I rate Australia, so the reality is that the loser tonight will be struggling to get out of the pool and that all- consuming pressure is going to wrap itself tightly around the game from start to finish.
It will be the team that can go to the edge and still keep its cool and poise, producing clinical passages of rugby when it matters that triumphs.
Discipline will be vital. When I coached England, we had one or two players like Martin Johnson and Lawrence Dallaglio who were no angels but we worked very hard, over a long period of time actually, to control and channel that aggression. You need those kind of players to win these huge matches but you need them on the park for 80 minutes.
The other big factor in the swirl of emotions and passions out there is going to be the crowd. England have to prepare themselves mentally for there being as many red jerseys in the crowd as white.
Unless the England fans make themselves known vocally, it could even feel like an away match. There’s talk of up to 30,000 Wales fans being there.
This match will feel completely different to a Six Nations game.
In 2003, England bossed Wales in the Six Nations and a World Cup warm-up game, yet we found ourselves 10-3 down at half-time against Wales in our World Cup quarter-final having been c ompletely outplayed. We could easily have been 20 points adrift, if the truth be known.
So how might i t pan out tonight? I look at the England team, with Owen Farrell now at outside half and Sam Burgess, rather than Henry Slade, replacing Jonathan Joseph at centre, and I see them using a high-pressure, kick-and-press, Saracens- type game- plan, which is quite a departure from some of the best rugby they played in the Six Nations.
England will try to batter Wales up front and their pack, which has not quite been at full tilt recently, will need to find a new level to achieve that.
They will be looking to send those big, strong back-row runners clattering into Wales to keep them on the back foot.
It is interesting that Wales have opted to start with Dan Lydiate when most of the signs pointed to Justin Tipuric.
I wonder if they reacted to news of England’s team when it emerged early in the week. Whatever the case, I expect Tipuric to be on in tandem with Sam Warburton at some stage after the break.
Farrell will kick for territory and also look to turn the Wales wings and, when he does release the ball, Burgess making hard yards in midfield and looking for offloads will be the main ploy.
As a coach, I am fascinated by this. England have gone with George Ford f or the best part of a year at No 10 and, apart from the warm-up game in Paris last month, he has gone pretty well.
Now, right at the death, they revert to Farrell, which is a massive call.
The decision to go with Burgess and not the obvious replacement at No 13 — Slade — again indicates a very specific mindset and game-plan. The England coaching team are really setting out their stall here and a big part of me likes that — having the confidence to decide exactly what they think is needed to beat Wales and they are going with their instincts. You don’t get any points for artistic merit in World Cups. Winning is the only thing that counts. It i s high risk, though — if it goes wrong, they will cop all the flak. As a rugby fan — in fact just a sports fan — I am excited at the prospect of seeing if Burgess can handle this. England are placing massive faith in him.
Burgess being parachuted into the England team has attracted much criticism. This really is his moment of truth.
Jamie Roberts and Scott Williams are two of the best centres in world rugby and Wales, although they have a clever kicking game themselves, must look to use their potent backs.
Nobody doubts that Burgess is capable of some big hits, but defending against a sophisticated attacking machine like Wales is not all about big tackles. It is about reading the plays and being at the right place at the right time.
England put great store on Burgess being a ‘ big match’ animal, despite the evidence of just one Test-match start.
I get that to a degree, there are definitely personality types who relish the big stage.
But I would add the caveat that tonight will be bigger than anything Burgess has envisaged, even in his wildest dreams.
He might have starred in a couple of big rugby league finals but this will be of a different magnitude altogether.
“Going with Burgess is a massive call”