key events
Preface
The last time Steve Borthwick stood up from the manager’s chair at Twickenham, there were harsh boos in his footsteps following the pre-World Cup defeat to Fiji. After that difficult afternoon, England reached the semi-finals of the tournament, including beating the Islanders in their second game in France. Borthwick might point out that his team is still developing and winning (mostly) when it matters. They needed to win today.
Although Wales are on the verge of a comeback from just 26 points last week, they are still a team with problems. The high turnover of players, whether through retirement or injury, has resulted in an inexperienced squad with too many members still unable to prove whether they are good enough to play at this level. Gatland mitigated this risk by failing miserably in the opening forty minutes against Scotland, where his basic game plan failed miserably in the first forty minutes, although the second half was a very entertaining one, with “Evan Lloyd” (Ioan Lloyd) How reliable is this strategy? We may find out today.
England didn’t quite have things their way against Italy in their first game and are still working on a new defensive system under new defensive coach Felix Jones. However, in front of the home fans, with no changes to the squad, against a Wales team in a very difficult transitional stage, any familiar boos are likely to ring out again in addition to victory.
