The weekend has been dominated by Wales' unlikely victory over England at Twickenham. I was expecting us to play well, but not to win. At half time I thought that we might ship 50 points. It was a stunning second half. I have not watched a sporting contest in such disbelief since Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston. After watching France play some exciting stuff today, to take Scotland apart, its time to reflect on how good we are.
We did play well, but no way should we have won. I have no idea why England lost their heads in the second half. They were like men playing Welsh schoolboys in the first half. So lets not get carried away - at least not yet. Next two matches (at home to Scotland and Italy) we'll be expected to win, so there'll be a bit more pressure. If it is 3 out of 3, there could be enough momentum and confidence to think about winning the championship.
There was a bit of fuss about Gatland's selection of 13 Ospreys in the starting line-up. I thought it was best team, even if not necessarily the best players. The two outstanding replacements were Shanklin and Gethin Jenkins and I think he will start with the Blues centre for the next match. No-one can take away the best weekend's 6 Nations that we Welsh have enjoyed since the grand slam season. Great though it was, its only a start.
2 comments:
Confident isn't the word to use but at half time, I was shaken by what I had seen. England were ahead by some very poor play by Wales......including positional kicking by Hook. I thought the game could be changed second half with the changes that were made plus I thought putting on S Jones and G Cooper.
anon - I did not share your half time optimism. I thought we were in for a thrashing. I agree that we kicked too much (and not well) in the first half - but the strength of the English pack and their power in the collision area gave us no chance. 6 turnovers in the first 20 minutes is a rout. I thought holding out at the end of the first half would have taken a big toll. That's why I was so amazed by what happened next. It was a mega performance. Since Hook and Phillips were at the heart of it, I don't think your substitutions would have done it.
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