Tuesday, 24 February 2009

Wales 23-15 England. 14 Feb. 2009

Apart from the result this match will be remembered for one thing; Joe Worsley's man marking of Jamie Roberts. The England head coach had watched Jamie's awesome performance against Scotland and decided that drastic measures were needed. Joe Worsley spent the whole match shadowing and tackling Jame Roberts. There were times in the second half when Wales had an attacking scrum and the England fly half packed down at blind side with Joe playing at ten. It was a negative ploy but it worked very well and Jamie Roberts had a tough day. It was disappointing that Wales did not vary their game enough. They kept trying to barge through the middle with Roberts and Powell but Worsley and the back row were equal to the task.
England's performance was a huge step up from the previous game and they actually managed to out score Wales by two tries to one. Leigh Halfpenny scored Wales' try in the second half after indiscipline saw England reduced to 14 men. The tight five of Wales had a massive game and secured good ball throughout the game and were all over the play in defence. Wales' composure saw them control large parts of the game and with about 10 minutes to go the home side stretched their lead to 8 points to ensure the win.
A hard fought victory.

My man of the match: Joe Worlsey. Did everything the coach asked of him.

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