Welsh stun English

At half time at Twickenham no one was prepared for what was to happen in the remaining forty minutes of what many presumed was a match all but over. But then again that’s England for you, having established a 16-3 lead at half time. It’s hard to say what happened whether Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards had put something in the water but many believe the shirts of both teams’ players had just been switched.With England dominating the first half and playing some very fluent rugby with some attacking flair it looked as though England were on course for their first win of the six nations campaign. Within the opening 10 minutes winger David Streetle produced a dazzling run that split open the Welsh defence only to see him choose the wrong option and give Wales the chance to clear. Unfortunately Streetle picked up an injury and on stepped Lesley Vanikolo aka the volcano for his first bit of six nations fever and he did not disappoint, on the stroke of the 20th minute a cross-field kick from Wilkinson found the volcano who rose above Mark Jones to claim the ball, with a little flick of his wrist he was then able to lay it off to Toby Flood for England’s only try of the game.With the first half going all England’s way and the Wales defence living on the offside line it was only a matter of time before the fans thought the floodgates would open however with Sackey looking to go over just before the interval it was not to be as some heroic welsh defence kept the English at bay. Going in at half time with a 10 point lead and dominating all areas of the game, it was a mere touch up job for England to ensure a victory.However the Welsh dragons roared back in sensational fashion with their game being played in broken field the Welsh exposed an English defence that looked tired and drained. The welsh capitalised midway through the second half when the ever so reliable Wilkinson overthrow a pass to new comer Cipriani for the first mistake that the welsh duly converted into a try. However in this period of time it was 10 minutes of madness that cost England with Tindall and Tom Rees going off injured, the welsh exposed the gaps in defence and scored yet another try. However it was going to be a mistake from Balshaw that was going to cost England as the controversial selection failed to clear his lines in what would have been routine for any fullback. He took too long to release his kick and was punished by a Welsh side that Warren Gatland had pin picked as the English's weak link.The Welsh unlike the English managed to maintain their seven point lead in the closing 10 minutes as they played a tight and territorial game they did not allow England in. Afterwards Brian Ashton merely listed the wounded players as an excuse for England’s demise in the second half. All that can be said is let’s hope England don’t fade away next week.

Brian Ashton The right man?

The six nation fever is starting to lose its appeal for England fans with two dismal performances in a competition that had so much promise.So is Brian Ashton is the right man to carry England forward. If his first two displays at the six nations this year are anything to go by it is less than encouraging. It is fair to say he took us to the Rugby World Cup finals. however it was with a lot of unconvincing displays against Tonga, Samoa and the USA, but their were encouraging displays by the England players against Australia and France that made the fans forget what dreadful performances had already occurred. As a fan I am truly devastated that Brian Ashton was reappointed, after reading Mike Catt and Lawrence Dalligio's autobiographies, it re affirms my belief that the man doesn’t really know where to go. He is more a coach than a manager; he likes the hands on approach and playing attacking style rugby. Now i don’t have a problem with attacking style rugby and seeing this new England he raves about, however if the forwards don’t provide a stable enough platform to get quick ball to the backs we can never play this style. The problem is he is a backs coach and has never really truly known what to do with the forward. In the six nations against Wales we witnessed the total collapse of a team in the second half. They players didn’t have a sense of direction they just looked confused, jagged and dazed. Then this week against Italy we witnessed it again, but had Italy been slightly better or had it not been a few magic moments from Wilkinson and tough tackling from Sackey, it could have been the same story as the week before.I am a firm believer in the saying if it isn't broken don’t fix it. Having said that England look broken and don’t know what they are doing. We need to implement a strong staff that can take England forward.

Wilkinson England's Favourite Son

What is it about the English press that makes us build up our athletes so high, that it only seems fitting that the second one mistake is made; we have to crush them and kill their confidence. It is the same old story; we just look back to David Beckham when he kicked out at a sly Argentinean. But now it seems that Wilkinson is coming into pressure, when after winning a world cup with England against Australia, I know that was 4 years ago now and i shouldn’t be bringing this up, but we can only just look at last years World Cup when England looked like they wouldn’t even get out of the group stages who was the man to come back from injury to ensure we didn’t have a poor showing. Not only did he step up and make key and important decisions at the right time but he managed to get England into the final. Yes we know it wasn’t just one man but he steered and England ship that their forwards were steering. The backs were doing nothing but turning in below par performances.So it is only fair that when Wilkinson loops one pass over a mans head that he should be for the chopping board. He didn’t single handily lose us the game. He didn’t run us into a corner. However the only thing that can be said is he lacked a little bit of leadership which was out of character.So come on England give him a break after all he is only Human.