Wales v England - 6 February 2015 - Match thread

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Wales v England
6 February 2015
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Kick off at 20.05

Referee: Jérôme Garcès (FFR)
AR1: Romain Poite (FFR)
AR2: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
TMO: Simon McDowell (IRFU)

Live on BBC1

Wales

01. Gethin Jenkins
02. Richard Hibbard
03. Samson Lee
04. Alun Wyn Jones
05. Jake Ball
06. Dan Lydiate
07. Sam Warburton (c)
08. Toby Faletau

09. Rhys Webb
10. Dan Biggar
11. George North
12. Jamie Roberts
13. Jonathan Davies
14. Alex Cuthbert
15. Leigh Halfpenny

16. Scott Baldwin
17. Paul James
18. Aaron Jarvis
19. Luke Charteris
20. Justin Tipuric
21. Mike Phillips
22. Rhys Preistland
23. Liam Williams

England

15. Mike Brown
14. Anthony Watson
13. Jonathan Joseph
12. Luther Burrell
11. Jonny May
10. George Ford
09. Ben Youngs  

01. Joe Marler
02. Dylan Hartley
03. Dan Cole
04. David Attwood
05. George Kruis
06. James Haskell
07. Chris Robshaw (captain)
08. Billy Vunipola

16. Tom Youngs
17. Mako Vunipola
18. Kieran Brookes
19. Tom Croft
20. Nick Easter
21. Richard Wigglesworth
22. Danny Cipriani
23. Billy Twelvetrees

[Jimpy]

I wonder what the Welsh camp will moan about next?

Edwards will probably moan that the England team bus has under inflated tyres so shouldn't be allowed on the road!

He has accused England of using illegal 'rugby league' style play - the full story is on the BBC Sport website. Storm in a tea cup really.

[gregortree]

Its a very difficult call I know, but I think I fancy England just, over Wales.
I am of course talking about those photos above the teamlist.

[Gwlad]

If and it is a big IF, England can get any quick ball, they could cause problems. Problem is i can't see them winning any of the collisions in the backs, so they will be forced to try and slow Welsh possession. Wales are favorites but England have a chance eif they can get anywhere near parity up front and win the scrum. I reckon we will know in the first 15 who will win.

At least we'll have to wait to see - if Walsh was the ref we'd know already

Collisions ? What collisions ? When Jonny May scored his dazzling try vs All Blacks there was no collision, bit like touch rugby without one touch.

Jonathan Joseph also tends to score by running round rather than through players or by clever kicks.  Certainly the Welsh style is to run at the opposition and hope to break the tackle. With players such as Jamie Roberts that is how they have to play.

There is more than one way to skin a cat.

I love it….not sure any pint in Wales turning up, the English are just going to run round them….it's a revolutionary idea and i just wonder why nobody thought of doing it before, simple really.

[WELL-PAST-IT]

Its a very difficult call I know, but I think I fancy England just, over Wales.
I am of course talking about those photos above the teamlist.

To be fair, the wench Katherine does have the better voice.

Jimpy, pot and kettle I think. The first premiership side I saw use what until then had been a largely SH tactic was Wasps, guess who was their defence coach and came from a league background.

Wales use this tactic all the time to stop defences getting up early on Roberts and stopping him before he is in full flight. Same from re-starts a loose wall magically appears 5m in front of the receiver, not stopping, just impeding the chasers.

Both annoy the hell out of me, why the touch judges can't draw the refs attention to it is beyond my ken.

[WELL-PAST-IT]

If and it is a big IF, England can get any quick ball, they could cause problems. Problem is i can't see them winning any of the collisions in the backs, so they will be forced to try and slow Welsh possession. Wales are favorites but England have a chance eif they can get anywhere near parity up front and win the scrum. I reckon we will know in the first 15 who will win.

At least we'll have to wait to see - if Walsh was the ref we'd know already

Collisions ? What collisions ? When Jonny May scored his dazzling try vs All Blacks there was no collision, bit like touch rugby without one touch.

Jonathan Joseph also tends to score by running round rather than through players or by clever kicks.  Certainly the Welsh style is to run at the opposition and hope to break the tackle. With players such as Jamie Roberts that is how they have to play.

There is more than one way to skin a cat.

I love it….not sure any pint in Wales turning up, the English are just going to run round them….it's a revolutionary idea and i just wonder why nobody thought of doing it before, simple really.

Always turn up for a pint.

Qwlad, you must be still at school and missed it. The English developed this style of play and patented it back in 2000. It was very successful, unfortunately other countries jealous of England’s success decided to ignore the patent and started copying it; quite immorally. England have been looking to invent a new style to patent since 2004; they might just be getting there now, we shall see later on in the year. Even if they do, I suspect that the copycat countries will just break the patent laws again.

[doctor_grey]

I wonder what the Welsh camp will moan about next?

Edwards will probably moan that the England team bus has under inflated tyres so shouldn't be allowed on the road!

......or that James Haskell has bad breath which constitutes a breach of fair play laws.

[WELL-PAST-IT]

I wonder what the Welsh camp will moan about next?

Edwards will probably moan that the England team bus has under inflated tyres so shouldn't be allowed on the road!

......or that James Haskell has bad breath which constitutes a breach of fair play laws.  

I used to play with a totally mad hooker, he wore full size contacts that cover his entire visible eye and then rubbed horse liniment into his beard. Absolutely mad. But you should have seen the other hookers and tight heads faces when they went down. They came up quicker than Hartley.

[gregortree]

If and it is a big IF, England can get any quick ball, they could cause problems. Problem is i can't see them winning any of the collisions in the backs, so they will be forced to try and slow Welsh possession. Wales are favorites but England have a chance eif they can get anywhere near parity up front and win the scrum. I reckon we will know in the first 15 who will win.

At least we'll have to wait to see - if Walsh was the ref we'd know already

Collisions ? What collisions ? When Jonny May scored his dazzling try vs All Blacks there was no collision, bit like touch rugby without one touch.

Jonathan Joseph also tends to score by running round rather than through players or by clever kicks.  Certainly the Welsh style is to run at the opposition and hope to break the tackle. With players such as Jamie Roberts that is how they have to play.

There is more than one way to skin a cat.

I love it….not sure any pint in Wales turning up, the English are just going to run round them….it's a revolutionary idea and i just wonder why nobody thought of doing it before, simple really.

England already did...top try scorers since there has been a 6N, and a few vs Aus & AB without collision. Conversely Dr R and JD2 more prefer the collision method. Our back row will sort that out.

[Gwlad]

If and it is a big IF, England can get any quick ball, they could cause problems. Problem is i can't see them winning any of the collisions in the backs, so they will be forced to try and slow Welsh possession. Wales are favorites but England have a chance eif they can get anywhere near parity up front and win the scrum. I reckon we will know in the first 15 who will win.

At least we'll have to wait to see - if Walsh was the ref we'd know already

Collisions ? What collisions ? When Jonny May scored his dazzling try vs All Blacks there was no collision, bit like touch rugby without one touch.

Jonathan Joseph also tends to score by running round rather than through players or by clever kicks.  Certainly the Welsh style is to run at the opposition and hope to break the tackle. With players such as Jamie Roberts that is how they have to play.

There is more than one way to skin a cat.

I love it….not sure any pint in Wales turning up, the English are just going to run round them….it's a revolutionary idea and i just wonder why nobody thought of doing it before, simple really.

Always turn up for a pint.

Qwlad, you must be still at school and missed it. The English developed this style of play and patented it back in 2000. It was very successful, unfortunately other countries jealous of England’s success decided to ignore the patent and started copying it; quite immorally. England have been looking to invent a new style to patent since 2004; they might just be getting there now, we shall see later on in the year. Even if they do, I suspect that the copycat countries will just break the patent laws again.

The prospect of diversifying Gatlandball is quite alarming….running AROUND people…now there's a thought.

[nobbled]

Right - banter aside - off home now - via the supermarket for a curry and some beer - good luck all -hope it's as good a game as it promises!

[doctor_grey]

I wonder what the Welsh camp will moan about next?

Edwards will probably moan that the England team bus has under inflated tyres so shouldn't be allowed on the road!

......or that James Haskell has bad breath which constitutes a breach of fair play laws.  

I used to play with a totally mad hooker, he wore full size contacts that cover his entire visible eye and then rubbed horse liniment into his beard. Absolutely mad. But you should have seen the other hookers and tight heads faces when they went down. They came up quicker than Hartley.

I remember, back in my younger days, playing against one particular London club and we all ate onions or garlic before playing.  The front row would sometimes eat fried fish with that too.  

I love the idea of the liniment in the beard.  Must have kept his sinuses clear as well - which also must have gotten on the opposition, if you know what I mean.  Delightfully evil.  Let's tell Hartley - there is still time.....

[hugehandoff]

Interesting to see that when England beat Wales in 2011 in the Millenium Stadium Friday night match 26 - 19 who was in the teams. Gives me hope as that England centre partnership must be the worst in our history and yet we still won. Burrell and JJ may never have played together before, but I do think they have more offensive talent that Tindall and Hape!! C'mon England

Wales: Hook; Stoddart, J. Davies, Roberts, Williams; S. Jones, Phillips; James, Rees, Mitchell, A. Jones, B. Davies, Lydiate, Warburton, Powell.
Replacements: Byrne for S. Jones (67), Peel for Phillips (69), Hibbard for Rees (70), R Jones for Powell (33) J Thomas for Lydiate (71), Yapp for Mitchell (71)
Not Used: Priestland.

England: Foden; Ashton, Tindall, Hape, Cueto; Flood, Youngs; Sheridan, Hartley, Cole, Deacon, Palmer, Wood, Haskell, Easter.
Replacements: Wilkinson for Flood (66), Care for Youngs (62), Wilson for Sheridan (61), Thompson for Hartley (69), Shaw for Deacon (69), Worsley for Haskell (62).
Not Used: Banahan.

[doctor_grey]

Interesting to see that when England beat Wales in 2011 in the Millenium Stadium Friday night match 26 - 19 who was in the teams. Gives me hope as that England centre partnership must be the worst in our history and yet we still won. Burrell and JJ may never have played together before, but I do think they have more offensive talent that Tindall and Hape!! C'mon England

Wales: Hook; Stoddart, J. Davies, Roberts, Williams; S. Jones, Phillips; James, Rees, Mitchell, A. Jones, B. Davies, Lydiate, Warburton, Powell.
Replacements: Byrne for S. Jones (67), Peel for Phillips (69), Hibbard for Rees (70), R Jones for Powell (33) J Thomas for Lydiate (71), Yapp for Mitchell (71)
Not Used: Priestland.

England: Foden; Ashton, Tindall, Hape, Cueto; Flood, Youngs; Sheridan, Hartley, Cole, Deacon, Palmer, Wood, Haskell, Easter.
Replacements: Wilkinson for Flood (66), Care for Youngs (62), Wilson for Sheridan (61), Thompson for Hartley (69), Shaw for Deacon (69), Worsley for Haskell (62).
Not Used: Banahan.

England won because Banahan was not used????

[hugehandoff]

and Wales lost because they did not use Priestland???

[Coleman]

C'mon Wales!

[Cardiff Dave]

Cardiff must be bouncing by now and Cardiff Central will be busy for hours unloading it's Vale and Valleys already drunken cargo. Bonne chance everybody! And be nice.

[Cardiff Dave]

6 February 2015 Last updated at 17:27

"15-mile queue on M4 into Cardiff ahead of Six Nations clash

Stop-start traffic is reported for 15 miles on the M4 into Cardiff ahead of the opening Six Nations clash between Wales and England.

Congestion is on the westbound carriageway between junction 23 at Rogiet and junction 29 at Cardiff.

Motorists are warned to expect delays of up to an hour."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-31169823

[Guest]

Good luck to both teams. And good luck to everyone for the rest of the tournament. I'm logging out 'til the autumn internationals!

[Gwlad]

6 February 2015 Last updated at 17:27

"15-mile queue on M4 into Cardiff ahead of Six Nations clash

Stop-start traffic is reported for 15 miles on the M4 into Cardiff ahead of the opening Six Nations clash between Wales and England.

Congestion is on the westbound carriageway between junction 23 at Rogiet and junction 29 at Cardiff.

Motorists are warned to expect delays of up to an hour."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-31169823

They probably slowed down when they passed the M3 turn off cos they could hear the Anthems from Pennyhill Park….damn you Stewie!!

[stub]

OK - we're almost there.. Pre match curry followed by the match in the pub - pretty good start to the weekend. Let's hope England can give us something to cheer about. C'mon England!

[Cardiff Dave]

And take your time walking away from the bar carrying your pints or the Filth will nick you for speeding also...

"Six Nations: Police give alcohol warning to fans

As Wales prepare to kick off their Six Nations campaign, fans are being warned they face being fined if they buy alcohol for anyone who is drunk.

Fines of up to £1,000 could be imposed on anyone caught.

Up to 80 police officers will be on patrol in Cardiff city centre at peak times as the number of revellers is expected to reach up to 180,000."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-31153990

[majesticimperialman]

Up to 80 police officers will be on patrol in Cardiff city centre at peak times as the number of revellers is expected to reach up to 180,000."

I80,000.'' Really? I did not think Cardiff was that big.

The last time i was there any way. (About 30 years ago.)

[Gwlad]

Up to 80 police officers will be on patrol in Cardiff city centre at peak times as the number of revellers is expected to reach up to 180,000."

I80,000.'' Really? I did not think Cardiff was that big.

The last time i was there any way. (About 30 years ago.)

I recommend a night post match on St Mary's street to anyone with a sense of humor….80 cops v 180,000 orange birds in red stetsons, absolutely chaos and hilarity ensues

[maestegmafia]

Just enough time to get yourself excited for the game...

[king_carlos]

Going to be out for the match so wont be able to post but let's hope for a top class flowing game of rugby with both sides utilising an attacking game plan which suits both sets of players on display.

From an England perspective I want to see:

- Forwards coming onto the ball at pace with well run dummy lines and OPTIONS available.

- Burrell sucking in defenders to make space for Joseph, May, Watson and Brown outwide.

- Ben Youngs playing at his best, keeping the fringe defence honest and giving Ford the service that will allow him to shine.

- An astute and varied tactical kicking game that always puts pressure on receiving players and kicks that find the ground more often than the welcoming arms of that Wales back 3!

All the best!

[nathan]

I see jiffy is stirring the pot by saying Wales have better players 1 to 23. Let's hope Wales win now

[Cardiff Dave]

Up to 80 police officers will be on patrol in Cardiff city centre at peak times as the number of revellers is expected to reach up to 180,000."

I80,000.'' Really? I did not think Cardiff was that big.

The last time i was there any way. (About 30 years ago.)

Sleeping giants we are. Just you wait. Need to drop the bloos nonsense though asap.
Oh I see what you mean.

[WELL-PAST-IT]

6 February 2015 Last updated at 17:27

"15-mile queue on M4 into Cardiff ahead of Six Nations clash

Stop-start traffic is reported for 15 miles on the M4 into Cardiff ahead of the opening Six Nations clash between Wales and England.

Congestion is on the westbound carriageway between junction 23 at Rogiet and junction 29 at Cardiff.

Motorists are warned to expect delays of up to an hour."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-31169823

So bad that it has shut the Blackwall tunnel south bound, (Londoners will know what I mean), that means half the capital stagnates as nothing can move north or south in the east of London as it is the only crossing west of Dartford.

Bluddy Welsh strategy to stop genuine England fans from getting home to watch the match.

Thank god for motorbikes, got them there. England fans 10, Wales fans 0

[nathan]

You know, I had completely forgotten about inverdale

[nathan]

Congratulations on the win Wales!

[nathan]

Can they tell a joke with out sitting up each time lol

[nobbled]

Wales without Mike Phillips look far more dangerous to me.

[nathan]

Wales without Mike Phillips look far more dangerous to me.

Me too, I think that's been the biggest mistake from gatland in the last year or so.

[Nachos Jones]

Well good luck to both sides tonight. Still think it will be close.

[Biltong]

Best of luck guys, let's hope for a good game and a refereeing performance that doesn't affect the outcome of the result.

[nathan]

Best of luck guys, let's hope for a good game and a refereeing performance that doesn't affect the outcome of the result.

Hope the latter is true, else your going to have a busy night being a mod. Grumpy Welsh/English fans aren't the best!

[nathan]

Good choice of sweats Mr moore

[TheRugbyMaster]

Good luck everybody. Thank god the rugby is back.

[Biltong]

Good luck everybody. Thank god the rugby is back.

ain't that the truth.

[TheRugbyMaster]

The pre game stuff is getting a bit silly, no?

[nathan]

The pre game stuff is getting a bit silly, no?

Nigel wray organise this?

[Nachos Jones]

I do feel that Billy V has to have a very big game if England are to win. He has been in some good club form so that bodes well for England.

[nathan]

Lol, what's happening?

[Biltong]

I am actually looking forward to this.

[Fernando]

At some point a game of Rugby may break out It could be a while...

[Notch]

Well, this is a wee bit childish.

[TheRugbyMaster]

Booing the opposition is in poor taste in my view.

[nathan]

Well, this is a wee bit childish.

I presume it's so Wales don't delay after England have gone out

[Nachos Jones]

Well, this is a wee bit childish.

Could not have said it better myself.

[Biltong]

Booing the opposition is in poor taste in my view.

happens at most stadiums, nothing new

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