Congratulations, Martin Johnson, on your first victory as England's head coach. But unless there are big improvements in your team's performance it could be the last time this autumn we congratulate you.  England beat the Pacific Islanders 39-13 in Johnson's first game in charge |
First, the positives. Delon Armitage's first cap in the troublesome position of full-back went like a dream. He was steady under the high ball, adventurous in attack and, apart from one missed tackle, solid in defence. Scrum-half Danny Care was lively and challenged the fringe defence, however, I still believe he's doing too much with the ball in hand. His persistence in running from the base of a ruck across the field, albeit four or five strides, sets the whole backline running across the park and limits the space for England's potentially brilliant back three to exploit. You either stop Care from running so far or someone like Riki Flutey or Jamie Noon has to straighten the attack. Paul Sackey made big strides in cementing his place in the England team and laid down an early marker for his inclusion in the Lions Test side. Fly-half Danny Cipriani gets six out of 10. He kicked his penalty chances well but didn't take charge of the game which he has to do. You never got the feeling he was commanding affairs. He was being led by Care and the forwards rather than the other way round.  | Wales, you are Grand Slam champions for goodness sake, so please start playing like you are and stop holding back! |
The pack lacked the real grunt and aggression that will be needed to put away Australia, South Africa and New Zealand and this is a particular worry. Line-out and scrum were solid, as expected, but the ball carrying of the forwards lacked real punch. Far too many times they carried the ball unsupported and against the Tri-Nations teams that will lead to turnovers. The whole tempo of England's play has to increase to a level they find uncomfortable but the opposition find really difficult to defend against. Wales missed a golden opportunity to beat South Africa at home and get their season off to a real flyer. The whole mood in Cardiff was very pessimistic and Welsh supporters were saying they thought they were going to lose and this can't help but filter down to the team. I'm struggling to come to terms with this pessimism and find it very frustrating. Wales, you are Grand Slam champions for goodness sake, so please start playing like you are and stop holding back! Tactically, they were very naive and couldn't convert possession and territory into enough points to win. | 606: DEBATE |
Andy Powell at number eight stood alone on performance for Wales. Lee Byrne came close while Leigh Halfpenny had a great first cap and deserves to keep his place. He will score tries against Canada, but the rest languished. I hope the Welsh team are still shaking their heads trying to understand how they didn't win this game. On far too many occasions they broke the gain line only to find there was no support. Conversely, when South Africa did they had numbers and were able to take advantage. The big differences between the two teams were that South Africa took their chances but Wales blew theirs. The Springbok back row smashed big dents in the Welsh defensive line on many occasions and Wales had no real answer to this attacking bludgeon. After Jean de Villiers had scored his interception try, courtesy of a pass from James Hook, South Africa shut up shop. From that point on Wales dominated all aspects of the game until the final three minutes, but at a time when they needed composure and experience, they lost two crucial line-outs and knocked the ball on twice.
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