 |  ENGLAND 62 WALES 5
At Last...
...England Rugby has something to smile about!
Twickenham was bathed in much missed sunshine and the crowd was treated to much missed English Passion on the pitch.
What a perfect day! If, of course, you wore white. |
ENGLAND 62 WALES 5 The result that Brian Ashton must have been praying for as England reminded us all that they are actually World Champions. Wales were left sadly wanting as they crumpled under England's consistent barrage of attacks from the newly formed pack.
The critics will no doubt say that England only won as it was an under-strength Wales side fielded by Gareth Jenkins, but those English fans out there will have loved every minute of what seemed to be a freshly re-vitalised England squad.
The new kit had the right effect - the result, the sunshine, the return of Jonny Wilkinson and Jason Robinson and the explosive power of new boys Shaun Perry and Leicester's Dan Hipkiss, all added to a fantastic spectacle for very thirsty English fans.
Wales however were left dejected and totally outclassed. They have much soul searching and planning to do. Although this may just be a 'friendly' (no such thing) warm up match, it is not the result any team would want to bounce back from only weeks away from the Rugby World Cup. Why was James Hook left on the bench? One does wonder....
We will leave the tactical pulling apart to the other sites (click here BBC Sport) and concentrate on the players as usual. Shaun Perry is an amazing phenomnum isn't he. He came into professional rugby in his late 20s after having played part time alongside his full time career as a welder. During last world cup he played for Dudley. Four years later, here he is at 29 years old, looking a strong contender for the number 9 shirt representing his country in the same tournament. His award of man of the match was well deserved as he brought speed and power to the game, from just about everywhere on the pitch. Keep it up Shaun! (More about Shaun)
 Dan Hipkiss and Nick Easter - the new boys - were determined to make their mark. Nick Easter certainly did that with FOUR tries. Interestingly this was the first time this has ever happened for a number 8 in an England shirt. So what if the tries were all identical. It worked didn't it? Not to be left out, Lawrence came on in the second half replacing Nick and scored his own try, peeling off from the rear of the scrum in real style - a great moment!
Dan Hipkiss stood out in the backs who generally had a quiet match and only really got on the score sheet later in the match. Dan gained his first England cap and will never forget his first match. He showed his skill in the centre, exploding into space and dodging around welsh players left, right and centre. At 25 years old Dan has a great future ahead of him. Click here to find out more about Dan and his career at Leicester. (Click Image for larger picture).
It was not Wales' day was it. They had very little possession and must be completely shattered by their performance and the result. Great players like Tom Shanklin, Gareth Thomas and Colin Charvis will have to dig deep to get things back on track for the start of the RWC, but Saturday 4th August was England's day. It has been nearly 4 years since the English crowd has been so elated and for everyone's sake - long may it last.
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