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Wales took on England at the weekend, running out 30-3 winners and retaining the Six Nations title in the process.
Here are six things we learned from the match.
1. Sam Warburton is going to make the loss of David Pocock felt during the Lions tour
He hasn’t had a great past 12 months in the Welsh shirt. That may be due to taking time to get back to 100% health and fitness after his injuries.
Against England he was back to his best – literally all over the field in support, flying to bother clearing kicks, making tackles and getting very involved in the rucks.
The part that makes this hard to stomach as a Wallabies fan is that Justin Tipuric might have had a better game than Warburton.
He might not have as high an athletic ceiling to his game, but right now he’s in the top echelon of back-rowers in the world.
Put them together with Tom Croft – one of the better England fighters against Wales – and Sean O’Brien from Ireland you start to see why the breakdown belligerence and big match experience of Pocock is really going to be missed during the Lions series.
2. Leigh Halfpenny must be in the Lions’ squad
Halfpenny has to have one hand on the other red jersey he’s looking to wear this year, the Lions number 15.
His kicking alone is worth having in the Test arena, and that is doubly so for a Lions tour where matches will be closer to World Cup intensity than normal Tests. A reliable and long range kicker can make all the difference in games such as this.
Halfpenny’s running is still very good and he has the ability to hold up the tackle long enough to let support reach him when fielding high kicks. He also links very well and his passes have the knack of finding the man in space.
A great all-round talent.
3. Mike Philips
Mike Philips looks very lively and involved early, he made a great long blindside bust that really started to open up the game for Wales. I’ve criticised him before about not always looking like he plays at 100% and being a bit hot and cold – when he’s hot he’s in Will Genia’s ballpark, especially as a ball runner.
One time in the early stage of the second half it was Phillips that instigated holding up a maul in tandem with Warburton that lead to a turn over.
Not often you see a halfback involved with that sort of defensive turnover. That effort was repeated in the half as England tried to run back a Welsh 22m drop out.
4. Wales are very good at getting out of their half
They don’t always use a first phase kick either. Punching two quite rucks over the gain line to get that extra 10m that gives the fly-half the chance to put up a kick that can be contested or really try and pin the opposition back.
This is something Australian teams need to be better at in the Test arena especially. Being able to contest a kick, or really aim for the corner is much better than trying to find the sideline from the edge of your own 22.
England kicked too often when running the ball was a very viable option. They didn’t have the same attitude toward counter-attacking by putting it through the hands unless they were already on the opposition half. Alex Goode was probably the only player that occasionally stood out as being bold for England and that was mostly the first half.
Alex Cuthbert and George North were the beneficiaries of Wales putting it through the hands in their own half and behind their 22m line on occasions. They also gave their team those opportunities by charging back after fielding kicks.
Wales weren’t as fearful of those opportunities and they had a Lion’s share of possession and territory because of that bold play.
5. Alex Cuthbert’s size and speed
Cuthbert, in scoring his first try showed that he is both a big man and also faster than Mike Brown – the best performing England winger in this tournament.
Cuthbert still needed to travel about 20m to score that try and only needed about 5m of space to burn his man.
A minute later Mike Brown had a small sliver of space down the outside of his opposite when he received an offload, he looked wide and then immediately ignored that space. That is stark contrast to Cuthbert believing in himself and taking the man on.
If Warren Gatland was still wondering whether the Welsh side deserved to strongly populate the Lions backline then this game has given great reason to go with the charges he already knows well. They beat out their opposition smartly on this occasion.
6. Wales’ try scoring ability
If Wales somehow hadn’t have scored a try from the sequence of play that lead up to what was their second try it would have been a crying shame.
It started with a fantastic Warburton bust right down the middle. He was so far ahead of the support he just ran straight at Farrell and engaged him for a time to let the support catch up. There was quick ruck ball and they spread it wide for Tipuric to dummy through a gap as Cuthbert loomed up on the outside to catch the offload when Tipuric hit the last man.
It was a fantastic 60 metre movement that put the dagger in England.
Only a bad 45 mins against Ireland, during the first round of 6-Nations, stood between Wales sweeping the tournament undefeated. Against Ireland they were diabolical early and found themselves down 30-3 just after half time.
They stormed home but couldn’t win. Since then they’ve returned to ground zero and slowly built throughout the tournament. This climactic victory against England is probably the strongest result for any nation in this year’s competition.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.