England’s hopes of advancing out of the ‘Group of Death’ have been dealt a blow, suffering an upset loss to Wales at Twickenham on Sunday.
MATCH REPORT: ENGLAND VS WALES
England were up 19-9 at one stage, and as the injuries started to pile up for Wales, the host nation looked set to claim victory.
However, some clutch kicking from Dan Biggar and a great try to Gareth Davies would see Wales grasp a match-winning lead with just minutes remaining.
Following the match, England coach Stuart Lancaster said he was “gutted” by the result.
“We were 19-9 up and going well but then there was ill discipline from us and Dan Biggar’s great goal kicking,” Lancaster said.
Wales now return to Cardiff to face Fiji on Friday, while England await a must-win clash with the Wallabies.
Final Score:
England 25
Wales 28
Wales will head to the home of England, Twickenham Stadium, in one of the defining matches for Pool A of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Join The Roar from 4.50am (AEST) for live scores and coverage.
England kicked off the tournament with an impressive bonus point win over Fiji 35-11 last week and will be looking to go 2-0 and come one step closer to progressing through to the next stage of the competition.
They struggled to get off the blocks last week but managed to cruise through after a strong second half led by Mike Brown. This week however, they will be wanting to start strong and stay that way for a full eighty minutes.
Stuart Lancaster will be somewhat disappointed with the way England played last week and will no doubt want to ensure that his team step up their game tenfold and prove themselves as a good chance as any at winning the Webb Ellis Cup.
After a stellar performance last week, Mike Brown remains the key man for England. The veteran fullback was deserving of his man of the match award after crossing for two tries against Fiji. He was able to beat 11 defenders while making five offloads and also 191 running metres.
If Brown is able to replicate his game from the tournament opener, England will dominate at the back and could possibly win by a convincing margin.
Wales started the tournament in the best possible fashion last week, racing off to a 45-point victory over Uruguay. This win now puts them in a great position to qualify for the quarter-finals not only with a bonus point in hand but also through high-morale after an impressive win.
Yes, they were always going to beat Uruguay but no-one expected their performance to be so clinical and near perfect. Fear not Australians, they still need to face England who will prove a tough challenge, however they have a great opportunity now to come away with a win.
How do they do it? They exploit their new-look midfield. Sam Burgess and Owen Farrell come into the side replacing Jonathan Joseph and George Ford respectively. Brad Barritt will join Burgess at centre. The former South Sydney Rabbitohs star has a huge match in store, likely to face off Wales man mountain Jamie Roberts.
England and Wales have played each other 126 times, England have won the most of these games with 58 wins while Wales have 56 to their name. 12 of the matches have been drawn.
Their most recent meeting came at the 2015 Six Nations when England edged out Wales 21-16 in Cardiff. Previous to that game England defeated Wales at Twickenham 29-18 during the 2014 Six Nations.
Prior were victories to Wales 30-3 in Cardiff during the 2013 Six Nations, 19-12 at Twickenham during the 2012 Six Nations and 19-9 in Cardiff during the 2011 Internationals.
Prediction
England by 6.
Join The Roar from 4.50am (AEST) for live score updates and debate in our live blog.
Gonzo
Guest
Kiwi, they can catch McCaw tripping an Argentine, but they miss such a blatant act. On review it looks worse, but we all know whose side the ground announcer is on. Utter tripe. I hope the Wallabies beat both Wales and England, but after this boilover, I think the English ground PR team are going to go into overdrive. Lets hope Hooper doesn't decide to rub an Englishman's head aggressively after a mistake, we all know that will result in a penalty try to England and 10 in the bin for him and Folau as part of a group discount!
Mike
Guest
He's still under suspension. After Australia game I believe, Lancaster can decide whether to bring him in for an injury replacement.
Mike
Guest
What about Andy Gommersall's charge on Matt Giteau at Twickenham in 2004? Gits' penalty kick put the Wallabies in front by 2 points, which was enough.
taylorman
Roar Guru
That's right...decision to go for the lineout was the right one but Its not England's game. They're still a calculating 10 man team that doesn't do these situations well. They had neither the conviction nor know how to make the last lineout work, and in translation got pummelled by Wales who were more desperate than England. Kicking to the corner is an attitude, not a tactic. England signalled they had it by going for the lined, but proved they didn't know what they were doing when executing it.
Paul Kruger
Roar Pro
how about that shocking clearance kick from the welsh 9! could have cost them the game in my opinion that was an absolute howler.
PeterK
Roar Guru
no also Aust must not score 4 tries against Wales or any losing BP's against England.
Kiwi
Guest
Don't be so hard on yourself Jmmy
Coconut
Guest
Kiwi with all due respect that was a great game... I thought both sets of backs were fairly lively, and the English back three were a threat... so I think you are being a bit harsh there. I do agree about the stop start nature and excessive use of the TMOs which is undermining the referees control, but I seriously don't think that has anything to do with the English team. I made a point earlier about the need to have trialled this stuff about two years ago so that the kinks in it could have been ironed out... not to save it as an experiment during the actual RWC. 12 mins of play in the second half of the AB/Namibia game was a debacle, but I don't think there is much they can do about it now.
wardad
Guest
The percentages always favour taking the 3 points .
wardad
Guest
NH lotto number is ....2.
wardad
Guest
So why is England the only nation that doesnt have a mid-week game ? Well its actually a moot point as we all know why . Its getting to where I would just as soon see the TMo banished for good ,surely the technology is there for the ref to see what he needs to from the sideline with maybe a technician giving assistance ? If I can check out the game from woop-woop sitting by a river fishing then surely its a goer ? Yay fer Wales ! Winning with reserves out of position is a huge ask . Commiserations to the English side things ,looking not so good after 2 games is tough .
JimmyB
Guest
And I'm the nob.
Rugby Tragic
Guest
What a result .... had a power blackout on half time, whole suburb was down ... had to rely on blogs to keep up to date! ... Watched replay though and even knowing the result, it was still exciting. Good tight game that could have gone either way... the pool is now open for any of the big three ... who will survive?
Kiwi
Guest
This is England's world cup, and its fair to say the games are being officiated in the way they prefer it; slow and constipated. In my view these wheels were put in motion after the ABs white-washed England 5-0 in the 14/15 Autumn Internationals and Steinlager Series. Over that time Lancaster tried to match the ABs running game, and as it didn't work the alternative plan is the rubbish we are seeing. The only way I can see this changing for the better is if they go out the back door.
Kiwi
Guest
Speaking of fruit I bet there are a few lemon lips on the Guardian and Telegraph this morning
Kiwi
Guest
Sorry but I don't subscribe to the "any PR is good PR" school of thought. If playing the game the way its meant to be played means fewer fare-weather parochials watching it then so be it. However, I suspect we'll have to agree to disagree about what good rugby looks like, given you support a Nth Hemisphere team.
ethan
Guest
You're right, wales have only four days to prepare and are down on men. Fiji could well get up! But can they still qualify for the quarters? If AUS win all their games, and Fiji beat Wales, that would put Wales, England and Fiji all on two wins each. It would come down to bonus points. AUS are going to have to front the England match like a grand final. We all saw how SA bounced back against Samoa when they needed to. Expect England to do the same.
AJ
Guest
If we cant beat England and Wales then we probably aren't good enough to win in the finals anyway.
GDayMate
Roar Rookie
Right decision to kick for the lineout - wrong decision to throw to 2. Game showed how important goal kicking is. Wallabies likely to need to score 2 tries more than their opponent against both England and Wales to take the bickies. Fiji surely will go back to their traditional game and could knock over the hugely depleted Welsh side on their quick backup.
Benny
Guest
Wales bonus point against Fiji is definitely not a guarantee