Rugby World Cup preparation in horribly underwhelming fashion as Wales sent them spinning to a 20-9 defeat in Cardiff.
Gareth Davies and George North staved off a fifth successive home loss for Wales as England boss Steve Borthwick was given plenty to ponder less than 48 hours before he names his World Cup squad. Few players left lasting impressions, although there were some impressive moments from fly-half Marcus Smith and No 8 Alex Dombrandt, with Wales responding superbly to a three-point interval deficit.
England were abysmal with their ball retention, conceding a colossal 22 turnovers, and Wales did not require a second invitation to capitalise. Full-back Leigh Halfpenny marked his 100th cap by converting both tries and kicking two penalties, with Smith kicking England’s points through three first-half penalties.
Twickenham next Saturday with a spring in their step, with a much-changed line-up knowing now they will be under more pressure to deliver in the battle for World Cup places.
England players, in contrast, will learn their fate on Sunday morning, when head coach Borthwick will have one-on-one conversations with his 41-man squad before naming it publicly on Monday morning.
His decision to select his 33-man squad early means that this match was unlikely to have had much of a bearing on his final selection meeting on Saturday night, as it will have been based almost entirely on behind-the-scenes work from the eight-week training camp.
Wales win the game very comfortably after England fell away badly from 50 mins onwards. Not much to recommend the Borthwick revolution in 2023 so far, whereas Wales have something resembling Warrenball v4.675 being released into the world, in a good way.
The England coach will certainly have plenty of red pen on whatever squad list he had prior to the match.
England’s opening World Cup game against Argentina is just five weeks away, yet Borthwick will not be reaching for any panic button with three warm-up fixtures still to come on the August schedule. For Wales, it was a significant confidence-booster following a fifth-placed finish in last season’s Six Nations as they recorded just a third win from the last 11 Tests.
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