Online Reporter
IT’S likely that Sables coach Pieter Benade watched a remorseless England pile the pain and points on Wales as they began their hunt for the Six Nations title with a 48-7 victory at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
The Sables will get their 2027 Rugby World Cup campaign with a date against Wales in Adelaide.
They will also meet England in their group.
The Six Nations tournament will provide Benade and his backroom staff with a chance to watch their group rivals in action and see how they can drill their men to take on both the English and Welsh.
The Sables coaches must have seen an irresistible England and a Welsh side which appears to be fragile at the moment.
Wales have now won only two of their past 24 Test matches, while the domestic game is racked with uncertainty and rancour as the Welsh Rugby union attempt to restructure four regional sides.
Wing Henry Arundell, making his first start for England in more than two years, scored a first-half hat-trick as England put themselves out of sight before the break.
Josh Adams was picked out by Dan Edwards’ precise punt for Wales’s solitary try five minutes after the restart, but, for the most part, the one-way traffic continued to steamroll the visitors.
Tom Roebuck added to Ben Earl’s first-half try, before the introduction of Marcus Smith, Henry Pollock and returning captain Maro Itoje energised England for the final quarter.
Earl, as he did in the 68-14 romp in Cardiff last year, switched to midfield late on as England used the remaining game time to try out new patterns for the campaign to come.
Tommy Freeman, who scored in all five of England’s games in the tournament last year, powered his way over in the last play of the game to keep that scoring streak going.
Ominously, the Welsh take on France, the defending champions who took apart Ireland on Thursday night, next weekend.
The contrast to England is stark.
The hosts’ 12th straight victory was roared to the rafters and belief is swelling that their run can carry them to a first title since 2020.
A far tougher test of those credentials awaits in the shape of a wounded Scotland in Edinburgh next weekend, but their mix of accurate attack and furious defence was hard to fault.
It was certainly too potent for Wales.
England coach Steve Borthwick had forecast a barrage of high kicks from Wales and, with the Twickenham surface slick after heavy morning rain, he was soon proved right.
Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams hoisted the first box-kick after 40 seconds and Ellis Mee’s chase of another sky-scraping boot earned Wales some prime field position.
England were not averse to taking the same route, with George Ford testing Louis Rees-Zammit with a pair of spiral bombs early on.
It was soon clear though that only England had the urgency, intensity and power to capitalise from the chaos that followed.
After George Ford’s third-minute penalty, a first England try followed as Guy Pepper led the heavy brigade into contact and Ford zipped the ball wide for Arundell to stroll in.
Shipping points at the rate of one a minute, Wales’s faint hopes were then torpedoed by two yellow cards in the space of 60 seconds.
Nicky Smith and fellow front-rower Dewi Lake were dispatched to the sin bin in quick succession as they illegally went after England at a line-out close to their line.
Understaffed and underpowered, England picked Wales off. — Sports Reporter/BBC
