England 31 Wales 21

By Zippy
March 22 2004

Wales played some outstanding rugby against the world champs on Saturday, some work is needed on the set piece and it will only be a matter of time before a big gun is slane. For player reviews read on

England: 31 (16)
Tries: Cohen 2, Worsley
Cons: Barkley 2
Pens: Barkley 4

Wales: 21 (9)
Tries: Thomas, Taylor
Con: Jones
Pens: Jones 3

15. G Thomas (8) – Defended like JPR, his defence to that would be he is still learning the position, lacks the pace to be the complete Full Back, I see his future at 12 under Ruddock. A class act
14. R Williams (6) – Defence was shaky and didn’t do as much work as Shane, will need to up his game against the Italians.
13. Taylor (8) – Back to his best, had the better of Greenwood tackled all day and found the ouside of his man in attack.
12. Shanklin (7) – Quiet but tackled all day which made a change from Harris, a late replacement I was pleased about. Must keep his place.
11. S Williams (8) – Was not allowed the space he had against England last time but showed he has added a new dimension to his game with some lovely touches round the park.
10. S Jones (8) – The “Turk Carthorse” had a game to remember, defensively brilliant looked more comfortable in attack with the 2 big boys outside him, kicked all day.
9. G Cooper (8) - "Coops" responded brilliant after some 2nd rate efforts vs the French and Irish, distribution was 1st class, he will need to repeat this next week, unfortunate to be replaced.

1. Du Jones (7) - Stood up to the task of Vickery in the set piece and looked good in the loose, best young prop in the British Isles at present.
2. R McBride (5) - The line out failures have to come down to 1 man - the hooker, it was a shambles we need to keep things simple. Played well in the loose with some big hits.
3. G Jenkins (7) - Scrumaged a lot lot better, his work rate round the park was equally impressive, got a great shiner for his efforts.
4. B Cockbain (6) - Line out? Outdone by the impressive Danny Grewcock
5. M Owen (6) - Didn't play that well but still weighed in with some hits, with all his talent he will exact his revenge on the English some day.
6. J Thomas (5) - Needs to recapture his form very soon or he could be facing the boot, didn't really do much.
7. C Charvis (8) - Tackled all day and really looks a true world class player and leader, has completed the full tranformation from Zero to Hero, one of the regions or English sides must now be considering a bid.
8. Da Jones (6) - Not an orthadox 8 and not a long term answer in this position, did much better than against the French and will prob keep his place.

Wales will look to finish Steve Hansen's reign on a high with a win vs Italy on Saturday