England’s Owen Farrell is tackled during the Rugby World Cup Pool A match between England and Wales at Twickenham stadium in London
Wales defied an early battering up front and a slew of second-half injuries to rally to a remarkable 28-25 win over England at the Rugby World Cup yesterday (Macau time), leaving the tournament host in real danger of early elimination.
In a physically brutal match at Twickenham, England built up 19-9 and 22-12 leads through big defense and set-piece domination, but couldn’t put the Welsh away and froze in the final 25 minutes.
Dan Biggar’s flawless kicking kept Wales in touch, before a try from scrumhalf Gareth Davies tied the scores at 25-25 with eight minutes left.
By that stage, Wales had lost three backs — in a four-minute spell — to add to its extensive injury list to leave the back division with two scrumhalves, two flyhalves and three players out of position.
Biggar kicked another penalty, his seventh in a row, to put Wales in front but the English had a chance at a draw when they earned a penalty with two minutes left. England captain Chris Robshaw chose to go for a lineout rather than give Owen Farrell — who had been six from six from the kicking tee — a shot at goal from the right touchline.
The decision backfired, as Wales’ pack snuffed out the danger with a big shove. The final whistle was met by disbelief from the majority at Twickenham.
“I don’t think I’ve shown as much emotion at the final whistle as I have tonight,” Wales coach Warren Gatland said. “I can’t ask for anymore. I think they (Wales’ players) wanted it more in the end.”
England now likely has to beat Australia next Saturday, back at Twickenham, to avoid elimination from the toughest ever pool at a World Cup. After naming a contentious lineup — including rookie center Sam Burgess — based on pragmatism over attacking flair, England coach Stuart Lancaster told critics to judge him on the result.
After early dominance, England caved in under the pressure, and Lancaster has some questions to answer. First, he has to get over the disappointment of his team throwing away a victory.
“We are absolutely devastated to lose the game,” Lancaster said, “having been in a position of playing so well and having dominance on the scoreboard.”
Robshaw took responsibility for the late penalty call, feeling the kick was tough and that England’s lineout had been in the ascendancy up to that point.
“We decided we wanted to go for the win,” a distraught Robshaw said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t come off.”
For Wales, the priority is finding enough fit players to take the field against Fiji on Thursday. Center Scott Williams, winger Hallam Amos, and fullback Liam Williams all went off injured between the 63rd and 67th minutes, leaving the Welsh with a makeshift backline that had been ravaged by injury before the tournament through last-minute withdrawals of Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb.
Somehow Wales came through. And what proved to be the crucial try in the 71st came when Lloyd Williams — a reserve scrumhalf thrust out to the wing — made a break down the left and kicked the ball across field. Davies scampered onto it, collected the ball, and grounded under the crossbar.
Biggar converted and then knocked over a gutsy penalty kick from halfway in the 75th to give Wales the lead for the first time since midway through the first half. There was to be no way back for the English.
“It was an amazing win given the circumstances,” Wales captain Sam Warburton said.
The match turned into a classic and was also some occasion, played out before a crowd of 81,129 that included British princes William and Harry — vice patrons of Welsh and English Rugby, respectively, who were sitting side by side. The noise before kickoff was extraordinary, and the anthems sang with gusto in the 127th meeting between the old foes.
Lancaster took some flak by selecting Farrell and Burgess, and altering the game plan in the back division, but they both held up well. As did the pack early on, earning two penalties from Welsh feeds into the scrum. The Welsh lineout wasn’t much better.
Jonny May’s left-wing try, following a well-worked blindside move featuring Anthony Watson then Mike Brown, gave England a 16-6 lead after 27 minutes. Gatland looked a worried by the end of the first half but he needn’t have been. Steve Douglas, Sports Writer, London, AP
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