England recorded their first victory in the 2023 Summer Nations Series in dramatic style, with George Ford’s match winning penalty sealing a 19-17 comeback victory at Twickenham Stadium. England battled back once despite dropping down to 12 men, with captain Owen Farrell sent-off in the second half.
Here are the seven biggest talking points following England’s 19-17 victory over Wales, at Twickenham Stadium.
1. Six Yellow Cards And the ‘Bunker’ System Debuts At Farrell’s Expense
The match was heavily disrupted by penalties, as the referee, TMO and separate ‘Off-Field Review’ TMO all had busy days at the office. A total of six yellow cards were brandished, with Owen Farrell’s yellow being upgraded to a red following the aforementioned ‘bunker’ review system. Call it an ‘Orange Card’ but this ‘off-field-review’ worked relatively seamlessly admist the chaos at Twickenham.
However, you could only imagine the impact that this delayed review system would have on the England players. They would be under the impression that their captain is set to return to the pitch after a 10-minute cooling off-period in the sin bin, before the speaker system confirms his removal for the remainder of the match. This certainly has the capabilities to hinder a side’s mentality, however England were able to bounce back for the comeback win.
Racing 92’s latest acquisition Henry Arundell was awarded the first yellow card of the night. In a bizarre, and uncharacteristic act of hot-headedness, Arundell made a tackle on Liam Williams after the Wales fullback called for the mark. Arundell promptly saw yellow, and was given a few shoves on his way to the side-line. Tommy Reffell was awarded Wales’ first yellow card, after illegal action in the break-down send him packing early in the second half.
Ellis Genge soon followed, just four minutes after the test match half-centurion made his milestone 50th appearance off the bench. Then Freddie Steward departed after a moment of madness, as he tackled Josh Adams in mid-air to concede a penalty try. Farrell departed soon after that, and could well be on his way back to the RFU’s school of tackle technique. The Saracen has once again taken the headlines for a high tackle, as he led with his shoulder in a collision to the head of Wales’ Taine Basham.
Adam Beard departed six minutes from full time for the final card of the match, as the sides ended the fixture with a rarely seen level playing field, at 14-a-piece.
2. Ford Is England’s Man With Farrell Set For World Cup Ban
The fly half selection saga was the pre-match focus, with Owen Farrell the preferred man to start at 10. George Ford bolstered Borthwick’s reinforcements on the bench, yet eagle-eyed England fans would have spotted Harlequins talisman Marcus Smith warming up with the squad, as drum and bass DJ Sigma excited the Twickenham crowd. However Smith played no part in this return fixture against Wales, as Borthwick re-shuffled his halfbacks from last weekend’s the defeat in Cardiff.
OWEN FARRELL’S PERFORMANCE:
Farrell’s overall outing at Twickenham has understandably been overshadowed in his second half sending off. The Saracen looks set to miss the opening match of England’s Rugby World Cup campaign against Argentina, if he is handed a three match ban for his shoulder-charge to the head of Taine Basham.
Farrell started off his game with a neat grubber through to Henry Arundell, with the Racing 92 man coming close to scoring in the match’s opening minutes. Farrell’s opening kick to touch did not go as far as hoped, giving possession back to Wales just beyond the 10m.
After two kicks to the corner reaped no rewards from the early rolling mauls, Farrell changed his approach after just nine minutes with a kick to the posts. In a goal-kicking performance resembling Marcus Smith’s outing in Cardiff, Farrell’s made no mistake in his efforts off the tee. Farrell struggled to get his classic hold on the match’s flow, due to the stop-starting structure of this penalty ridden fixture.
However, he did excite the crowd with some line-breaks, as he backed his pace against the back-peddling Wales defenders for some exciting sparks in the first half. The Twickenham faithful disagreed with Farrell’s pass back in field on the 40th minute, with Freddie Steward screaming for the ball on the unmarked right touchline. What looked like a move from the training park, this effort didn’t break the Welsh line, with Farrell instead taking the three points from close range to see out the half.
Farrell kick-started the points scoring after the half-time break, as he made no mistake from the tee following Tommy Reffell’s trip to the sin bin. Behind his sending off, Farrell’s second biggest blunder of the match saw him fumble a pass in a try-scoring opportunity. After 49 minutes, England looked like they were in to score, with Marchant and Arundell providing a two-on-one overlap. However, Farrell knocked the ball forward whilst trying to ship a pass out wide.
Owen Farrell – once again at the centre of a high tackle controversy. Given a yellow card and an ‘off-field review’ for the head contact, which was subsequently upgraded to a red card following the off-field review. Even after taking the tackle school, Farrell faces a ban at a pivotal time for England.
FORD’S PERFORMANCE:
Sale Sharks fly half George Ford replaced Henry Arundell after 57 minutes, and forced the England back-line to all push out one spot to the right. Borthwick gave the Ford-Farrell partnership a run-out, in an attempt to spark the magic which took England to the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final, and the 2020 Six Nations title.
Ford was given a similar amount of game-time, to his replacement appearance in Cardiff las weekend. However, this was a world’s apart performance for Ford, who presented his versatility to cover multiple positions when England’s backline was depleted to the sin bin. All eyes turned to Ford once Farrell saw red, with England’s early Rugby World Cup campaign now looking to be carried forward by the 30-year-old.
Ford carried this pressure with great aplomb, and slotted the conversion to Maro Itoje’s try, to narrow the deficit against Wales. A well timed cross field kick looked to have won the game, however Joe Marchant was unable to ground the albeit impressive diving catch attempt. Ford’s crowing moment of the match saw him slot the winning penalty with just five minutes left on the clock, in what presented great leadership to battle for victory against the odds.