by Dylan James
Former Wales fly-half Mark Ring believes Pivac’s side can overcome England in the third round, but there is a selection problem in the midfield.
On Saturday February 27th at 16:45, Wales and England lock horns in a showdown for the Triple Crown. Eddie Jones and Co. will be eager as ever to prevent Pivac’s men from getting their hands on the coveted Six Nations sub-honour, an accolade which will provide bragging rights as well as silverware within the British Isles.
Mark is no stranger to this success, after securing the honour in 1988 when Wales defeated Scotland 25-20. However, Mark believes that despite Wales’ less than comfortable wins against Scotland and Ireland, they can grind out more success, following in the same vein as 2019.
“Yes, it’s definitely achievable. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t think it was before the tournament started.”
“There seems to be a bit of a familiarity to when we won the Grand Slam in 2019. I don’t think we played particularly well against Scotland. France, very similarly out in Paris. They were way the better team.”
“When you go back to my experience in ’88, it’s critical you get that first win, your confidence just seems to grow.”
Never mind the Triple Crown. Wales vs England never disappoints, and it is synonymous with passionate rugby rivalry. Okay, maybe that first statement took it slightly too far, but you understand! This fixture always provides, regardless of form, which Ring is acutely aware of.
“We all know that the fire in the bellies of Wales’ players ignites much quicker when they play England, and they tend to find that extra 10-20%.”
On the other hand, Wales have “ridden their luck”, in the words of Ring, and are facing a huge contest against England, after playing against 14 men for the majority of the tournament. Nevertheless, the former Pontypool outside-half believes that the lack of fan presence will have a huge impact on the game.
“The strange thing is now, how are the players going to react without a crowd there?”
“I remember when they (Wales) played England in the Grand Slam season. The Welsh roar of the crowd was evident. As they’re about to kick-off, on the big screen Farrell has made a smarmy grin and a wink to one of his players. that’s set the crowd off 10, 20, 30 decibels above the normal crescendo!”
“Tipuric came in and made that ankle tackle on Vunipola (Billy) on their first big carry and Farrell’s game went to pieces and the whole game was in our favour and we won quite comfortably in the end.”
“But obviously we’re not going to have that. I’m wondering if Eddie Jones can say something daft again and fire us up!”
Wales occupied three fly-halves (by trade) in their Triple Crown win against Scotland in ’88, with Bleddyn Bowen and Ring in the midfield, and Paul Thorburn at 10. However, Bowen and Ring combined magnificently well together on the day, and were both instrumental as Ieuan Evans rounded off a memorable team try.
On the topic of centre partnerships, there certainly hasn’t been much consistency this year, after Pivac’s choice in this department was doused with injuries in the opening two rounds. Johnny Williams and George North started together against Ireland, whilst Nick Tompkins and Owen Watkin combined against Scotland. Ring believes this could be an issue come next weekend.
“It’s a difficult one. I know Jonathan Davies started at 12 for the Lions but I don’t fancy him there at all. The biggest balance it would give us would be Johnny Williams at 12 and either Jon Davies or George North at 13. ”
“It’s probably the only area really, where we need to get it right. My start would be Johnny Williams and George North to begin with.”
