by Jack Cook
WALES flanker Justin Tipuric labels England as the pinnacle of Welsh rugby players careers as he looks ahead to the mouth-watering fixture.
Wales host England on Saturday the 27th of February at the Principality Stadium. With two wins under their belt, Wales will be looking for a third straight win in the championship against their bitter rivals England.
Wales flanker Justin Tipuric spoke to the media ahead of the game as he labelled the fixture the pinnacle of a Welsh rugby player’s career.
“Wales England there’s big history there and no matter what’s on the line is always a big game for the Wales team. It’s a little bit weird, obviously, in the stadium, Wales England with no crowd, etc. But yeah, it’s up there the pinnacle of Welsh rugby players careers to go up against England.”
England is currently the reigning champions after winning last year’s championship and recently winning the Autumn cup.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game and England are a world class team and they do the basics really well and they know how to win games of rugby.” Said Tipuric.
If Wales win on the weekend not only will they put themselves in a good position in winning the Grand Slam, but with already victories over Ireland and Scotland and a win against England. Wales would win the Triple crown. This would be the 22nd Triple crown for Wales and the first since 2019.
“We’ve put ourselves in a good position for the tournament, but we take one game at a time and if we perform with the basics well, that we have a chance of coming away with a W.”
With tight results against Ireland and Scotland, Tipuric believes that Wales hasn’t performed at their best yet and got a lot to improve to be the ‘perfect team’.
“I think I was pretty level headed, to be honest. We haven’t probably played at the top of our game we know we got a lot to improve on, but you know, we’re still winning games which shows we’re doing something right. But we know we’re not the perfect team.”
It’s youngster Louis Rees Zammit who has stolen the show so far for Wales. The 20 years old has already scored three tries in this year’s Championship. Tipuric applauded the youngster and said he’s pretty grounded despite all the limelight.
And the Round 2️⃣ #GuinnessSixNations Player of The Round is… @LouisReesZammit! 👏
*𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴*😅 pic.twitter.com/dZk6d9bgyh
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 17, 2021
“He’s a nice guy as well, he’s obviously had a lot of limelight and all that at a young age, but he’s pretty grounded.
“The guys lightning quick so it’s not nice trying to chase him down in training every day and stuff so it’s nice when it’s happening to oppositions on the weekend.”
Tipuric spoke about his back row partner and good friend Toby Faletau after his successful return to the Welsh side after being out with injury.
“He’s world class we just have a bit of fun I guess when we are out there. Whoever’s in the back row is kind of a position which you kind of enjoy in jell together.
“He’s had a tough time with injuries, but it shows a type of character that he is to keep on fighting and those injuries he’s had have been nasty ones and never seems to knock him down.”
