England received a timely confidence boost ahead of their defence of the Webb Ellis Cup at Rugby World Cup 2007 with a record 62-5 defeat of Wales at Twickenham on Saturday in their first of three Tests this month.
The English forwards enjoyed the upper hand over a Welsh pack missing several first choice players and were rewarded for their dominance with five of the home side’s nine tries at a sun-drenched Twickenham.
Nick Easter grabbed the headlines with his hat-trick - becoming the first England number 8 to score three tries in a match - before making way for World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio, who then got in on the act himself with a try to join second row Steve Borthwick on the scoresheet.
Easter may have scored a hat-trick and Jonny Wilkinson kicked 17 points in the win, but it was scrum half Shaun Perry who was named Man of the Match after an impressive performance with two tries the reward for controlling the match for England.
The game had almost reached the hour mark before Wales finally opened their account with a consolation try by Dafydd James on the overlap, but the day belonged to England with two late tries by Jason Robinson and Mathew Tait completing the morale-boosting victory.
Hard lesson for Wales
However it wasn’t all good news for England coach Brian Ashton, who had already replaced scrum half Peter Richards (back) with Andy Gomarsall on the bench when Mark Cueto suffered a groin injury in the warm up, prompting Tait’s inclusion at full back to leave only six replacements.
England captain Phil Vickery then came off at half time with an ankle injury, but Ashton – unlike his Welsh counterpart Gareth Jenkins – can look forward to the luxury of another Test with France at Twickenham next weekend before naming his World Cup squad.
Wales do have matches against Argentina and France at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff later this month, but both fall after the 14 August deadline for Jenkins to declare his 30-man squad for France 2007.
“I’m hugely disappointed with the result,” admitted Jenkins. “People back home are going to be totally unsatisfied but we’ve got to keep our heads up. We’re a month away from the World Cup, and we’ve been given a hard lesson – but it’s not impossible to come back from.
“Being competitive in the World Cup and reaching at least the quarter finals is our priority at the moment, and this game has helped us see how far we are along in that process.”
