For both England and Wales the road to the Rugby World Cup has been an unusually potholed and winding one. Nine months ago they were under the command of head coaches who are no longer in charge and any semblance of a smooth build-up vanished a long time ago. It gives Saturday’s opening warm-up Test in Cardiff slightly more resonance than might have been the case.
The good news is both Steve Borthwick and Warren Gatland usually respond well under pressure. The latter has proved himself a master at stitching together competitive Lions sides in a matter of weeks while people often overlook the former’s role in one of rugby’s greatest miracles. As forwards coach of the Japan team who beat South Africa on the opening weekend of the 2015 World Cup, he knows a little bit about pre-tournament preparation.
Both, accordingly, will be urging their players to block out this year’s Six Nations, in which both teams finished in the table’s lower reaches, and look to the future. As Wales slogged away in Switzerland and Turkey and England fried themselves in the heat of Verona, their respective summer fitness camps were also a chance to flush away last season’s disappointments. The next month, starting in Cardiff, offers a much-needed opportunity to bolster on-field confidence as well.
Hence the reason why dotting the Is and crossing the Ts of final squad selection is, ultimately, less important for both countries than showing they are back on an upward curve. Wales’s youthful line-up has little to lose, with public expectations less than sky high. England, for their part, have better players than their results of late might indicate and are increasingly keen to prove it.
Wales Leigh Halfpenny, Louis Rees-Zammit, George North, Max Llewellyn, Rio Dyer, Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies; Corey Domachowski, Ryan Elias, Keiron Assiratti, Dafydd Jenkins, Will Rowlands, Christ Tshiunza, Jac Morgan (c), Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: Elliot Dee, Nicky Smith, Henry Thomas, Ben Carter, Taine Plumtree, Tomos Williams, Dan Biggar, Mason Grady.
England Freddie Steward, Max Malins, Joe Marchant, Guy Porter, Joe Cokanasiga, Marcus Smith, Danny Care; Ellis Genge (c), Jamie Blamire, Will Stuart, David Ribbans, George Martin, Lewis Ludlam, Tom Pearson, Alex Dombrandt
Replacements: Theo Dan, Bevan Rodd, Kyle Sinckler, Jonny Hill, Tom Willis, Jack van Poortvliet, George Ford, Henry Slade
These “phoney war” periods before big tournaments rarely lack for upbeat soundbites but Borthwick spoke with genuine feeling this week about the kind of side he is trying to build. “What I believe this team has got is a lot of talent,” he insisted. “And the more time I spend with them, the more talent I see they’ve got.” If they can collect three or four warm-up wins before they face Argentina in Marseille on 9 September, all the better.
Clearly, as with Wales, there is an element of not wishing to show their entire hand too early. Quick, short lineouts, cunning starter plays … some things are better left unseen for now. But what England would like to exhibit, having conceded 18 tries in their Six Nations campaign, is a more coherent shape and a collective purpose not entirely dependent on certain senior players being on the field.
In that regard it will be particularly fascinating to see how their Harlequins contingent fare in Cardiff. Danny Care, Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt are a proven triangle at club level and the Stade Français-bound Joe Marchant is also on the same wavelength. If they can make things happen it will give a major 11th-hour boost to Dombrandt’s chances of making England’s final 33-man World Cup squad, to be unveiled on Monday.
It would be a timely moment, then, for him to emulate another Harlequins No 8, Nick Easter, who scored four tries in an August warm-up against Wales at Twickenham in 2007, the last time the World Cup was about to be staged in France. England – and Easter – went on to make the final and Dombrandt, once of Cardiff Met University, would love a little bit of deja vu.
For that kind of fairytale to reoccur, though, England also need their own resident Welshman to work his magic. Aled Walters is a less familiar face than Borthwick or Kevin Sinfield but, as fitness coach, he is fast emerging as a key cog within the “new” England project. Borthwick openly suggested England “were not good at anything” when he took over from Eddie Jones and Walters, part of the triumphant Springbok World Cup operation in 2019, has already been a catalyst for change in terms of the squad’s mood and demeanour.
England’s attack coach Richard Wigglesworth, who worked with Walters at Leicester, could scarcely have been more effusive – “The group love working for him, he just gets that bit more out of players” – and this week’s captain Ellis Genge has similar feelings. “He’s an energiser. When he comes into the room he just fills people with joy. He’s one of those people who, when he’s in your environment, you feel like you can’t be without him.”
It remains the case, though, that England’s most recent two competitive games against France and Ireland yielded an aggregate losing margin of 82-26. Borthwick says his side lacked the requisite intensity in the 53-10 French defeat at Twickenham but feels there was progression through the Six Nations. If nothing else, he believes it taught his players an important lesson. “There is a learning experience there about what it takes in Test rugby. Week after week you have to perform at your very best because the standard of the competition is phenomenal.”
Wales, having lost six of their past seven Tests, already know that. With Fiji improving and Australia and Georgia also sharing their World Cup pool, it would thus be a significant bonus for Gatland if his new-look matchday squad, which includes the uncapped Corey Domachowski, Kieron Assiratti, Max Llewellyn and Taine Plumtree along with the former England prop Henry Thomas, can make a decent first impression.
It will be a special occasion, either way, for the remarkable Leigh Halfpenny, who is about to go decimal and claim his 100th cap. Few goalkickers in the game’s history have struck a dead ball as sweetly as he did for the British & Irish Lions in 2013 and his youthful opposite number Freddie Steward still rates him as one of the world’s best full-backs. Hopefully, though, it will not just be a game of aerial ping-pong and August rust. England’s debutants Tom Pearson, Theo Dan and Tom Willis all have much to play for, as does Wales’s novice captain Jac Morgan. Warm-up fixture or not, Anglo-Welsh rivalry still has the capacity to generate some real heat.
