3. Injuries To Both Teams Damages Rugby World Cup Hopes
The worst case scenario for Rugby World Cup warm-up matches are untimely injuries ahead of the showcase competition. Both England and Wales suffered with injuries, with Borthwick’s recent ‘go-to’ scrum half Jack van Poortvliet substituted off in the first half for a problematic ankle injury.
Van Poortvliet was replaced just after the half hour mark, with his Leicester Tigers mentor Ben Youngs replacing him sooner than expected heading into the match. Wales also suffered two injury blows, as matchday captain Dewi Lake hobbled off the pitch after 26 minutes, with Sam Parry coming on in his place. Lake was later shown on the Twickenham screen with an ice pack on his thigh area, in what has thrown another spanner into the works with Wales’ number two jersey.
2023 Six Nations captain Ken Owens pulled out of the Wales squad, after the hooker failed to recover from a back injury. Then last weekend, fresh from recovering from Achille’s tendon surgery, Wales hooker Ryan Elias suffered a reported hamstring injury. Dewi Lake is the latest hooker to join the injury list, with Wales’ options narrowed down to Elliot Dee and Sam Parry in the front row.
Wales’ second injury from this physical encounter at Twickenham, was dealt to back-rower Taine Plumtree. On just his second test match for Wales, the New Zealand born loose forward walked off the pitch holding his shoulder, and swore in pain as he walked down the tunnel.
4. Gatland Rolls the Wales Dice with New Captain and Three Debutants
DEWI LAKE PERFORMANCE:
Despite last weekend’s star making performance of Jac Morgan, the Wales back-rower was not included in the squad after his first time as captain of his country. Warren Gatland named hooker Dewi Lake to lead his side out at Twickenham, however the 24-year-old sustained an unfortunate injury which curtailed his night.
Lake struggled in the early set-pieces, with the first scrum of the match seeing multiple re-sets. England were eventually awarded an early free kick, as Tomas Francis reacted early to Marler’s textbook anticks and Dewi Lake tried to keep his tight-head under control. Lake threatened England’s try-line with a rolling maul after 17 mins, with a well thrown and regathered line-out, yet the England pack held strong.
Lake then struggled at following line-outs, with Courtney Lawes and Maro Itoje causing a great deal of disruption. However, the matchday captain’s fortunes improved in later scrums, as Wales won a key scrum turnover, with Lake and his loosehead Gareth Thomas battling well to one-up Jamie George and Will Stuart.
DEBUTANT PERFORMANCES:
JOE ROBERTS (Outside Centre, Scarlets)
Roberts was soon introduced to the physicality of international test match rugby, as he had to deal with the powerful running lines of Ollie Lawrence. Roberts saved Wales from conceding the opening try of the match, as Ben Earl charged down a loose ball that was bouncing in-goal. Roberts knocked the ball out of his reach, with centre partner Nick Tompkins grounding the threat.
The Scarlet gave Arundell a shove for good measure, after the England winger was given a yellow card for his hit on Liam Williams, after the fullback called for the mark.
Roberts linked up and carried well off of Nick Tompkins, and it did not look like the Saracen was carrying the debutant. Roberts showcased his footwork with a nice goose step, before running into an unforgiving duo of Will Stuart and Maro Itoje.
KIERAN WILLIAMS (Inside Centre, Ospreys)
The Ospreys centre came off the bench on the 58 minute mark, replacing Saracen centre Nick Tompkins. He formed a debutant centre partnership in the Wales midfield, as he linked up inside Joe Roberts for the final 20 minutes of the match at Twickenham. Not exactly a stand-out performance from the inside centre, yet he will be happy to get the debut under his belt and push on for a Rugby World Cup place.
KEMSLEY MATHIAS (Prop, Scarlets)
Kemsley Mathias made his Wales debut nine minutes into the second half, as he replaced Tomas Francis with Gatland shaking up the front row. Mathias started off his Wales test debut with an instant impact, forcing England to hand over possession with a scrum penalty. The Welsh fire would have been burning hot for Mathias on the side-line, and you could see his fight early after his arrival.
Mathias then struggled against Will Stuart, who is becoming a man who enjoys taking Welsh debutants to the cleaners after having a field day against Corey Domachowksi in Cardiff. Dan Cole gave Mathias a baptism of fire, as the veteran was subbed on at after 56 mins.