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England keep their foot on the pedal for full 80
England keep their foot on the pedal for full 80
The sole criticism you could have had of England's victory over Italy last weekend was their inability to be ruthless on the scoreboard and replicate what France did a week prior. Maro Itoje wanted ruthlessness this week and he got just that.
England had a point to prove. They'd been booed by their home crowd previously having repeatedly kicked away possession, and in the opening rounds were operating pragmatically rather than rolling the dice. There could no complaints in Cardiff from England's vocal travelling support as Steve Borthwick's men illustrated an attacking edge, not seen during his tenure up until now and in doing so recorded their highest ever winning margin in the Welsh capital.
With the clock in the red and a scrum on halfway, England could have kicked the ball out and their fans would have gone home happy but England saw blood and illustrated a newlyfound confidence to go through the phases before Chandler Cunningham-South hit the coup de grace.
Will Stuart takes command of No.3 jersey to become a potential Lions bolter
The Bath prop has had his doubters and when U20s World Cup winner Asher Opoku-Fordjour was denied a place in the squad for the Ireland match, it left a lot of England fans frustrated.
If you said before the tournament Stuart could be in the Lions Test team, not many would be convinced. Now the 50-cap man has a good chance of touring Down Under after his well taken try which for a second week running showcased his fancy footwork for such a big man.
At 6ft 2inch and 132kgs, Stuart is a colossus of a man and alongside loosehead Ellis Genge, the pair have helped shore up England's previously creaking scrum and in doing so told tyro players like Opoku-Fordjour coming through that at 28, he's still got plenty left in the tank at test level.
Embarrassment of riches building on England's wings
Fans were shocked when Ollie Sleightholme, having scored two tries in the win over Italy, was left out of the 23 in favour of a new wing in Tom Roebuck. However, the Sale Sharks flyer rose to the occasion on his first Six Nations start, taking his try brilliantly. There's a lot of him at 6ft 2inch and 98kgs and his dominant ball carrying often draws in a handful of defenders.
When Immanuel Feyi-Waboso returns fit, Borthwick will have Sleightholme, Roebuck, Tommy Freeman, Elliot Daly, Cadan Murley and the aforementioned Exeter Chiefs powerhouse at his disposal. That's not to mention the numerous exciting wings across the Premiership like Paul Brown-Bampoe, Gabriel Ibitoye and Ollie Hassell-Collins.
Quite the headache for Borthwick but a good one to have.
Jury remains out on Marcus at 15
I understand that it would be a crying shame not to have a player of Marcus Smith's quality on the pitch for England but with his fly-half rival Fin going so well, it does feel like Borthwick is continuing to put a square peg in a round hole.
Smith is repeatedly targeted aerially by teams and while he dealt well with Wales' weak attempt at an aerial bombardment, it's still a weakness for the Harlequin given his slight 5ft 9inch frame. What do Willie Le Roux, Blair Kinghorn and Hugo Keenan all have in common? They are all over 6ft.
The maverick playmaker thrives in open space, showing off his wonderful hitchkick steps, but it often feels like when he gets the ball at 15 that he has to try the spectacular when the smarter option would be to just boot possession away.
Ford proves he's still a test animal with influential cameo
Given the Sale Shark is purely an out and out 10, George Ford's name on the England bench was surprising given their 6-2 split. The soon to be test centurion rolled back the years when he came on though, playing flat to the line and dictating play by putting his teammates through holes.
This was personified perfectly with his outrageous pass across the face of four Welsh defenders and into the grateful grasp of Henry Pollock.
Making those around him look good is what Ford does best and while much of the discourse around the fly-halves Andy Farrell will be taking to Australia has surrounded Sam Prendergast, Finn Russell and the Smith's, Ford showed why he could be a contender.