England will miss Mako Vunipola on Saturday but they have enough ball-carriers to turn on the power against Wales
It is not uncommon to introduce themes every now and then – we often use them at Harlequins – and one we’ve used recently is called decapitation strike. It’s a military term and it’s all about targeting the key individuals of an organisation and taking advantage of the knock-on effect – watching everything else fall away if you can eliminate their leaders. It could well be a key theme for Wales to target England’s half-backs in a similar fashion on Saturday.
Owen Farrell is so influential in terms of how he organises England’s attacking and territorial shape, and he and Ben Youngs would be the two Wales targets. That may look like the Wales scrum-half coming hard off the defensive line, making sure that Farrell has to pass early, negating the ability to bring Billy Vunipola and Manu Tuilagi into the game thus winning the gainline battle. If Wales make him play early then they can bring their defensive line up and shut down England’s options.
Written by Nick Evans
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2019/feb/18/wales-england-six-nations-breakdown-key-rugby-union under the title “The breakdown will be a key to who gets into the fast lane at Cardiff | Nick Evans”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
