You can take the man out of the Valleys but you can’t take the delight in seeing England lose out of the man.
Lots of water has passed under the bridge since Graham Henry coached Wales, but in his latest Guardian column the World Cup-winning coach did not even attempt to disguise how happy he was with their dramatic win over England on Saturday.
The former All Blacks coach couldn’t decide if England bottled it or choked in the final 20 minutes, so he wrote both, in a devastating critique of Stuart Lancaster’s side.
“All night they had failed to play despite getting on top in the scrum and enjoying quality lineout possession and in the end two things cost them: the centre combination of Brad Barritt and Sam Burgess, which did not work in defence or attack and the way at the end that they froze, or choked, call it what you will,’ wrote Henry, who accused England of playing without ambition.
Many observers questioned the selection of Owen Farrell ahead of George Ford at fly-half, assuming Lancaster was choosing his biggest side against Warren Gatland’s bruisers. Henry believes the selection of brawn over brains was at the root of a defeat that means hosts England must beat Australia on Saturday to stay in the tournament.
“A team that had ripped defences apart in the Six Nations failed to attack. Why? Because they set out not to lose rather than to win?
“Most of the time they kicked the ball aimlessly downfield seeming to hope Wales would self-destruct. Barritt looked like a fish out of water at outside-centre, even though he has played there before for England, and frankly Burgess was little better on the inside.”
On a roll, even when praising Wales the man who led New Zealand to triumph at the 2011 World Cup could not resist another dig at England.
“[Wales] were decimated by injury before the game and in the final quarter. They should have been there for the taking but they showed enormous resolve, self-belief and belief in each other no matter who was on the field. And they had a plan, together with a clarity England lacked.”
Poor old England, sympathy for their plight is in terribly short supply.
