By Graham Thomas
Shaun Edwards insists Wales can forget about winning their Six Nations showdown with England unless they improve their defence.
The solid red wall may have yielded just one try against France during the 19-10 victory on Friday night, but it was the stream of penalties given away that concerns the defence coach.
Edwards wore a deep frown and pursed his lips as he reflected on the 14 penalties conceded to the French and said: “If we give that many penalties away against England, well, I am pretty sure that the way young Owen Farrell is kicking at the moment – he is pretty dead-eye.
“They also have George Ford who can kick as well. So, we will have to keep them out.”
Wales have already won at Twickenham once this season – at the World Cup in September – a result that cost former England coach Stuart Lancaster his job.
But Edwards has insisted that 28-25 victory will have left no scars and will have no influence on the prospects of a fourth Welsh championship in nine years.
“I have never thought that any one game has anything to do with the next. That was proven in 2013.
“We obviously won convincingly here, but in the next two games England beat us. And in the game after that, we beat them.
“So, I don’t think any one game can be so psychologically damaging that it would hurt another performance three or four months later.
“We will have to up our game and go to another level against England. We will be playing against a very formidable opponent.”
England may be making progress under new coach Eddie Jones, but Edwards insists the red rose are relying on bombs rather than ball skills.
George North of Wales celebrates his try.
“The game against England will be a very tactical game. I have watched England a couple of times and they don’t actually run it that much from their own half.
“They pepper your back three with high bombs and then chase up quickly and counter-drive those rucks.
“It will be a tactical game, but also a game where sometimes you have to deliver in your own 22, defensively. We will concentrate on that over the next two weeks.
“The England game is massive. The fact that we actually drew the first game doesn’t really matter that much because we would still have had to beat England to win the tournament.”
With three victories since Jones took over, England look a much improved team to the one that nose-dived out of the World Cup at the pool stages.
But Edwards is reluctant to concede an opinion on whether or not they have progressed much until he gives the tapes a cold hard, Wigan stare.
“I haven’t really studied England yet. When you are a coach and you study a team, you watch it in real detail. I have just watched them as a fan.
“I watched them against Italy for 50 minutes with my son, the day after we had beaten Scotland. I wasn’t really switched on as a coach, so I couldn’t really give a comment on that.”
But he does believe Wales have an advantage when it comes to the greater experience of their players and coaching team.
“Our lads have played together quite a lot. Some players come in, like Rob Evans, but generally we should have an understanding like a club team.
“The coaching staff have been together for a while, as well. You’ve got to remember, we only have got four teams. We have got to draw on every little bit of energy we can get.”
Wales could be without 122-cap veteran prop Gethin Jenkins at Twickenham because of a calf injury.
