Mike Phillips: Wales and England on a Six Nations collision course

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  • Wales and England is always a full-blooded affair.

    Well, if you weren’t excited about the Six Nations going into the opening weekend you will be now.

    It was a fantastic round of fixtures that’s really set up the tournament nicely.

    Without looking too far ahead Wales v England in a couple of weeks is going to be enormous, and that’s why there has been some surprise at Warren Gatland making a lot of changes this weekend for the Italy game.

    For the players, the first game is always hard. You have to get up to the speed of international rugby and there’s so much going on off the pitch too. There’s lot of attention on the players, lots of media interest and that can be difficult for some.

    You tend to use up a lot of nervous energy in that week leading up to the first game – it’s pretty draining.

    Once you get that first game under your belt, and especially if you win, then it’s massive and it puts you in a great position for the rest of the tournament. Get a second
    win under your belt and you are flying, confidence is high and you feel on top of the world.

    Wales should now beat Italy, and if, as a player, you’ve played both those games then you go into the England game absolutely buzzing.

    There’s obviously an argument for keeping a consistent side, but this is a real opportunity to give some fringe players a taste of competitive rugby, and that’s something Gatland will be keen to do with the World Cup around the corner – you never know when you need them.

    He did it while I was playing a few years ago. He made wholesale changes and we ended up struggling for large parts and just about managed to get over the line – but it was a good learning experience for the players involved.

    Wales made a typically slow start against France, but came away with a win which is the main thing, but England played incredibly well against Ireland, you have to give them credit for that.

    Jonathan Davies will captain Wales in Italy

    Jonathan Davies will captain Wales in Italy

    France will look to bounce back, and they will be physical at Twickenham this weekend, but England shouldn’t have too many problems.

    That will send them to Cardiff in the third round of fixtures with huge momentum. On the back of two competitive games, I see them being really game-ready, whereas Wales have had a pretty slow game against France, and lots of changes against Italy. They’re two different approaches, but can work for both sides.

    France will be so disappointed in the manner of the defeat against Wales. Yoann Huget is a great player, but made a mistake, and then late on in the game they are throwing big, lopping passes in pretty poor conditions. I just don’t know what they are thinking.

    The score in Dublin may have surprised some, but England’s performance deserves a huge amount of credit.

    Their tempo was amazing, and they have quality through the side. The 10, 12, 13 looks very dangerous, with gas on the wings – it looks very, very good.

    Henry Slade was a real standout. He’s a classy player and gave an all-round exceptional performance against Ireland. His skillset is amazing, he may not have really established himself as an international player prior to this, World class: Henry Slade was absolutely magnificent for England in Dublin. but he can kick
    on now and be a big, big star heading towards the World Cup.

    Slade starred with two tries for England.

    Slade starred with two tries for England.

    The way they play, England will take some stopping as the tournament goes on.

    I thought Ireland lacked a bit of creativity against England. They weren’t able to control the pace or tempo of the game, and then when things were going against them, were unable to react with something different.

    They now face a tough task at Murrayfield, where Scotland will always be tough to beat.

    It’s difficult to tell exactly where Scotland are because Italy were so poor last week – it really was schoolboy stuff at times.

    The score may have looked closer than it should have, but Italy were very disappointing.

    It’s all very well for Scotland to run in tries like they did in the first hour, but now they have to push on against Ireland in a game that will be a very different proposition.

    It’s going to be an interesting weekend.

    Mike’s predictions:

    Wales to beat Italy by 37 points

    England to beat France by 18 points

    Ireland to be Scotland by 12 points

    Do you want to train with Mike Phillips? The next Mike Phillips Academy camp is taking place on February 20 and 21 at Foremarke School, Dubai – aimed at children
    aged 5-13. For more information see www.mikephillipsacademy.com or call 052 4929995

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