Cardiff ghost laid to rest as England stand tall

James Haskell insists England have “banished the demons” 
after silencing a hostile Millennium Stadium on Friday night.
England's James Haskell (centre) is tackled by Wales' Gethin Jenkins (left)England's James Haskell (centre) is tackled by Wales' Gethin Jenkins (left)
England's James Haskell (centre) is tackled by Wales' Gethin Jenkins (left)

The World Cup hosts began their pursuit of the 2015 RBS Six Nations title with a stirring 21-16 victory over Wales that has seen them replace Ireland as favourites to claim a first Championship crown under Stuart Lancaster.

As the second half progressed and England’s forward-led dominance grew, the sound of Swing Low drowned out the fading Welsh support.

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Haskell was among the survivors from the squad thumped 30-3 in Cardiff two years ago and for the Wasps captain, who produced one of his best Red Rose performances, it was an occasion to savour.

“For some of us it was about banishing our demons here. When we came here in 2013 we were soundly beaten,” said Haskell.

“Every time we go to Cardiff, Wales are very, very fierce opposition with a difficult crowd behind them.

“But by the end it felt as though the stadium was full of English fans, which was quite a nice feeling. It’s a great place to go and win.

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“Credit to Wales, they were physical and there will be some sore bodies during the week.

“Any time you get to put on that white shirt and win it is very satisfying. I’ve probably lost more than I’ve won with the number of caps I have (54 caps, won 30, lost 22, drawn two).

“To get any win, especially against a Welsh side, is very, very special. It does feel very satisfying.

“But it’s always just a little bit marred by the fact that your body is in pieces at the end of it.”

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England’s performance was hard to fault beyond the failure to engineer the second-half tries that would have deservedly swept them out of Wales’ reach.

Dave Attwood had a ‘score’ disallowed after Nick Easter had obstructed Dan Biggar moments earlier and Haskell himself would have crossed but for crashing on to the right post as he was tackled having bulldozed a path to the line.

For all the euphoria that has greeted an outstanding start to the Six Nations, Haskell insists the match review will be conducted with a critical eye ahead of Italy’s visit to Twickenham on Saturday.

“If anyone was going to run into a post it was going to be me. I thought I did the best thing, rode the tackle and span out of it. It would have been a try had the posts not been there,” he smiled.

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“To get a win like we did is very special so we’ll allow ourselves a few hours to smile, then the job will start again.

“Come the Monday review we will be hard on ourselves. The mark of a good side is being tough on yourselves in victory – go away, learn, prepare for a big week and it all starts again next Saturday.”

Haskell’s England team-mate Mike Brown, meanwhile, has defended his team’s act of defiance in refusing to be cowed by Welsh mind games moments before Friday night’s game.

Captain Chris Robshaw, knowing Wales’ starting XV were still in their changing room, stood his ground in the tunnel when his team were instructed to make their entrance on to the Millennium Stadium pitch.

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Robshaw’s fiery Harlequins team-mate Brown joined in the discussion with officials as the hosts’ replacements bench attempted to face England down, warning: “If they’re not out in one minute, we’re coming back in”.

Brown reveals he feared the consequences of succumbing to Wales’ plan to keep the new title favourites waiting on the pitch on a freezing night in Cardiff.

“It was obviously cold and we are athletes who had just warmed up,” said Brown.

“The last thing we wanted to do was go outside and stand around while they put on a show for supporters.

“We thought it would be best to stay in the tunnel.

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“Their officials wanted us to move out and a few ‘kind’ words were said between the two parties. We stayed where we were and I think we were in our right to do that.

“I said to one of the officials if they want to stand out in the cold they’re welcome to do that, but we didn’t want to do it.

“It wasn’t about us standing our ground. We want to stay warm because we’ve got anthems and things like that.

“If they want to put on bit of a show for the fans, we don’t need to see that – we’ll stay warm in the tunnel.”

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The incident evoked memories of Martin Johnson’s refusal to move his England team at Ireland’s request as they lined up before completing a grand slam in Dublin 12 years ago. Johnson went on to lift the World Cup later that year.

“We wanted to have a bit of control. We didn’t want to be out there. You saw when we actually were out there the lights were off,” added Robshaw.

“We stood our ground and went out when the referee said we needed to.

“We just didn’t want to go out on to the pitch 10 minutes before they came out, it’s as simple as that. We didn’t want to play any tricks or mind games, we just wanted to go out when they did.”

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