Mauling in Cardiff expected to serve England well in rematch with Wales

Stuart Lancaster insists an older and wiser England now have the experience to prevent last year’s Millennium Stadium disaster from unfolding again.
Stuart LancasterStuart Lancaster
Stuart Lancaster

Eight Tests have passed since the Red Rose were overwhelmed 30-3 by Wales in a mauling that saw their Grand Slam ambitions collapse at the final hurdle.

Warren Gatland’s champions visit Twickenham on March 9 in a match neither team can afford to lose if they are to remain in RBS 6 Nations title contention on the final day. The nature of last year’s drubbing in Cardiff ensure it will continue to haunt England until it has been avenged, but Lancaster insists his players have come a long way since then.

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“Looking back on it, the big lesson we learnt was keeping composure when the score started to turn against us and we’ve done that in subsequent games,” the head coach said.

“I deliberately remember saying at that time we made a bad job worse and in games against New Zealand, Australia and France since then we’ve shown we’re a lot more composed and a lot more experienced at dealing with those sort of situations.

“The trick obviously is not to put yourself in that position in the first place.

“Last year’s loss was hard to take, there’s no doubt about it, but no team goes unbeaten in international rugby.

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“It’s how you respond to the loss that’s important and we went to Argentina and continued to develop our game.”

England propelled themselves back into the Six Nations title frame with a 13-10 victory over Ireland, but Lancaster insists that result will be rendered meaningless if they fail to deliver against Wales.

“We’re obviously delighted to have beaten a high-quality Ireland team and it was a great game of rugby, but it counts for nothing leading into this game,” he said.

“On review and reflection the players understand there were opportunities left out there and areas we can improve on.”