All the action as England host Wales in their Six Nations clash.
England insist they have a plan to stop Wales from again provoking Kyle Sinckler after the Harlequins prop lost his cool during last year's defeat in Cardiff.
Owen Farrell of England. Photo / Getty
All the action as England host Wales in their Six Nations clash.
England insist they have a plan to stop Wales from again provoking Kyle Sinckler after the Harlequins prop lost his cool during last year's defeat in Cardiff.
Sinckler had to be withdrawn from the contest in the 57th minute after conceding several penalties and tussling with Alun Wyn Jones. Warren Gatland, the former Wales head coach, had described the England forward as an "emotional time bomb" before the match.
Sinckler said afterwards that he had let his team and country down by his lack of discipline, but has since learnt to control his emotions.
George Ford, the England fly-half, said the team were ready to cope with any similar provocation at Twickenham.
"He probably reflected on that game from an individual point of view and learnt massively from it," Ford said. "It is not just him – I know in that game he had a few things going on – but it is how the team can help individuals out.
"We have learnt from that as a team. We know in Test matches they will go after a few individuals, as we would do to the opposition.
"With Sinck, he has learnt and got better at a few things himself and we have probably become more aware that those things are going to happen and what we can do as a team to make sure it doesn't escalate to the point where it will cost us."
Ford said England had held discussions about how to counter attempts by Wales to provoke a reaction and were ready for it.
"You don't want to make too much of a big deal about it because you end up speaking about the opposition too much – but you have to anticipate it and be aware of it, so it doesn't come as a shock at the weekend," Ford added.
"We have discussed what potentially could happen and the plan of what we would do to look after individuals and look after the team.
"You don't want to get to a game without thinking about it, talking about it as a team and then you think, 'Jesus, what is going on here?' and then before you know it five or 10 minutes of the game has gone, momentum has shifted and you are in that sort of a game again."
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