Dallaglio has issued a poignant statement as the search for missing Tom Voyce continues (Image: David Rogers/Getty Images)
Ex-England skipper Lawrence Dallaglio has given Wales rugby fans food for thought, boldly declaring his disbelief at the state of the Welsh team during pre-Six Nations training – a foreboding sign ahead of what turned into a calamitous campaign.
England dealt a shattering blow to Wales with a lopsided 68-14 drubbing in Cardiff, as Steve Borthwick’s crew notched an astonishing 10 tries, handing Matt Sherratt’s squad their worst-ever Six Nations thrashing.
Wales’ rugby pundits have offered unfiltered takes on the debacle. While Australian analyst Matt Williams dubbed Saturday as “a tragic day for Welsh rugby” and painted the national game there as being in “an unimaginable place”, ex-Welsh centre Jamie Roberts viewed this historic loss as a “line in the sand” moment.
However, Dallaglio had sensed the upcoming woes for Wales even before the tournament swung into action, observing their size disadvantage during training sessions—a point that didn’t go unnoticed as England outmuscled them with superior physicality and skill during the fateful match.
Laying out his analysis in the Sunday Times, Dallaglio penned: “Wales have a lot of soul-searching to do. When I went down to watch them at the Vale before the tournament, I thought I’d arrived at the wrong training pitch. I looked around and I saw a team that looked small.
“They struggled in all areas of the game. The only time they looked mildly effective was when it was unstructured, broken play. I left the stadium a few minutes early and there were hundreds of Welsh fans that had seen enough as England added the final few tries.
“The home fans had optimism coming into this game because of the quality of the performance against Ireland, and the combative outing in the second half against Scotland. None of that was on show in this final round. They never got things going. They had chances in that first half and weren’t able to take them. As a result, they found an opponent that was not in a forgiving mood.”
On England’s performance, he wrote: “There were exceptional performances right across the board. Henry Pollock scored twice on his debut. Tommy Freeman at outside centre, a position that many felt he should have been playing a lot earlier, capped it off with an outstanding performance.
“Tom Roebuck produced a wonderful finish for his try. The Curry brothers’ work rate is phenomenal. Between them and (Maro) Itoje, they turned ball over masterfully. It’s hard for England to measure themselves given the calibre of their opposition, but they should enjoy their best performance for quite some time.”
This article originally appeared on