OJO'S INSIDE LINE: Welsh size up very well (From Wiltshire Times)

OJO'S INSIDE LINE: Welsh size up very well

6:00pm Friday 10th February 2012 in Sport News

ENGLAND’S Six Nations victory over Scotland was a bittersweet experience for me.

Firstly, any time you get an away win in the competition you have got to be happy but the stats don’t lie.

England made 160-odd tackles in the match and it was the defence that won it for them.

Scotland coach and my former Bath colleague Andy Robinson would have been tearing whatever hair he has left over his side’s inability to finish their chances.

It cost them dear In terms of quality though, the match just wasn’t there.

I can remember in the Sir Clive Woodward era people talking about England finishing in the top two every year and how the game with France should be the final one of the championship.

But when you compare what we saw at Murrayfield with what we saw in Dublin on Sunday it was like watching League One and then the Premier League.

My overall feeling was that Wales and Ireland were operating at a different level from England and Scotland.

Theirs was a fantastic match and, apart from the tip-tackle issue, the main talking point for me was the size of the players, especially the Welsh.

The scrum-half, fly-half, centres and wings were all over six foot and big men but it’s to their credit that they have skill to go with their considerable bulk.

We’re probably seeing the start of the next superstar player in George North, someone who is not only huge but has deft touches.

England should take note of how Wales use him during the game.

In terms of his power and touch, he does nothing that Matt Banahan hasn’t done for Bath in recent years and yet he hasn’t been used effectively by England.

Email Steve with your thoughts to ohoulihan@newswilts.co.uk