Murray Kinsella reports from Twickenham
ENGLAND CAPTAIN CHRIS Robshaw says the decision to kick a late penalty into the corner in the 28-25 defeat to Wales was entirely his.
After Wales had incredibly battled their way into a late lead – having trailed by 10 points at one stage and lost a host of starting backs to injury – England won a penalty 22 metres out and wide on the right.
Out-half Owen Farrell hadn’t missed a single kick at goal throughout a thrilling encounter at Twickenham. The England maul had been repelled by the superb Welsh maul defence on several occasions over the preceding 78 minutes or so.
Robshaw had time to make his decision and went to the corner. The throw went to the front, Wales produced a sublime shunt and bullied the English directly into touch. That was game over.
That call comes down to myself,” said Robshaw afterwards. “I spoke to the kickers on the pitch and we decided we wanted to go for the win. It was a tough kick and we thought that in the few lineouts before that we had had some good ascendancy.
“Unfortunately it didn’t come off there.”
Asked if kickers Farrell and George Ford, also on the pitch as a replacement, hadn’t been happy to take a shot at goal in those circumstances, Robshaw said:
“It was a tough kick. We weighed up the options, but we wanted to go for the win. The two driving mauls before, the five-man we had and I think the other five-man, we made some good ground.
“We thought that in that position we could go over and go for the win. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Now it’s about having a reaction, it’s about the character of the squad. It hurts at the moment.
“Myself and the other guys feel we have let down a lot of people who came to support us. In a way we didn’t quite close out the game when we were in a confident position. It’s now about what happens next for us. It’s a huge week ahead.
“We’re going to be gutted and devastated tonight, but it’s about moving on quickly.”
