Why Sam Davies Must Start For Wales Against England

Wales began their Six Nations campaign with a comfortable 33-7 defeat over the Italians in Rome, despite showing poorly at times in the first half.

Wales seemed anonymous in attack at times throughout the first half, and lacked the edge to exploit the Italian line. There was a fine contrast when it came to Italy, who threatened the Welsh line and took their chances, including scoring a try through Andrea Lovetti. It would come as no surprise that Sergio Parisse played superbly, and continues to still lead his team at 33 years old.

The turning point came in the second half, as Dan Biggar came off injured Sam Davies replaced him and offered much more in attack than his Ospreys colleague.

Wales took complete control in the second half, and Wales put on the accelerators to score three tries through Jonathan Davies, Liam Williams and George North respectively, and very nearly a fourth coming from Liam Williams in the 80th minute.

Biggar’s delivery wasn’t to international standard, he showed no threat on the ball and his kicks came to almost nothing throughout the first half. Davies offered a lot more in attack and was a continuous threat to the Italian defence.  

With England up next, something needs to shift for Wales to have any chance to beat them. England beat Australia four times in the last six months, an Australian team that absolutely demolished Wales. England scored over 35 points in three of those games, so Wales’ attacking display will be huge on Saturday.

Although England only narrowly beat France, and their attacking display wasn’t as obvious as in other games, England were very slow starters in last years Six Nations, when they came up against Scotland they only won 15-9. The France team they only narrowly beat was also a team that only narrowly lost to Australia, unlike Wales.

Eddie Jones’ ethos of rewarding players for their form has certainly payed off, and Sam Davies has been fantastic this season, pushing Biggar to the bench for the Ospreys at times.

If Wales want to beat England, then they must pick Sam Davies to start at 10.