Luke Littler and Luke Humphries were the only World Cup of Darts pair without a ‘team ethic’, according to Gerwyn Price.
The Iceman ripped into the England duo after their shock second round exit in Frankfurt.
3
3
Littler and Humphries were beaten 8-4 by Germany in their first match at the tournament.
The top seeds had entered the draw in the last 16 as defending champions after Cool Hand’s win alongside Michael Smith last year.
Despite being the world number one and two, they were comfortably dispatched by Ricardo Pietreczko and Martin Schindler.
Price, who reached the final for Wales with Jonny Clayton, has now lifted the lid on what went wrong for England.
Following their thrilling loss to Northern Ireland, he said: “All the teams when we all first turned up on the first day, and I’m not just saying this because they lost, but the only two players that didn’t turn up together, didn’t sit together, didn’t play as a team.
“I’m not saying who they are but they didn’t win their first game. But know that you need it.
“You need to turn up together. You need to be as a team. You turn up as a team. You practice together. You sit together. It is a team ethic.
“And it didn’t show with England and it showed on the board and they’re great players individually. But you need to be a team.”
Clayton then joked: “I thought you weren’t going to say who they were,” after Price let slip he was talking about England.
The former world champion continued: “You need that team ethic and you need to be together as a team all the way through, but it didn’t happen.
3
“I wanted them to do well, but they didn’t. I swear I’m not just saying that because I want to make some fans or anything, but I did. I wanted them to do well but they were rubbish.”
Littler and Humphries had arrived at the event as the last two world champions as well as being ranked as the PDC’s two best players.
Despite that, their debut appearance as a team ended with a defeat dubbed ‘one of the biggest upsets’ in World Cup of Darts history.
As for Wales, Price and Clayton also entered in the second round as the number two seeds.
Scotland and eventual winners Northern Ireland completed the line-up of top four seeds granted automatic progress to the last 16.
The Welsh pair saw off the Philippines, Hong Kong and the Netherlands to reach Sunday’s final.
They were ultimately beaten 10-9 in a last leg decider by Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney and Josh Rock.
It meant Price and Clayton were denied a third World Cup victory together after previous wins in 2020 and 2023.