Wales 16-21 England
by David Nicholson
at the Millennium Stadium

EDDIE JONES’S England crossed the Severn on Saturday and broke Welsh hearts with a dramatic try in the final five minutes taking the victory and extending a winning run of 16 games.

This was a pulsating mixture of skill and brutality as both sets of players put their bodies on the line in defence and attack.

The men in white opened with a gallop in the opening 20 minutes as they tested the Welsh defence with wave after wave of possession only to find themselves behind to a Leigh Halfpenny penalty.

A penalty slotted over by Owen Farrell was swiftly followed by a fine try for scrum half Ben Youngs, as England tested the home defence with 26 phases of possession.

But the Welsh had the whole nation behind them as they struck back with multi-phased rugby, with their forwards trying to break the white wall in front of them.

The obdurate defending by England was exemplified by winger Jack Nowell making two try-saving tackles within five minutes.

Sam Warburton and his successor as captain, Alun Wyn Jones, were equally outstanding as they tackled anyone in white near them. Both did enough to burnish their case for inclusion in the Lions tour to New Zealand.

Equally impressive was man-of-the-match Joe Launchbury who made 23 successful tackles.

After a succession of scrums near the visitor’s line it took an inspired piece of attacking play by Scott Williams and Liam Williams to break the visitors’ defence, with the winger finishing off the move under the posts.

If it was possible the physicality seemed to ramp up a notch after the break, as both sides traded passes into touch as bright attacking moves were squandered.

Wales landed three more points from Halfpenny’s trusty boot but the dragon didn’t trouble the scoreboard after that.

The final 20 minutes of the game saw wave after wave of England attacks as Jones again used his bench judiciously to win the match.

Ben Te’o made a huge contribution in attack when he finally got his chance and Jones will have to consider starting him at some point during the championship — Te’o broke through the tiring Welsh defence several times.

Wales turned the ball over after one Te’o break and Jonathan Davies had the chance to clear the ball from his own line but opted not to kick to touch.

On such slim margins are games like this decided and the English backs took full advantage of Davies’s kick as George Ford gathered the ball in his own half.

Ford and Farrell combined and slipped Eliot Daly away, who shot past a flailing Alex Cuthbert tackle for the decisive score.

Following the mind games both sides deployed before the match the two coaches praised their opponents for a titanic struggle.

Rob Howley conceded that England’s belief that they would win in the final 15 minutes was decisive but praised his own side for the way they played.

England’s abrasive Aussie coach was again quick off the lip afterwards. “I think we’ve used up all our ‘get out of jail’ cards today,” Jones declared.

Jones has fostered a fighting spirit among his men but he was quick to say that mistakes were made and his team only really played for the first and final 20 minutes.

“I will be making changes to the side that faces Italy and will be looking to challenge the squad over the next two weeks in training,” Jones said.

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