ENGLAND’S NEW GREAT ESCAPE
Daly the hero as Jones’s men overcome Wales in sensational encounter
ELLIOT DALY was England’s tryscoring hero as Eddie Jones’s men left it late for the second successive week to maintain their unbeaten run with a truly extraordinary win.
England will have left Cardiff last night barely knowing how they clawed victory back from the jaws of defeat. Jonathan Davies, whose missed touch led directly to Daly’s last-gasp try, will be having nightmares for years to come.
They say international games are won by small margins and Davies’s howler gave England the chance to pounce. And they did, in style.
With his side trailing 16-14 and barely four minutes on the clock, England’s left-winger took advantage of Davies’s missed touch to score a sensational try down the lefthand side that broke Welsh hearts.
Owen Farrell converted in front of a stunned Principality Stadium crowd as England repeated their escape act against France last week with a stunning late victory which makes it 16 straight wins, 15 of them coming under Jones.
But this was skin-of-their-teeth stuff again. Wales looked destined to prevail in the second half, but England are made of sterner stuff under Jones, and Daly, in only his fourth start, scored a memorable try to seal a staggering victory in a truly astonishing game.
This is an England team that seemingly do not know how to lose. They were not at their best again here but found a way to win for the umpteenth time. It was an extraordinary backs-to-the-wall victory.
Wales coach Rob Howley named George North in the starting line-up, despite the winger suffering a hamstring strain in his side’s opening win over Italy. All the signs suggested that he would not be fit and, sure enough, the 24-year-old withdrew just an hour and a half before kick-off, with Alex Cuthbert replacing him.
As is the visiting team’s prerogative, England opted for the roof at the Principality Stadium to be kept open in a bid to reduce the crowd’s effect. With Wales keen to keep the roof open, Jones’s pre-match call was seen as a provocative gesture in some quarters and a pragmatic one in others.
With Jones naming the inexperi- enced back-row trio of Jack Clifford, Nathan Hughes and Maro Itoje, England needed a strong start to settle their nerves.
But it was Wales who struck the first blow when Courtney Lawes was penalised for not rolling away and Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny landed a third-minute penalty from 35 metres.
England struck back when Scott Williams was penalised for a high tackle on Jack Nowell and Farrell slotted a penalty from the right.
Daly had a chance to put England ahead but he missed with a longrange penalty attempt two minutes later as the visitors began to gain a foothold in the game. England forwards Hughes and Lawes were both prominent in the loose with No8 Hughes carrying superbly throughout the half.
Fly-half George Ford pulled the strings impressively, delaying his passes on the gain-line as England camped close to Wales’ try-line. The visitors went through 26 phases in the build-up to Ben Youngs’s opening try, created by some superb interplay between Jonathan Joseph, Daly and Mike Brown.
Farrell missed the conversion from wide on the left and Wales responded immediately when Dan Cole was penalised for slowing the ball down and Halfpenny kicked his second penalty to make it 8-6 after 23 minutes.
Wales grew in confidence and flyhalf Dan Biggar went close when he gathered a loose ball and kicked ahead, only for Nowell to intervene just in time for England.
Rhys Webb also went close but television replays showed that the ball had been grounded inches short of the line after the Wales scrum-half’s despairing dive. Referee Jerome Garces penalised Wales at the resulting scrum and England were able to clear their lines.
But Wales kept coming and England were forced to soak up wave after wave of attack, with their forwards putting in a superb defensive shift. Lock Joe Launchbury made 11 tackles alone in the opening 34 minutes.
Finally the pressure told on England when Liam Williams crossed after a beautifully executed move from the base of a five-metre scrum which saw Farrell and Clifford both left flat-footed as the blindside winger swept behind his own threequarters before cutting a superb line off Webb.
Halfpenny’s conversion made it 13-8 at half-time. Game on.
Ross Moriarty put his side on the front foot with a huge hit on Farrell early in the second half. Another thunderous Moriarty hit, this time on Itoje, sparked a Wales counterattack involving Davies and Halfpenny which almost led to a try for Biggar, only for Webb’s pass to be adjudged forward.
Jones replaced captain Dylan Hartley with Jamie George on 46 minutes and James Haskell replaced Clifford two minutes later. Wales replaced both their props, while Moriarty was desperately unfortunate to be replaced on 52 minutes by Taulupe Faletau.
Wales held the upper hand but England hung on and closed the gap to two points when Farrell kicked his second penalty on 56 minutes.
Haskell was fortunate to escape a yellow card when he was penalised under the posts for not rolling away and Halfpenny was able to kick a simple penalty to make it 16-11 with 19 minutes left.
Just as England were pressing the Welsh line, Youngs threw an awful, floaty pass which Biggar intercepted before sprinting 50 metres up field and hacking the ball forward, forcing Daly to clear into touch deep in England’s half.
England, however, battled back upfield and Farrell kicked his third penalty on 70 minutes, and then a scything run from replacement Ben Te’o — last week’s try-scoring hero — almost led to a try for Danny Care before Davies missed touch with his clearance.
It was to prove a tragic moment for Wales, as Ford whipped the ball to Farrell who fed Daly to scream over in the left corner.
This England team simply refuse to lose.