Match action
THE England roller coaster is still on the rails – just – but it was a two-wheel ride at a crazy angle on the wicked bend Wales forced them to negotiate.
The sparks were flying in another warp-speed finish, as Eddie Jones’ team struggled to avoid flying off into oblivion, but they clung on thanks to an Elliot Daly try four minutes from time which dashed Welsh hopes.
Just as against France, this England side found a way to win when the game seemed to be slipping away from them – and it means that their hopes of a second Grand Slam remain intact as they recorded a 16th consecutive victory.
His team-mates will be thankful that Daly is in his element when it comes to moving at pace, and when Jonathan Davies failed to find touch with the clearance from his own in-goal, England, trailing 16-14, had one last shot at salvation.
As George Ford fielded the kick on the full his antenna had already registered that, with Wales heavily committed to defending in the middle, they were vulnerable out wide, and his pass found Owen Farrell in full stride. The England centre showed great balance and dexterity to send a superb whip-pass to Daly which put the wing outside Alex Cuthbert.
The quality of the pass, allied to Daly’s rapid acceleration, meant that Cuthbert was unable to claw back the gap.
As the England wing scored in the corner it was a perfect finishing touch to a performance that was pock-marked with blemishes, despite them finishing ahead two-to-one on try count with Ben Youngs scoring for England and Liam Williams countering for Wales before the interval.
However, as Farrell’s touchline conversion gave England the final say in a humdinger of a match in which the lead was never more than five points to either side, it also rounded off a fine individual performance. Although Joe Launchbury was awarded the TV man-of-the-match gong, for me the insidecentre was England’s most influential player, not only producing the killer pass when it counted most, but keeping the depleted defending champions in the match with his nerveless goal-kicking.
Farrell is not infallible – he did miss one of his five kicks – but he is indomitable. He gets his bones rattled regularly, and the outstanding Welsh No.8 Ross Moriarty did so here, but however hard he is hit he shrugs it off and gets on with the job. That toughness is gold-dust in tight corners like the one England were in against a Welsh side which, like the French, were in the ascendancy for long periods.
The National Stadium roof may have offered a clear view of the Cardiff skies but any predictions that this would be an open and shut case for the visitors were soon banished. There were always too many tantalising variables for anyone to be overconfident about the outcome – and that included Jones, despite a few misguided attempts on the Welsh side of the Severn to turn the tongue-in-cheek comments by England’s favourite Aussie on daffodils, ceremonial goats, and cunning Cymric plots into a national slur.
England went on the assault, but their early attempts lacked control in the face of solid Welsh defence. However, when it came to accuracy in the goal-kicking department Leigh Halfpenny was not found wanting, and when Courtney Lawes failed to roll away after a tackle his penalty put Wales ahead.
It was part of a pattern, with England making life difficult for themselves at regular turns in the firsthalf, with the Welsh backrow of Moriarty, Justin Tipuric and Sam Warburton eager to upstage their novice English counterparts, Nathan Hughes, Jack Clifford and Maro Itoje.
The Welsh trio were aided and abetted by Dan Biggar’s abrasiveness in the defensive line, and their effectiveness can be measured in part by an overall count of key turn-overs which finished 8-2 in their favour.
However, England are not easily rattled and they got back on track at 3-3 thanks to a Farrell penalty after Youngs’ chase of his own chip was blocked illegally. England made bigger inroads when, after a sharp attack involving Jonathan Joseph, Daly and Mike Brown, Youngs scored by diving through the middle of a ruck on the Welsh line which the home side had left under-manned.
Although Farrell could not add the conversion, with an 8-3 lead midway through the first half England looked well set. Wales
had other ideas, and after a further Halfpenny penalty had made it 8-6, the home side had England in trouble with a Biggar chip-andchase forcing Jack Nowell into rescue mode.
The Welsh counter-offensive then started in earnest, with Joe Marler and Daly combining to stop Rhys Webb from scoring a carbon-copy of the Youngs try – and Wales returning empty handed despite a period of territorial domination by spurning two kickable penalties.
England stoked the Welsh fires by failing to clear their lines with clarity and precision, and with Moriarty harrying them at every turn Wales forced a five metre scrum when Marler knocked-on after Youngs had been charged down.
With three minutes of the half remaining, Wales gave them a lesson in precision when a training ground move saw Scott Williams’ dummy run fix the England defence, before Webb put Liam Williams through the yawning gap to score between the posts.
With Halfpenny converting Wales had a 13-8 half-time lead, and when England failed to make amends early in the second half Jones brought on Jamie George for Dylan Hartley and James Haskell for Clifford in a bid to shake things up.
However, although a Farrell penalty trimmed the deficit to 13-11 after Warburton handled in a ruck, Wales showed greater urgency towards the hour mark and were rewarded when Halfpenny responded to make it 16-11 with the final quarter left to play.
With the “hymns and arias” blasting from all corners of the ground, England had their backs to the wall – and when a concerted barrage on the Welsh line ended with Youngs’ pass being intercepted by Biggar, the odds were stacked against them.
Yet, with Daly outstripping the Welsh fly-half to the ball after he chipped into the England 22, the champions regrouped. When Farrell hit the target again to make it 16-14 after a high tackle by Samson Lee on Nowell they mounted the surge, with Jonny May and Kyle Sinckler, hammering at the line that ended with Daly’s try.
Jones and his side can now recharge, ready for Italy in fortnight at Twickenham, while Wales prepare for an daunting trip to Edinburgh. They are still in the hunt for glory, but as their coach rightly observed, they have used up all their get out of jail cards.