After all the dirty tricks and sideshows, Jones’ men held their nerve to win a clean fight
England were way below their best but they ignored the mind games to keep Grand Slam dream alive
I n the litany of build-up boosting terms were “cunning” and “shenanigans” and “shadows in the corner” – enough there, from Eddie Jones, for an espionage novel. But there was no mystery to England’s 16th consecutive win. They held their nerve, and struck when they needed to, while Wales cracked in a game of brutal tension.
Glad to report, this was a contest in no need of sideshows. It was a storming battle won by an England side way below their best of 2016 but still sufficiently resolute to fight their way through trouble. And in the losing corner, there was misery for a Wales team trying to evolve beyond ‘Warrenball,’ and one sharply motivated by Jones’ depiction of this stadium as a GCHQ of dirty tricks.
The rugby was the thing: the soul and the point of it all, as England clung to their unbeaten run in a ferocious final 10 minutes, when Wales led by a slender margin. England, to their credit, seized the try they needed not with sterile grinding but a fizzing counter-attack that sent Elliot Daly over in the corner with five minutes left.
Wales will reflect that kicking the ball back to England’s strike runners so late in the game was calamitous. George Ford, Owen Farrell and Daly pounced on the error with sadistic accuracy.
Played-averagely-but-won is a hoary old idea. Yet England have done it twice now in this championship. For that they deserve the veneration of their followers. Now, home games against Italy and Scotland and a potentially epic clash in Dublin stand between Jones and a second successive Grand Slam – not to mention a world record 19th Test win.
The crowd played their part, too. How could they not, with such an enthralling contest to feast on? In an age when everyone feels emboldened to holler whatever comes into their head, making a big deal of booing would seem absurdly precious. So the jeering of the England team bus, God Save the Queen (before it started, but not during), and Farrell before his first kick at goal barely scores on the trolling register.
In Six Nations terms, though, it counts as an escalation. The selfproclaimed politest tournament in sport pulls off the miracle of being loaded with grudges and stereotypes but also mutually respectful during the bit that matters: game day, which floats along nicely on a river of ale.
Jones’ multiple digs at Wales might have been seen as insulting had they not come with the England coach’s usual thin smile: his way of displaying comic intent while also playing mind games. This disarms the potential critic. “Daffodils and goats.” Was this condescension or comedy? Jones leaves his audience to work it out. But always – always – his deeper aim is to improve the chances of his team.
England were not the only ones employing psychological trickery. The disappearance of George North from the team sheet an hour before kick-off confirmed rumours that had swirled around this stadium. For days, all the signs were that North had not recovered from the dead leg he picked up against Italy. Yet here he was in the printed starting XV, until 60 minutes before the starting whistle (until the last possible moment, in other words), with Alex Cuthbert, who wore the No 11 shirt, initially nowhere to be seen. Cuthbert, it must be said, was a pale alternative to North. He lacked his pace and thrust and power.
Jones’ men managed to ignore the massed male voice choir, the Welsh regiment, the goal and the general lusty atmosphere to make a bright start, before fierce Welsh pressure at the end of the first half yielded less than the “country of three million people”, as Jones called them, would have liked.
In his 16 wins as England coach, Jones has faced many a tactical test, but already this Six Nations Championship has upped the ante on his game management. England were befuddled by French running and forward heft in last week’s first half at Twickenham, but Jones found a way through, chiefly through replacements. Ben Te’o, in particular, has been a revelation: a menace for tired opponents.
A week after that narrow win at Twickenham, Jones returned to the dressing room 13-8 down, and a vital team-talk to make. His mantra has been for England to walk in like they own the place, to be assertive, and certainly not be “petrified” of any rival tribe, as he claimed his adopted country tended to be here in Cardiff. This diagnosis ignored the five-all score in Wales-England games here since the turn of the century. It also overlooked their 21-16 win on this turf two years ago.
“I will talk to a few blokes who have played there to figure out what the problem is and why the record is so horrendous – because it is horrendous,’ Jones had said. But in the event the only “blokes” he needed to focus on were the 15 whose unbeaten record was swinging in the wind. It was no surprise to see England come back out with renewed purpose, a bounce in their step, though their day soon turned torrid once again. But it all came good when Jonathan Davies kicked an aimless clearance, and the ball found its way to Daly, who burned Cuthbert for pace to win the game for England. In a cauldron like this, one aberration, followed by one bold response, can settle an outcome with savage clarity. Mind games have no part to play in those decisive passages. But the workings of the mind undoubtedly have their say. Between the ears, England are formidable.
The crowd played their part. How could they not, with such an enthralling contest to feast on?