NOT AGAIN!
Courage, intensity, grit, determination. But another of those last-gasp defeats leaves Wales heartbroken. Again.
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WALES saw victory slip from their grasp in the dying minutes of a pulsating encounter at the Principality Stadium as England made it 16 wins in a row.
With the contest having swung one way and then the other, the hosts were clinging on in the closing stages, having built a lead through a Liam Williams try and the boot of Leigh Halfpenny.
But having claimed what appeared to be a crucial turnover near their own line four minutes from time, they failed to get the ball off the park, with Jonathan Davies kicking infield.
That enabled England to run it back and snatch the victory, as Elliot Daly went over in the left corner, slipping the attempted tackle of Alex Cuthbert.
To their credit, Eddie Jones’ team kept on coming in the final quarter, with their bench making a big impact, and they ultimately ended up out-scoring their hosts by two tries to one.
But Wales will rue the fact they failed to hold on at the death when it looked as though they had done just enough after one of their best performances in years.
There were fine individual displays from the immense Ross Moriarty, Jake Ball and Ken Owens, who put in some mighty carrying, while halfbacks Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar both had fine games, as did try-scorer Liam Williams.
But England, for whom Joe Launchbury produced a Man of the Match performance, just know how to win games and they got it done again.
Credit must go to referee Jerome Garces for this being such a scintillating contest, with the Frenchman having laid down a marker early on that he was not going to put up with teams slowing ball down.
It made for high-tempo, sustained phases of play, intense attacking, heroic defence and a Six Nations match to remember.
Prior to the game, the “will he, won’t he” saga over George North’s fitness had finally been resolved little more than an hour before kick-off.
It had become clear that the other injury doubt, Biggar, had shaken off his rib problem to start at No 10, with Owen Williams not being recalled from Leicester, where he was on the bench against Gloucester.
But the wait over North continued with the Lions winger being named on the official team-sheet.
This was despite the talk all week having been that he would miss out due to the dead leg he picked up against Italy.
Teams have until an hour before kick-off to confirm their starting lineups and, as the minutes ticked by, one wondered whether the Northampton man would make it after all.
But then, precisely 64 minutes before kick-off, a WRU official wrote the following words on the board in the press room: “Wales change: 14. Alex Cuthbert (George North out).”
So what we had suspected all week had been confirmed and we could get on with the action.
And what a first half we were to be treated to, with the balance of power fluctuating in fascinating fashion.
It was Wales who came flying out of the blocks, dominating possession from the kick-off and making ground through both narrow and wide channels.
They swiftly earned their reward when Courtney Lawes was penalised for not rolling away after tackling Moriarty and Halfpenny opened the scoring.
But then, as the first quarter wore on, England started to take a grip on proceedings as they got their big carriers onto the ball, with the likes of Nathan Hughes and Maro Itoje making good yards, while their outside backs were looking threatening.
They drew level when Owen Farrell found his range after Scott Williams was guilty of a high tackle on Jack Nowell, provoking a chorus of “Swing Low” from the visiting fans.
England kept pounding away and while the Welsh defence was brave, they were unable to slow the ball down, let alone pinch it, and you just felt the score was coming.
So it proved on 19 minutes as the incessant pressure finally told. The ball was spun left after a series of forward carries, with wing Daly putting in the key offload to send Mike Brown right up to the whitewash.
From the resulting ruck, it was over to scrum-half Ben Youngs to provide the finish, as he burrowed over from close range.
At that point, you feared the worst
because the visitors were looking so powerful and such a threat in attack.
But to Wales’ great credit, they grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck in the second quarter.
Halfpenny reduced the deficit to two points on 21 minutes when Launchbury was penalised for not rolling away, which caused referee Garces to warn both skippers about slowing ball down.
The hosts then twice came close to tries as they turned up the heat.
First Biggar was just beaten to the ball by Nowell after kicking ahead from an aerial collision.
Then his half-back partner Webb landed inches short of the line as he attempted to dive in American Football style.
The ref was playing advantage on that occasion, but Wales opted to go for the scrum rather than the penalty.
It was ambitious and bold, but it didn’t pay off, as England won the scrum penalty to much jubilation in their ranks, with full-back Brown running in to congratulate the forwards.
Another opportunity went begging five minutes from the break as Alun Wyn Jones knocked on with two backs free outside him.
It was a frustrating moment as Wales had worked so hard to create the opening and you wondered whether they would rue the missed chances.
But they didn’t let their heads drop, they kept on plugging away and were finally rewarded just before the interval.
Webb and Warburton combined to charge down Youngs’ attempted clearing kick, with Joe Marler then knocking on from the deflection.
Ahead of the resulting scrum, Webb had a quick word with Liam Williams and we were soon to find out why.
As Webb picked up from the base, Scott Williams set off on a dummy run which drew the attention of both Farrell and flanker Jack Clifford.
That opened up the hole for Liam Williams, who came from the blindside wing with a beautifully disguised run to take the pass from Webb and sail through, diving over just to the right of the posts.
Halfpenny converted and Wales went in leading 13-8 with their delighted fans cheering them off the pitch.
Five minutes into the second half, they came tantalisingly close to a second try with a thrilling counter off a turnover earned by vigorous defence.
Jonathan Davies sliced through out om the left, Halfpenny supported and when the ball went loose Webb picked up superbly one-handed, but his scoring pass to Biggar went forward.
An exchange of penalties between Farrell and Halfpenny saw Wales go into the final quarter with a 16-11 lead as the atmosphere built and built.
On 64 minutes, with England camped on the home line, Biggar saved the day, as he intercepted Youngs’ pass and burst upfield, kicking ahead. The covering Daly had to hack the ball into touch on his own 22, but Wales were unable to secure the resulting lineout and back came the visitors.
They cut the deficit to two points through the boot of Farrell when replacement prop Samson Lee was harshly adjudged to have put in a high tackle on Nowell.
Then, four minutes from time, came the match winning score.
Wales looked to have held out when they stole the ball near their own line through Liam Williams, but Jonathan Davies’ clearing kick critically failed to find touch.
England ran it back, with Ford and Farrell combining to release Daly, who slipped the attempted tackle of Cuthbert to score in the left corner.
Farrell added the touchline conversion and there was to be no way back for Wales at the end of a truly titanic tussle.