FOR MANU Triple joy for Jones
MANU TUILAGI was sent off and England finished with 13 men – but still hung on to take theTriple Crown.
Eddie Jones’ team had promised to raise the spirits of a nation bogged down by the twin-pronged misery of flooding and coronavirus.
They provided the thrills sure enough as they powered into a 33-16 lead an hour into a brutally physical, contest at a sold-out Twickenham.
But they got carried away with themselves and after Ellis Genge was sent to the sin-bin, Tuilagi saw red for a reckless no-arms hit to the head of George North.
The decision left Jones furious. He said: “I don’t know what Manu is supposed to do in that situation.
“How else do you tackle if you don’t tackle with your shoulder?
“The guy is like literally half a metre off the ground. I just find that bizarre.
“I find the whole thing ridiculous but that is the way it is and we had to cope with it.
“There was only one team that was ever going to win the game and that was us.”
Wales could not believe their good fortune and Dan Biggar and Justin Tipuric snatched late tries to grab a bonus point and leave England clinging on by their fingernails.
“It shows what we can do with those two tries,” said Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones.
“But it was too little too late in the end. Ultimately if you don’t win it doesn’t matter.”
For the second game in a row England put themselves in position to take maximum points – then blew it.
It means they fail to leapfrog France and put any sort of pressure on the unbeaten leaders, who play Scotland today at Murrayfield.
Tuilagi’s dismissal made him the sixth England player to be sent off, the first since Elliot Daly against Argentina in 2016 – and the first ever in a Five or Six Nations match.
How it changed the mood of a stadium which had revelled in England’s customary barnstorming start, with Anthony Watson crossing after just four minutes following a beautifully worked move.
Maro Itoje won a line-out in the Welsh 22, Tom Curry fed the ball out to Ben Youngs who flicked it straight back inside for Watson to power through two tackles to the line.
Wales hit back by starting a flare-up which ended with the TV cameras picking out
Joe Marler squeezing the lunchbox of the
Wales skipper and
Farrell being penalised.
The Wales tactic seemed to work as they kicked their way back into the contest.
But England reacted with Youngs, Farrell and George Ford brilliantly putting Daly over in the left corner.
Wales’ response, with the first play of the second half, was even more thrilling.
Nick Tompkins caught the kickoff and played a one-two with Josh Navidi before finding Tomos Williams who released forward Tipuric to complete the sensational length-of-the-field score. England came again.
Youngs capped his man-of-thematch display with a sniping break which led to Tuilagi bagging England’s third try.
And that might have been that had Tuilagi not piled into North after Henry Slade had cut down the Wales wing.
Ref Ben O’Keefe reached for the red card and the Leicester centre apologised to – and even embraced – North before leaving the field.
Wales saw a ray of hope and Biggar went for it, reaching out to score and then convert their second try.
Tipuric then claimed his second score as the clock went red.
It left England fans anxiously counting down the final seconds – and wondering how on Earth it had got to that point.