Awesome Owen is a class apart for England
THERE was plenty of talk of class going into this match – as in the posh English versus working-class Welsh stereotype – but the class that told here was Owen Farrell’s.
The England insidecentre was outstanding, and while Jonny May will hog the headlines with his two early tries, it was Farrell who was the architect of both.
It is no exaggeration that Farrell was ultimately the difference between the teams, as an England side that at half-time looked capable of blasting to an emphatic win could not shake off the red shirts, and had to dig-in to repel a late Welsh surge.
Farrell’s fierce competitive edge meant that he not only unpicked the Welsh defence that was so effective against Scotland in the first quarter to work May in, he was also the defensive rock on which Wales frequently foundered in the second half.
A special mention in England’s defensive dispatches should go also to Sam Underhill, whose remarkable try-saving tackle on Scott Williams just after the hour kept the home side’s 12-3 lead intact. The Bath flanker’s covertackle appeared to defy the laws of physics as he wrenched the Welsh centre’s legs into touch and his body, which looked destined to cross the try-line, was forced out too.
If Wales had scored at that juncture, given their urgency intensified from then on, England’s record of only one loss with Eddie Jones as coach would have been in jeopardy.
This was because Gareth Anscombe, who was drafted into the Welsh starting line-up only after Leigh Halfpenny was forced to withdraw with an infected foot, started to pick holes in the England defence.
Anscombe sparked the Welsh attack when he moved from full-back to replace Rhys Patchell at flyhalf in the 55th minute, and when he kicked a penalty five minutes from time to narrow the deficit to 12-6 he forced England to regroup or risk the match slipping away.
There was no vestige of a sign indicating that outcome in an opening quarter in which Wales were so slow out of the blocks that they were like corgis trying to keep up with English lurchers on a windswept rain-sodden winter evening.
England capitalised, getting off to a dream start when Anthony Watson raced after a Danny Care box-kick to get a tap-back which bounced straight to Farrell. The Saracens playmaker’s antenna instantly registered the frantic signals from May as he sped down the left touchline, and he sent a raking low trajectory kick 40 metres into the corner with such precision that a try looked inevitable.
May took full advantage, outstripping a posse of Welsh chasers and finishing smartly by sliding to gather the ball just before the line and carrying it over to score. Although Farrell did not add the extras, England led 5-0 with only two minutes on the clock.
With Dylan Hartley off for a head injury check, Wales had a chance to get off the mark from a penalty, but after Patchell’s longrange effort went wide England started to pile on the pressure.
With England camped in the Welsh 22 and George Ford, Jonathan Joseph and Farrell probing for fissures in the Welsh defence, and the Red Rose forwards battering away, the home side were in search of a moment of inspiration.
Farrell stepped into the breach, breaking the deadlock with a lob pass which travelled 15 metres or more to find Joe Launchbury on the left touchline.
As Patchell and Josh Adams tried to tackle Launchbury into touch, he floated a perfect onehanded pass into the gap inside him – and the predatory May took it on the full to race in for his second try.
Farrell’s touch-line conversion rounded off what he started to stretch England’s lead to 12-0 after 20 minutes, but soon after the re-start Wales were denied what looked like a good try by a controversial TMO decision which was savaged by Wales coach Warren Gatland in postmatch interviews.
Gatland’s anger was directed at the decision by TMO Glenn Newman – a fellow New Zealander – to deny Anscombe a try after replays showed that he got the first touch, ahead of Watson, to a Patchell grubber which had bounced into the in-goal off the leg of Welsh wing Steff Evans.
However, the TMO ruled that in Anscombe’s case “the ball has not been clearly grounded”, whereas Watson had managed to do so. Instead, Wales had to make do with a penalty for an England infringement in the build-up, which Patchell kicked to make it 12-3.
This was followed by a major bout of handbags, sparked when Farrell and Gareth Davies had a disagreement when the English centre disrupted from an offside position.
England responded by showing that they were the better wet weather side, with George Ford and Farrell pegging Wales in their own half until the interval with an accurate kickchase game, whereas Patchell’s inexperience
proved costly as Mike Brown soared imperiously to pick off the more wayward kicks put up by the fly-half and his scrum-half partner Davies.
After the break Wales created another good chance when Aaron Shingler raced 40 metres after stepping out of a tackle by Courtney Lawes, and shrugging off another by Care. However, his decision to grubber just before the 22 rather than pass to the rapid Davies proved costly as Farrell slid to gather the ball.
When Wales came at England again on the hour as Anscombe’s nifty footwork and passing sent Tomas Francis crashing into the ‘red zone’, Farrell was again the bulwark as he smuggled the ball off the big prop for the home side to clear their lines.
With Underhill following suit moments later to spike Welsh hopes again, the second-half deadlock continued – and although Anscombe’s late penalty broke it, England were still in the clear.
It was fitting that the last act of an arm-wrestle of a match ended with England winning a turn-over and the ball being funnelled back for Farrell to boot it out, because he had moved might and main to ensure the match finished in England’s favour.
The message to Scotland a fortnight from now is that if they are going to defy the odds and beat England they are going to have to get past Farrell first.