Wales 13-24 England
by David Nicholson
at Parc y Scarlets 

ENGLAND march on to the Autumn Nations Cup final next Saturday, having despatched Wales in a gloomy and error-strewn match at Parc y Scarlets.

Despite the pre-match hype this was never going to be a walkover for the visitors and spirited Wales fought the old enemy toe-to-toe with impressive line speed and desperate defence.

So far this autumn the English forwards have steamrollered their way through the opposition, but Wales were up for the challenge and their collisions with the visitors’ big ball carriers sent the men in white staggering backwards.

One huge hit on Mako Vunipola by Johnny Williams and James Botham sent the ball whistling forward out of the surprised Englishman’s hands.

Wales fly-half Dan Biggar is never less than combative, and after 10 minutes he managed to charge down a Henry Slade kick and hack the ball on for centre Williams to claim his first try for his country.

There was a hint of a knock-on with Biggar’s charge down and referee Romain Poite and TMO Brian MacNeice had a second look before letting the try stand for a shock 7-0 Wales lead.

But England soon hit back with a try after man-of-the-match Sam Underhill tore a hole through the Welsh defence. The move ended with the ball flowing through the backs to send Slade over for an easy try.

A couple of Owen Farrell penalties later and normal service was resumed, as the Six Nations champions eased into a lead that they never looked like losing.

Immediately after the game, embattled Welsh coach Wayne Pivac threatened to report the French referee to World Rugby for some of his decisions against the home side.

Pivac was particularly incensed with Poite’s refusal to look again at a potentially illegal challenge on Biggar in the air which came immediately before England’s opening score.

The coach was also angry at the referee’s interpretation at the scrum, where Wales were regularly penalised for collapsing the set-piece.

“We talk to World Rugby about refs every week and will do it on this occasion because the TMO called a tackle in the air on Biggar but the referee overruled him,” he said.

“There were a number of penalties awarded at the scrum and if a prop loses his footing and the scrum goes down that is his fault. They got six points through that.”

A key feature throughout this strange and new tournament has been the sheer quantity of kicking by all teams.

This match was no different, with both sides eschewing the chance to run with the ball and instead kicking downfield in the hope that the chase would produce a mistake.

England coach Eddie Jones explained after the game that the space for players to attack with runs has diminished; the size and fitness of players now allows defence in numbers when in years gone by the eight forwards would be stuck in a ruck.

“We want to play with more fluency with ball in hand but we have not accelerated our rugby like we would like,” he said.

“This was not our best performance, but we did what we needed.”

Both sides play at home next weekend, with England facing France on Saturday in the tournament’s grand finale.

There will be a step up in class with Shaun Edwards organising France’s defence and discipline, and England will need to improve their attacking game.

Jones admitted that he did not prepare his side well enough when they lost in Paris during the Six Nations. 

“Our challenge next week is to raise our game and perform. We are going to have to beat them up front,” he said.

Wales finished third in their group and will take on Italy next Sunday at Parc y Scarlets.