Williams column: That was so brutal, there was blood all over the shirts
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I KNEW IT was going to be brutal, but that was off the charts in terms of physicality. Wales knew what was coming after watching England’s game with Ireland, but Eddie Jones’ men went to another level at Twickenham to take the Triple Crown.
Wayne Pivac will be disappointed to lose – of course he will be. It’s three straight Six Nations defeats in a row now for the first time since 2007. Ultimately, it was too little, too late from Wales.
Their heads never went down and if there had been another five minutes in the game Wales could and perhaps would have snuck it. I don’t think it would have been a fair result had that happened.
When you analyse the game on the whole England were the better side and deserved to win. They should really have won by more and I’m not sure three points between the teams was a fair reflection of the whole 80 minutes. Before I look at Wales in detail, I want to applaud England.
Ben Youngs, George Ford, Manu Tuilagi – prior to his red card – and Anthony Watson were all outstanding behind the scrum. Up front the home forwards were dominant.
England’s back row of Courtney Lawes, Mark Wilson and Tom Curry were fantastic. That area was an immense battle as Wales had top performers in Justin Tipuric and Josh Navidi there.
There were bandages and blood everywhere at the final whistle. From a Wales perspective they would have been disappointed with a slow start.
Watson was sharp all afternoon, but his try could have been stopped. Wales should have done better defensively in that instance with Tomos Williams missing a tackle.
There was another missed tackle in the build-up to Tuilagi’s try which in the end proved to be crucial. Wales, Wayne and Byron Hayward will know there are things to work on in defence.
I did fear the worst at half time with Wales up against it, but Justin’s first try was a classic example of what this team can do. It came straight from the kick-off with Josh and Tomos heavily involved.
Justin was the man to finish it off and how about the pace he showed for that try? It was remarkable!
When Dan Biggar converted that try you did think a Wales win was on, but what happened after that summed up to me where Wayne and his team are right now.
Just after scoring a crucial try and closing their deficit, Wales tried to play out of their own half, coughed up a penalty, and Owen Farrell kicked the goal.
It immediately cancelled out Wales’ momentum at a crucial juncture. You can’t afford to do that in Test rugby. That was a huge moment in my opinion.
If Wales had built on Justin’s try with another score – even if it was a penalty – then the second half could have been different. The bottom line is that it is a case of could have and should have for Wales and that is not good enough for a team which were Grand Slam champions only 12 months ago.
There were positives for Wales. Justin and Josh were outstanding. Josh in particular looked like he had never been away. This was his first game at Test level since the World Cup.
He can be really pleased with his evening’s work. Justin has been Wales’ best player in this tournament – which has been mediocre at best – and now it’s about Scotland.
That will be a must-win game in Cardiff.
Behind the scrum I thought Nick Tompkins was a joy to watch and George North was a lot more involved. Wales have to keep the faith with Tompkins. He is really promising and gets through tackles when you think he has been stopped initially.
There will be more pressure growing on Wales now, but like after the Ireland and France games, there must be patience. There is no point Wales supporters throwing their dolls out the pram.
I did find Eddie Jones’ criticism of referee Ben O’Keefe after the match a surprise. Tuilagi’s red card for wiping out George was the correct decision even though Eddie didn’t think so.
You can’t tackle a player high like that even if he is going low in a bid to score. For me it was a justified red card.
The other big talking point was Joe Marler pinching Alun Wyn Jones between the legs. That’s the nicest way I can put it!
It was a bit of a funny incident. The two players know each other well from the British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand and for me it was banter taken a bit too far.
I’m sure they’ll have a laugh and a joke about it in time and there was no malice there.
The Tuilagi and Marler incidents will get headlines, but one thing I will agree with Eddie on his view on Wales as a whole.
After the game he said the team showed admirable courage, that they are on the right track, and that Wayne is doing a good job. Those are all valid points, but if Wales lose to Scotland on Saturday then the knives really will be out.
