Shane Williams’ verdict: Wales were simply terrible
I thought, maybe, I was having a terrible nightmare but my co-commentator and beaming Englishman David Flatman gave me a nudge and I realised it was really happening.
Wales were terrible. They were lethargic, slow and lacked any sort of energy.
Judging by this display, you would never have thought that Wales came into this game with a chance of winning the Six Nations title – let alone earning the bragging rights over England.
It was so poor that it was bizarre because I just couldn’t work out what was happening. By the sounds of it, neither could Warren Gatland.
Wales started poorly and then just made life so difficult for themselves with mistake after mistake after mistake.
We were losing lineouts, dropping balls, running into each other and even letting balls go through our legs. It was a calamity.
If there was one damningstatistic that summed up Wales, it was missing 19 tackles in the first half alone. I doubt they missed that many throughout the entire World Cup!
I certainly would not have liked to have been in that Welsh dressing room at half-time.
I’ve been on the receiving end of the hair-dryer treatment from Shaun Edwards and it’s quite an experience.
I remember the first time we were at Twickenham with Shaun and Gatland in 2008 and we got it. And it was even worse at half-time against Scotland in 2010 when we pulled off the most incredible comeback in the final seconds.
So I can safely guess it was the same on Saturday. And yet, in the first few plays of the second half, Wales missed more tackles and England stretched their lead to 19-0.
To be honest, Wales were let off the hook because England should have been completely out of sight.
Dan Cole probably scored that try but the referee could not award it because he just couldn’t see it beyond the post.
And had Mike Brown pinned back his ears, he would probably have crossed as well. So, actually, Wales were lucky.
They failed to learn anything about defending the blindside which has been an issue for most teams in this competition.
I tried to find some positives to talk about but there simply weren’t any.
What was worrying was that even the senior players were just as much to blame.
When the team needs lifting, you turn to your veteran players and British Lions to galvanise the side but it was the quietest game I’ve seen Alun Wyn Jones have in years and, as a result, Maro Itoje played a blinder.
Wales were very static in attack with one-up runners that made it very easy for England to win turnovers and Sam Warburton found it impossible to have any impact.
Even Jamie Roberts was part of a defence that lacked any sort of line-speed and were caught on their heels.
If there is one thing that we have become accustomed to from Wales, it is the strength of their defence and without that, they were found badly wanting.
In contrast, England played with intensity and looked as if they simply wanted it more.
The backs congratulated the pack on every good scrum and any turnover or penalty was celebrated like a try.
The question now for Gatland is what to do next week.
Against Italy in Cardiff there’s a need for redemption but also a need to win, and win well, against a side taken apart by Ireland.
Wales could still finish second in the Championship which would be an achievement.
Okay, it’s not the title that we all wanted, but still an achievement.
In the past Gatland has given the same team a chance to make up for a poor performance but I would make changes because the team clearly needs some freshening up.
Rhys Webb came on at scrum-half and helped Wales play the wide game they are striving for with his speed and accuracy of delivery.
Rhys Priestland also had a big impact at stand-off. He plays flat, takes the ball on the front-foot and really got the centres into the game.
As a result, Jonathan Davies and George North were outstanding in the final 15 minutes.
Likewise Ken Owens was a dynamo off the bench and kept taking the game to England.
Making changes would also have the effect of ruffling a few feathers and that’s never a bad thing.
Just look at England.
I would back them now to win the Grand Slam in Paris next week.
After that performance against Wales, they are clearly the best side in the Six Nations and would deserve the title.
And, what is more, they are only going to get stronger and that’s pretty scary for a Welshman.
Maro Itoje was fantastic despite being only 21 years old and only winning his third cap.
Then they have guys like Joe Launchbury and Danny Care to come off the bench and now they have Manu Tuilagi back to full fitness.
The one area England must still look at, however, is their fitness.
They claimed to be 30 per cent fitter than where they were at the World Cup but they faded as this game went on and there was really one team in it for the final 15 minutes.
England were just lucky they had built up enough of a lead.
