Tries from Bath duo Anthony Watson and Jonathan Joseph
helped England comeback after being 16 – 8 down at half time to finally get rid
of the demons of 2013.
England head coach Stuart Lancaster was overjoyed by his
team’s performance as he briefly let his guard down to take selfies with
travelling fans.
“We put ourselves in a bit of a hole although we dug
ourselves out and I’m just delighted,” said Lancaster.
“We dominated and left some points out there. Even at half –
time I felt like we were still in the game. We felt we had the edge on Wales in
terms of fitness.”
The next time these two teams will meet is at Twickenham in
the RWC but Lancaster knows there’s a lot of time between now and then, but was proud to hear the visiting
supporters sing their hearts out “The World Cup is a long way off and there’s a
lot of time between now and then. But it’s nice to be stood in this stadium
listening to ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’.”
The opening 10 minutes was all Wales and it looked like they
were going to report their 30 – 3 domination from two years ago.
Leigh Halfpenny got the ball rolling in the opening minute
with a penalty and they got the first try few minutes later when the host scrum
looked beaten but Toby Faletau clawed the ball back to set up Rhys Webb to
score with Halfpenny adding the extras to give them a 10 – 0 lead.
It took until 14 minutes for England to get their first points on the board as Watson finished off a smart grubber kick from Mike Brown to
halve the deficit as George Ford was unable to add the extras.
The rest of the half was dominated by the boot as Ford and
Halfpenny exchanged penalties, however, with six minutes to go until the
invertal the Welsh fullback had the chance to extend the hosts lead but uncharacteristically
missed to leave the score 13 – 8.
Dan Biggar did make some amends with a drop goal on the
stroke of half time to give them a lead which was neither secure or
comfortable.
Half – Time – Wales 16 – 8 England
Within the first four minutes of the restart Wales’ lead was
cut down to just a point. In – form Bath centre Joseph showed why he was
selected as his individual brilliances finished off great pressure and patience
from England and with Ford converting the score was now 16 – 15.
England had so many chances to take the lead, but it never
looked like it was coming as Ford missed a penalty, then James Haskell looked
certain to score only to be stopped by the post protector and a desperate
tackle from Alex Cuthbert saw him yellow carded and the home side a man down.
The visitors finally took a slender two point lead on 62
minutes with Ford scoring a penalty in front of the posts and whatever
Lancaster said worked.
With six minutes to go England fans thought they were
celebrating a winning try after Dave Attwood broke a number of tackles to score
what looked like his first try in an England shirt but referee Jerome Garces
ruled it out for an earlier infringement by Nick Easter.
It made for a nervy end, but England were able to control
their discipline and with two minutes to go Ford made the game safe scoring a
long range penalty.
Scorecard
1 min –
Halfpenny (Pen) – 3 – 0
7 mins –
Webb (Try) – 8 – 0
8 mins –
Halfpenny (Con) – 10 – 0
14 mins –
Watson (Try) – 10 – 5
23 mins –
Halfpenny (Pen) – 13 – 5
31 mins –
Ford (Pen) – 13 – 8
40 mins –
Biggar (Drop Goal) – 16 – 8
HT – Wales
16 – 8 England
43 mins –
Joseph (Try) – 16 – 13
45 mins –
Ford (Con) – 16 – 15
61 mins –
Ford (Pen) – 16 – 18
78 mins –
Ford (Pen) – 16 – 21
FT – Wales
16 – 21 England
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