With the score at 25-7, it couldn’t have been much worse for Wales. They had been struggling in every aspect of play, couldn’t hang on to a pass, had conceded a try to Anthony Watson and had had to stand around while their captain was very carefully placed on the cart. Luke Charteris, on just about every day of his working life a model of common sense and discipline, had just given away two penalties and in the process had dislocated his finger. While it was being put back he watched Owen Farrell kick the last of his six penalties. It was a day going completely wrong for the visiting team.
Even worse, Tomas Francis had just been spotted running fingers over the eyes of Dan Cole. This was not just a poor day on the normal spectrum of skills and tactics; this was about to turn ugly.
Luck suddenly kicked in. Francis may have a case to answer from the citing officer, but due to inconclusive evidence – just the one camera angle – the only sanction was a penalty. Cole, on the other hand, was sent to the bin for something technical. Still, England may have thought there were only eight minutes left.
Two converted tries later, England were scrambling to prevent a third. Manu Tuilagi has been away for a long time and may be a little short of wind, but he made one of the most important tackles of his career, shoving George North into touch just when it seemed the wing was away again. The number 25 seems to cause strange things to happen to England when they play Wales at Twickenham.
On this occasion, they survived. On this early evening, Wales could not spin their own way a game that had been going against them for almost its entirety. Would they have deserved it? Would they care?
As it turned out, they will be left to dwell on the negatives, for of those there were plenty. Warren Gatland could not deny that the first-half display had been substandard. England patiently and inventively went through their phases, while Wales lost control or simply booted the ball down the throat of Mike Brown. Only Liam Williams, rock steady under the high ball, revealed a skill-set unaffected by the occasion.
In this unedifying first half, there were collective meltdowns at the lineout, where Taulupe Faletau lost two to the wonderfully impressive Maro Itoje. There were bumps in midfield between players trying to avoid each other and Dan Biggar and Jamie Roberts exchanged words about what was precisely wrong.
It appeared that they did not come with an answer in their heated debate. Nor in the changing room at half-time. They were down by a further three points after the interval when they opted for scrums and lineouts close to the England line on the one occasion they did manage to approach it – but they came away empty-handed.
Or so it seemed. Perhaps there was a change of luck before the dramatic last few moments. Wales were lucky to be on zero when George Ford, having picked a difficult pass off his toes, delayed his clearance by a fraction of a second, and Dan Biggar charged it down. Was it luck? Biggar targeted the right-hand side of Ford, his brain working out the angles and the split-second of opportunity now opening up for him. Nobody judges time or another player’s misfortune more acutely or more cruelly than Biggar.
It was but a crumb at the time. There was a little more urgency in the tempo now, but it was born more of desperation than a genuine turning of the tide. At some stage, Wales were always going to have a go – but even when Jonathan Davies released North for the first time, it seemed that England had the situation under control. And once they could lay hands on the ball, they could restore the rituals of the day – pressure leading to a penalty or even better.
Wales removed Alun Wyn Jones. It was like taking off John Charles or Gareth Bale. If he’s fit the mighty second-row plays. AWJ is an 80-minute player, with the biggest heart in his homeland. Here, off he trudged. And his team would not be far behind him because this had been a rotten performance.
Then came the swing. Ah, luck, you fickle foe. Gatland does not believe in luck. He believes in fitness and never giving up. You keep going because you never know. Even when you’re 18 points adrift and staring at the referee who is being advised by the Television Match Official that there is an incident of possible foul play – a scrape, a slide of a hand into the ultimate no-go area – you do not give up.
So it was that Wales did not go the way of so many others whose heads drop in the closing minutes when the result is already known. Keep going even when your mind and body are closing down.
It did not work, but it gave the scoreboard respectability. As if Wales care about that. It gave England a scare. That was something – but not much. It gave Wales reason to believe that out of nothing, out of a performance that will make them wince for weeks to come, something good came. That will help them put themselves together. This has been a ragged campaign, but never giving up will serve them well for better days ahead.
