With 15 minutes left on the clock, Steve Borthwick sent his substitution orders down to the fourth official. Navigating the final quarter of a Test match has become a sweet science for England’s Pom Squad but here the Welsh had already hit self-destruct.
There was no need for carefully judged tactical decisions. It was all so easy that England’s coaches were able to use the final quarter as a training run. Henry Pollock, the Twickenham tyro, was thrown onto the pitch to replace their try-scoring winger, Tom Roebuck.
Ben Earl shifted from the back-row to the midfield and England took their points haul towards half a century. Positional versatility is one of Borthwick’s priorities for the World Cup and this victory, their 12th in a row, was another statement of their intent.
This was a shadow of the blood-and-thunder Tests we have grown used to between England and Wales. The sorry part of the story is that the hosts delivered a thumping scoreline without any sense of jeopardy. These are dark days for Welsh rugby, which is caught in a state of turmoil as the Ospreys find on the brink of extinction.
Four yellow cards for the Welsh allowed England to run riot, with George Ford carrying out a cold-blooded execution job in the No 10 jersey. Henry Arundell scored one of the quickest hat-tricks ever seen at Twickenham as the hosts lived up to their status as title challengers.
It is hard to draw too many conclusions from such a lopsided contest but the round one results point towards a Grand Slam showdown between France and England on the final weekend.
Henry Arundell scored a hat-trick as England opened the Six Nations with a resounding victory
Steve Borthwick was able to introduce substitutions in a comfortable final quarter for England
Henry Pollock was brought on as Borthwick’s side romped to a thumping 47-8 win over Wales
‘CRWS BEIBLAIDD AM DDIM’, read the freestanding promotional stands on Rugby Road outside the stadium. FREE BIBLE COURSE, for those who do not speak Welsh. Their supporters were invited to scan a QR code to enrol but they needed more than thoughts and prayers.
From the moment Louis Rees-Zammit’s kick was charged down by Sam Underhill in the third minute, it felt like the Welsh heads were forced under water. The only time they came up for breath was for interventions from the referee, Pierre Brousset. They were blown out in every collision, with Tommy Freeman adapting to life as a gainline monster in the midfield.
Since 1988, Wales have won just three times at Twickenham. The greats of Adam Jones Sam Warburton, and Jamie Roberts struggled to get over the line, leaving little historical precedent for the likes of Archie Griffin, Alex Mann and Eddie James.
Wales have now won just two Tests from 24, both against Japan. On this evidence, it is hard to see when their next victory will come.
This was Ford’s 10th Six Nations Test against Wales and he has never had it so easy. England’ play-maker faced little resistance, fizzing a miss pass to Arundell for his first try after eight minutes.
At their camp in Girona, England spoke about becoming the best prepared team in world rugby. Their mission statement has been backed up by databases of evidence.
Conceding eight penalties or fewer is the golden number in Test rugby but the Welsh hit that figure in just 18 minutes. Archie Griffin’s escorting run resulted in a penalty as England spent 80 per cent of the first quarter in Welsh territory. Nicky Smith and Dewi Lake were both sin-binned and the English scrum capitalised. With a penalty advantage, Ford punished 13-man Wales with a crossfield kick to set up Arundell’s second.
England’s ruck speed was under three seconds, while Wales’ was more than six. It was a sharp death by numbers. Ben Earl scored as England charged back from a goal-line drop out and the points kept coming. With 35 minutes on the clock, Arundell scored his hat-trick off the back of Ben Thomas’ loose pass.
Ben Earl scored as England charged back from a goal-line drop out and the points kept coming
Arundell’s hat-trick was one of the quickest ever seen at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon
Steve Tandy’s Wales side were 29-0 down at half-time, their biggest deficit in since 1998
Wales were dominated from the very early exchanges by England and were unable to recover
The half-time scoreline, 29-0, was Wales’ biggest deficit since 1998.
England could afford to pull off Ellis Genge at half time and his first and the points kept coming. Tom Roebuck nudged the scoreline up to 36-0 after 45 minutes, by which point there was little anticipation around the introduction of England’s loaded bench.
England have worked upon leaving daylight between defenders and the offside line to minimise their penalty count in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup. Maro Itoje’s yellow card within seconds of his introduction was a blot on their record, with Josh Adams scoring Wales’ only try in his absence.
England were keen to show a ruthless edge. With their backline reshuffled, Earl carried and switched play in the centres. Pollock scrummed at No8 but roamed down the wing, earning a penalty try when Taine Plumtree took him out with a high tackle.
Their biggest World Cup rivals, South Africa, show no mercy to their opponents, irrespective of the scoreline. This did not reach the 73-0 scoreline set by the Springboks in November, reminding us that England are very much still part of the chasing pack, although Freeman’s late try rounded off what felt like a routine demolition job.
