They are not chokers, as Warren Gatland suggests. He was just being mischievous. England do not deserve that tag, but on Saturday Wales were just too streetwise for them.
The victors’ head coach opted to lob a grenade in the direction of the vanquished almost as an after-thought, figuring it might just help his team’s agenda either later in this Guinness Six Nations or at the World Cup.
So Gatland paused for thought and said: ‘I look back on England in the last few years and when it’s really mattered, I’ve questioned whether they can win these big games.’
Cory Hill crashes over for a try as Wales proved too streetwise for England in Cardiff
It was a roundabout way of saying they choke, which isn’t true. It mattered quite a lot in Dublin and they put away the title- holders in round one.
What happened in Cardiff was that Wales played in the image of the canny Kiwi who is in charge of them for one final championship campaign.
They outsmarted England. They won the aerial battle but also, crucially, they showed more nous and cunning.
At half-time, the visitors were in control at the Principality Stadium but after the break they were dragged into a tussle that didn’t suit them and couldn’t find a way out of it.
Liam Williams was a soaring sensation, while overall Wales were abrasive and antagonistic, confrontational and, most of all, very clever. Alun Wyn Jones was the virtuoso composer and Dan Biggar came on to serve as the savvy conductor. England recognised what had happened to them, even if they were powerless to stop it.
Liam Williams was a soaring sensation as Wales stepped up their performance in second half
Billy Vunipola said: ‘The biggest thing was them trying to take our mind off the game. You saw in the second half there was a lot more niggle and we bought into that.
‘Every time the game started to speed up, one of their players would go down. They wanted us to play at their tempo and they did that really well. They were really smart in holding the ball in the ruck. Gareth Davies was waiting for us to move and we didn’t react to that as we should have.’
England hooker Jamie George took up the theme, saying: ‘We needed to be a little smarter in our discipline, and the areas we played the game in. We needed to be smarter in not giving them everything on their terms. We knew what they were doing.’
And were the Welsh more streetwise? ‘Probably,’ he said. ‘They certainly kept the pressure on.’
However, George dismissed Gatland’s suggestion about an English choking habit, adding: ‘I think that’s unfair. Warren can say what he likes. He is in a position of power after winning that game so fair play to them. We have won big games before and we are going to win big games again.’
Hooker Jamie George felt it was unfair to label England as chokers despite the defeat
The changing of the guard which has taken place within the England team has had a galvanising effect in so many ways. There is greater vibrancy, dynamism and creativity within the ranks now. However, one unavoidable consequence has been a reduction in experience. Without Dylan Hartley,
