SIX NATIONS 2024
ENGLAND named an unchanged side for the first time since the 2019 World Cup, but although Steve Borthwick was rewarded with a second successive victory, he has a lot to reflect on ahead of the trip to Murrayfield on Saturday week.
England trailed for most of the match and took the lead with nine minutes to go after reverting to type. George Ford took to the air and pinned back a Wales team which, although lacking ball carriers capable of stor ming the gainline, found ways of bypassing the blitz defence.
Wales were youthful and exuberant but ultimately needed an old head who knew what it took to win a close match. There was one on the side of the pitch in Dan Biggar, but the outside-half was on television duty rather than on the bench.
Ioan Lloyd made his first Test start at 10 and exploited England’s blitz defence with cross-field kicks and showed off his range of passing but if he is to make a success of the position, he will need to make himself time in the unforgiving world of inter national rugby, too often rushed into errors.
His opposite number, George Ford, is at the opposite end of the experience spectrum but he struggled in the opening half with England’s new defensive and attacking systems.
England rarely secured the quick possession they had enjoyed in Rome with Tommy Reffell a towering presence over the ball and were unable to take play through multiple phases. After the break, as they got on top up front, Ford turned controller and nursed his side to victory.
One statistic at half-time showed how England were facing a very different Wales from the Warren Gatland teams they were used to. The home side had enjoyed the greater share of territory, 56 per cent, but they had only had 32 per cent of the possession.
Wales were prepared to run in their own half rather than kick the ball away. When they did give it some air, it brought Freddie Steward into the game and he became one of the dominant figures in the second period, but what was impressive about their retaining possession was the discipline they showed.
Wales did not concede a penalty in the first half, just a free-kick at a scrum, and despite playing most of it in their own half they led 14-5 at the break. It was the first time they had been ahead at Twickenham at the interval in the championship since 1980 and it raised the rare prospect of the first five matches this year going to the away side.
The three matches to come for England are against teams who finished above them in the table last season. The previous two times they recorded back-to-back victories in the Six Nations was also when they played Italy and Wales in successive rounds. The tests that will measure real progress are sti
