Wales vs England - minute-by-minute

[Puja]

Initial impressions:
When we had that run of close losses to Tier 1 nations, I felt after every game that we'd been unlucky. Today, we got returned every single bit of that luck - every flukey bounce, every ref decision, every attempted skill or risky pass that didn't stick - every single one of them got repaid, in a game where we didn't particularly need them. I think we were good, but I don't think we were 14-68 good. Maybe 14-28's worth.

Thought Berry was poor, but mostly in our favour.

Will Stuart has reacted to the ridiculous sidestep that he pulled off against Italy by deciding that he should do it again. Just like Ellis Genge, he should not get carried away with the things that he can do and instead should remember what we need him to do - run straight and hard.

Hard to think of anyone who had a bad game. Thought Dingwall went especially well, as did Roebuck. Pollock looked a little bit shell-shocked by adult international rugby, his tries aside, and got a good learning experience. George Ford comprehensively answered, "What's the point in having George Ford on the bench?!" although with the caveat that it was an armchair ride.

Of the gambles, I thought both CCS and Earl acquitted themselves very well at lock and centre respectively. I'm not sure I'd want to try the latter against a better team unless he's going to commit to the switch full-time, but I was certainly happier having CCS at lock than I would've been giving someone like Tizard a pointless cap.


Minute 1: Very start of the game and we are already engaged in some fuckery. Rather than doing a standard set-up for a kick-off, we have everyone clustered within 15m of the kicker, except for Roebuck who is standing wide. We then spread wide on Berry's whistle to go across the width of the pitch. I'm assuming the plan is to confuse Wales with where the kickoff is going by hiding where our forward pack is, but Wales don't move a single muscle as we suddenly spread our line and this gambit appears to have achieved absolutely SFA.

One paragraph in already and we've yet to kick off. So much for my hope of this being a shorter m-b-m - I'm owed at least 12 minutes where I can just describe conversion kicks, for gods' sake!

It's not a perfect kick-off - too long for our sneaky manoeuvring chasers to put pressure on, but we tackle Thomas just outside of the 22. Wales recycle to start inside the 22, but then Williams scuffs the clearance and it bounces infield. MSmith gathers, surveys a ropey kick-chase and then accelerates between two players - there's not enough room for a full break, but he can make good ground and set up a ruck with momentum.

Genge takes the next phase and doesn't take my advice to run straight, instead stepping back inside to beat 2 tackles and make it back up to the gainline. Good quick ball again and back to FSmith, who puts the cross-field over to Roebuck. It's an okay kick, but it's too shallow to be actively good - Roebuck has to wait for the ball to come down and does well to ride a strong tackle by Roberts who is now waiting for him by the time it does.

We recycle well and go through a couple of one-out phases with good clearing to keep questing Welsh hands away.

Minute 2: Stuart is standing at first receiver and gives his first attempt of the day at doing his inside-outside double sidestep. It doesn't work very well, but Chessum helps get him over the gainline. Wales are offside in the backline, but we waste the advantage as FSmith tries a grubber through and gets his angles and weight horrendously wrong. Back for the penalty.

FSmith redeems himself by putting an absolute belter of a touchfinder in, hitting touch 2m from the line.

Minute 3: LCD throws to the middle and Itoje takes uncontested. Wales look to hit the maul, but it's a slick peel move that we've seen England use before - in fact I'm going to use the same words I did last time:

Minute 21:England lineout 5m out and it's a gorgeous drill. Enough movement see Martin going up unopposed at 6th and we look like we're forming a maul. Earl then swings around the back and reverses into contact, with Stuart bound onto him, looking for all the world like it's a trick play of a shift-drive - set up a big obvious maul on the lineout jumper only to have the actual drive come to the side of it. The two NZ players at the back of the lineout pat themselves on the back for reading it and come in to stop the new maul, only for Earl to pop the ball back to CCS running at full speed into the gap that those two defenders have just vacated.

Telea pulls off a miracle of a tackle to bring him down and for a minute Cunningham-South looks like he's reaching out to score, but he thinks better and lays it back. England pile over the ruck to release the ball, and Itoje picks and scores.

Exchange CCS for TCurry and it's a carbon-copy. Wales have read it a bit better than NZ did, but Curry's strong carry gets him close to the line and Itoje almost shoves Mitchell out of the say of the base to pick and flumpf over the line himself.

There's a bit of ungainly pushing and shoving, as Genge taps Daffydd Jenkins on the shoulder before laughing in his face. The kind of annoying that you like when it's on your side. FSmith knocks over the conversion without any wait and we're 0-7 up.

Minute 4: Wales kick off and it's straight to Itoje's lifting pod. We make a nice maul that unfortunately collapses just as it accelerates forwards. We attempt to recycle through another Stuart carry and godsdammit he goes for another in-and-out sidestep when it's just not necessary. That's it; I'm starting a counter.

Godsdammit Will, you did it once and it worked - just take the win and stop trying to win the lottery twice - II

It's not completely ineffective, but still would've been better just running straight. We set up the caterpillar and box, only for Mitchell to slice it quite badly. It's about 8-10m short of where it needs to be and Daly goes from pelting after the kick to screeching to a half to work out where it's actually going to land. Murray comes in from 15 to try and claim - looks like he knocks it on, but ref says it's off Daly's hand and the ball bounces back into touch for a Welsh lineout just a metre ahead of where Mitchell kicked it from.

Minute 5: Wales throw to the front for uncontested ball and pass it into midfield for Mee to target FSmith's channel, which goes just about as well as you'd expect. The defensive solidity of the 10 means that his bodyguard of Earl doesn't have to tackle and can instead go straight in over the ball. If I were Welsh, I'd be annoyed that his hands probably go on the floor first, but the ref's happy and it's an England penalty.

We kick for touch and get a good position inside the Welsh half, but LCD screws the throw-in - crooked as you like and Wales have competed, so it's a Welsh scrum.

[Danno]

F'ing A Puja. Wasn't sure if you'd do this one but I was hoping

[Puja]

Minute 6: Nic Berry is much kinder to your poor itinerant recapper than refs like Amashukeli - there is no danger at all of a scrum this minute and I suspect that won't be the only time I say that because his management of the players is sub-par and none of them have any faith that he will spot their shenanigans.

Minute 7: We do at least pack down this time, but it collapses very quickly and Berry gives a free-kick for "Too much movement by White" which appears to have very little basis in fact. This is why he loses control - goes for an early decision on the basis that it makes him look decisive and confident, but in fact just reaffirms to the front rows that they got away with everything they were playing at and he is, in fact, just guessing.

Wales belt the free-kick up in the air and it's Roebuck waiting underneath it in the centre of the pitch, interestingly enough. It's not a good enough kick to make his 5 inches over MSmith important though - he catches it without having to jump and rides the tackle well enough to set up a ruck.

Minute 8: Mitchell passes to Stuart, who is supposed to run straight to set up the ruck for a caterpillar and box, but instead attempts the same double sidestep again. And, by the same sidestep, I mean the *exact* *same* *one* - big exaggerated step inside off the left foot, then bouncing off his right foot to sidestep to the outside. It's like watching a novice FIFA player who's discovered what one of the button combos is to make the player do a special move and just goes up the pitch doing rainbow flicks every time they meet a defender.

"Gretchen, stop trying to make "Double-Sidestep" happen, it's not going to happen!" : III

This one doesn't impress Jenkins at all - the dramatic sideways movement does mean the tackle isn't dominant, but the fact that Stuart hasn't made any forward movement means he's tackled further behind the gainline than if he'd just ran in a straight line.

Our support is there though and Mitchell box-kicks away. This one is much better and Daly is running onto his competition against Murray and wins the collision in the air. The ball comes flying back to England's side far quicker than anticipated though. TCurry flaps at the ball as it goes past and gets one hand to it - for a moment, it looks like he's tapped it nicely back for Mitchell to run onto. However, the bounce of a rugby ball always hates you and this one kicks violently sideways as it hits the turf in front of Mitchell, jagging back inside for Murray to run onto. He accelerates away and makes it in at the corner for 5-7 against the run of play... or is it?

Itoje is given a bunch of credit by media outlets and punditry for his communication with the referee on this decision, but on replay, it largely looks like he's given one opportunity to make his point and starts off with, "Firstly, about the challenge in the air..." and the referee realises this is going to be a long story and waves him away to talk to the TMO. Ah, he actually goes back afterwards and talks to the touch judge, who then talks to the ref. Whether what he said made any difference at all, I don't know, but it's definitely a better tone than the hectoring that Fazlet gave.

After an interminable back and forth, the referee comes to a decision - while the ball has bounced off Murray's head and then it's Murray that regathers, so there is no knock-on or offside from that respect, Tomos Williams was in front of the header and moved to tackle TCurry as he flapped at he ball. Was it sufficient that it made any difference to how TCurry played the ball? I personally would say probably not, but it is technically correct (the best kind of correct), because he's offside and makes an active motion that could've affected play. I'd be fuming if I were Welsh though.

Or, if I were Jonathan Davies on comms, I'd be baffled and openly demonstrating that I didn't understand the very simple explanation that the referee just said, until Nigel Owens very patiently explains it to him. How is Jiffy still employed?

Nic Berry somehow decides that the restart is a Welsh scrum for TCurry knocking it on, despite the fact that a) the ball goes backwards and b) the whole point of that TMO decision was that the offside impacted his ability to regather the ball. Technically it's an England penalty, although that'd be an extraordinarily harsh decision to give - I'd be in favour of an England scrum for accidental offside. No idea how one gets to a Wales scrum, but somehow Nic does.

Minute 9: This scrum is a mess. Takes more than a minute to setup and, when it does, the front rows have decided to ignore Berry entirely. Genge vs John on the far side engage on "Bind", causing instability, Genge uses that to drop his bind entirely and drive in sideways on John to pop him up, and the back 5 of the Welsh scrum frantically wheel, in the hope that they can baffle Berry under sufficient bullshit. It ends with an England penalty, mostly because Berry saw Genge driving forwards aggressively and felt he probably deserved rewarding.

Minute 10: FSmith kicks well down into the 22. We are not missing Slade's "specialist" touchkicking in the slightest.

Great lineout drill - Genge is in conversation, arguing with Itoje about something, then suddenly spins on a dime and lifts TCurry at the front to take Wales by surprise. It's then followed by what looks to be TCurry bringing it down to where an aggressive maul is forming, but he pops it to Mitchell when he's two-thirds of the way down from his jump. The late pass suckers the Welsh, who are binding for the maul, and it lets us send Daly in at full tilt to run into backs, rather than forwards. The recycle is slow as Wales are malingering on the wrong side and it's England advantage.

We use it with a good carry from Earl and quick recycle, before Mitchell puts in a nice wide pass across the face of the forward runners to find FSmith, and then FSmith puts in a gorgeous 25m miss-pass to send Roebuck away down the right. He accelerates and, while Murray does get across to him, the Welshman ends up swinging around his body like he's poledancing, rather than actually imparting any noticeable change of momentum. Roebuck pumps his legs and ends up carrying Murray like a 12st satchelbag, powering the two of them forward till he's within range to reach out and score the try. Great score.

[Scrumhead]

F'ing A Puja. Wasn't sure if you'd do this one but I was hoping

Me too. Nice work Puja.

[FKAS]

Thanks Puja. At least this should be a lot more enjoyable than some of the others over the last 12 months. Certainly starts well.

[Mr Mwenda]

Thanks Puja!

[Which Tyler]

This one's going to take a while - then again, at least there's going to be a lot of replays in the actual stream, without Puja needing to do his own.

[Oakboy]

'How is Jiffy still employed?' Good question. Both the BBC and ITV need to sharpen up their act. Pundits should not be tiresome as regularly as those in the current teams.

[Puja]

Minute 11: Belting kick from FSmith - slotted right through the posts. 0-14 to the good guys.

Minute 12: Wales kick off deep and whatever they were trying for doesn't work - Mitchell takes, picks his spot and sends a gorgeous touch finder that moves play almost right back up to the halfway line.

Wales throw to the front and England make a complete hash of competing for it - TCurry is standing at 2 in the lineout crouched and expectant to lift Itoje in the middle, but Maro sees that Wales are going quick to the very front and rushes there with the idea that he'll swap positions with TCurry, who will become his back lifter. It nearly works, but unfortunately there's not enough time for TCurry to get out of the way and then properly back behind Maro before he jumps and he ends up lifting partly from the side. There is a reason why this is not a recognised technique and that reason is demonstrated as the sideways force (combined with the fact that Itoje is looking to jump across the line a little) sees him launched through Rowlands' back lift, seeing the Welsh lock ending up in a midair cartwheel that could've ended very badly.

The ref blows for a penalty, which Itoje gives him a puzzled face and questioning over, but frankly Maro, you're kinda lucky that wasn't a yellow. Wasn't his fault, but it was dangerous play, even if accidental.

Minute 13: Replays show that Rowlands is very lucky to escape injury and Maro very lucky to escape a card. Also notable that TCurry's instant reaction to Rowlands nearly landing on his head and then falling bodily at his feet is to try and jackal the ball. Good instincts.

Wales kick down into the England 22 and then throw to the front at the lineout. We do not compete this time and instead aim to charge the maul, only for Wales to put in a nice back peel move. They use it to once again run down the 10 channel, like they've heard George Ford is in the XXIII and hope he's rubbed off on FSmith. England didn't overcommit to the drive anyway, so Earl is there to chop Thomas down anyway.

Wales try to go the same way with Faletau running onto the ball at speed, but he gets sent back the way he came by BCurry. TWilliams attempts to go back the other way with a wide pass to try and catch us overfolding, but we're very well organised and it's a terrible pass that hits the deck. Wainwright tidies up, but it's given England time to organise and the next phase sees Wales pass languidly backwards down the line in a way that's going to see someone get eaten by the blitz defence. Dee realises this and takes his medicine by carrying it in to get smashed by Dingwall way behind the gainline.

Minute 14: Wales recover, but two more lacklustre phases lead to Anscombe running out of options and walking into a Stuart/Freeman sandwich that holds him up until an England scrum is called.

Minute 15: The camera angle is not helpful to see what actually occurs, but Stuart vs Smith immediately folds on set. TCurry puts in a completely unnecessary push on Smith that starts a bit of pushing and shoving - the touch judge identifies him as the instigators, but the referee only gives us a "final warning" that he'll give a penalty the next time. Poor management - if you can spot the culprit that starts that unnecessarily, should be a penalty straight away to make a firm stance against future dicking-about. Anything less is undermining your own authority.

[Puja]

Thank you all - really do appreciate the comments.

This one's going to take a while - then again, at least there's going to be a lot of replays in the actual stream, without Puja needing to do his own.

Between scrum resets and conversion attempts, I'm actually hopeful of this one going quite quickly. Although my ADHD-fuelled digressions into refereeing quality and props sidestepping it already putting the lie to that.

Puja

[Puja]

Minute 16: We slowly reset for the scrum, but fail to get anything done, as Berry gives us a free-kick before we can even engage. Not sure why - the TV director thought a moody closeup on TCurry packing down on the side was a better choice than seeing the play.

Genge walks away, calling out encouragement to WillGriff John of, "What's wrong with you? You're a tighthead prop!" These verbals are right across the referee's face and are an example of why you have to show authority and not let niggle set in early. Don't get me wrong; I'm a ***terrible*** referee myself and I'm grateful to anyone who will do it, but these are the game management skills that separate your Berrys from your Amashukelis. In fact, controversial opinion - Nigel Owens was a pretty average referee in terms of spotting offences and making right decisions, but he was a great referee in managing players, earning their respect, and handling the ebb and flow of the game, and that was genuinely more important than getting the right decisions every time.

Minute 17: FSmith either scuffs the touch kick or attempts a banana which doesn't come off properly. Either way, it's an okay clearance rather than a good one. Welsh lineout 41m out and they go to the middle without any movement - basically challenging Chessum to a race to see who can get up in the air first. Turns out that was a bad idea and Chessum gets enough to flip it back our way. It hits the deck and Mitchell is repaid for that wicked bounce on the non-try by this one bouncing perfectly for him to run onto, allowing him to beat John's despairing lunge.

England get it wide quickly, but Freeman makes a poor decision in the wide channels by stepping inside, rather than continuing wide. I can see the logic - it's easy to keep drifting wide and end up running out of space and sometimes cutting back can expose a hurried drift defence, but there are men outside him and, if he straightens, there's the possibility of MSmith and Daly being free down the wing. Instead, he steps inside and Dingwall (who passed him the ball) has not read it and is in fact trying to get in support of the imminent break down the wing. He gets in Freeman's way, we are lucky not to concede a crossing penalty and the immediate moment has gone as Morgan puts in a good tackle.

Quick ball though and a lovely wide pass from Mitchell sees Itoje running hard at Wales - he's looking for an offload which would've been a break if someone was on his shoulder, but as there isn't, he tucks the ball and boshes two Welsh players backwards.

Wales's defence is in tatters - if Mitchell continues going the same way, it's Stuart, Chessum and LCD in half the pitch vs Dee and Anscombe and I want to see that. Frankly, in that much space, I'd be interested to see a Stuart sidestep! Unfortunately, FSmith has dropped back into the pocket and Mitchell doesn't even look for another option. The high ball is launched for Freeman to chase, but it's just too long to compete for and Wales take in secure possession. Fortunately for us, they unsecure it almost immediately, with another ropey TWilliams pass landing between options and hitting the deck. Playing himself out of a Lions berth this 6N.

Thomas gets to the loose ball first, but he's faced with an English wall - he does well to step inside Chessum attempting to completely end him and just take a glancing blow (and Chessum's lucky that Thomas doesn't duck, cause he was way too high and not in control there), but he falls at LCD's feet and Wales are lucky not to give up the jackal penalty there.

Minute 18: This ruck, TWilliams takes his time and passes very carefully to a pod of forwards to reset, before setting a 4-player-long caterpillar so he can box-kick. The extra space does not help - while Joe Roberts is able to tackle him as soon as he hits the ground, Marcus Smith is just grateful to have his first high ball of this tournament that isn't accompanied by a 16st 7ft player running and jumping into him at top speed. He takes it with ease and we recycle to a forward pod and set up our own incredibly long caterpillar and box-kick. I was critical of this one live, but looking at the replay, our backline's scattered all over the place and Wales are mostly set - this was tactically the right call rather than playing harum-scarum.

It's also a tremendous kick - Roebuck gets there to challenge and taps the ball back. It bounces weirdly and ends up back in Roebuck's hands, so he feints to go wide to draw the defence and flips a nice backhand pass to TCurry - probably a better call to've held onto it and let TCurry secure the ruck, but hey-ho. It works out, as a Welsh hand slaps the pass from going to TCurry and the loose ball dribbles backwards to roll into touch about 26m out.

Minute 19: Chessum's reckless tackle had consequences anyway, he's led off by the physio holding his shoulder. Hopefully not off too long. In his place comes Chandler Cunningham-South, ersatz lock forward and subject of many snarky comments from RR intelligentsia about his ownership of the 19 shirt.

We go to TCurry at the front (understandably given Chessum's import to our lineout and CCS having only just come on the pitch). Wales compete and TCurry shows his skills in securing the ball under pressure. A long pass sees FSmith running in midfield and he puts in a lovely flat pass on the gainline which almost sees Earl through a gap. Roebuck and Freeman clear out very effectively and it's quick ball for Genge to run onto - he thinks about doing a dance, but instead accelerates into contact with LCD behind him, carrying a good 3-4 metres through contact and laying back instant ball. Next up is BCurry hitting a hard line and targeting the gap between two Welsh players - he takes it at full tilt and makes a dominant carry to get us another 3-4 metres over the gainline and into the 22.

TCurry the next phase is standing wider and deeper than his brother and doesn't have the same impact - we make the gainline eventually, but the ball is slower. Mitchell goes blindside and Dingwall puts through a grubber that rolls into touch 5 metres out. I'd've preferred us to keep it in hand, but Wales were set after slowing that ball and we didn't have that many options, so I understand keeping the momentum.

Minute 20: Wales go to the back of the lineout and tap down for Faletau to make a charge with. LCD cuts him down, but Wales keep the ball and TWilliams puts in a belting kick to almost halfway.

The lineout is a weird one. It's a short lineout, that's fully formed, but Wales aren't paying attention (or rather they're paying attention to Maro at the back), so LCD throws it to Stuart at the front. Mitchell steps forward at scrum-half to off Stuart a gentle pop pass option and is entirely unprepared for Stuart to fire the ball as hard as he can at his face. Exactly the same style of handling that saw LBB score in the game against France - maybe stick to the sidesteps Will. Mitchell does very well to catch it, but ends up tumbling backwards, only it turns out it doesn't matter because the referee has blown for... not straight?

Throwing into a Lineout:
Law 23. The ball must:
a) Be thrown in straight along the mark of touch towards a lineout player

Global law trial
Sanction: If the non-throwing team does not lift a teammate to compete for the ball, then play shall continue. If the non-throwing team lift a teammate to compete for the ball, then they shall be offered the option of a lineout or scrum.

Now, leaving aside that it's actually a very harsh call for not straight, as I've seen way more crooked ones let go, this one can't actually be given not straight, can it? There's nothing in the laws saying that it doesn't apply to players who don't jump. just that it has to be thrown to a lineout player, which Stuart clearly is.

Utterly baffling decision - I don't like this law variation (and I say that as a hooker who has thrown some ropey balls in his time) as I think it's got too many holes in it and creates far too many unthought-through consequences, but the IRB's logic for its necessity (from their website) is "Rationale: Doesn’t force a stop in play where no material offence has taken place." Surely this is the textbook example of that?!

[Puja]

I'm actually hopeful of this one going quite quickly.

said Past!Me, shortly before he wrote 1,500 words on a span of 5 minutes' gameplay in which nothing much occurred.

Puja

[Puja]

Minute 21: LCD is not happy and is chuntering away to Itoje - I'd be cross too, as I don't think the throw was crooked, but hey ho. Itoje calms him, but chooses not to go to the ref himself. Not sure if that's good captaincy or not - there's usually no value in questioning a decision that's based on a referee's opinion of what he saw, as it won't change anything and will just put his back up, but surely that's an error in law which is worth a polite query?

Once again, the front rows entirely ignore Berry. 2/4 binds happen after "Crouch" and both sides are effectively engaged after "Bind". Someone with an English accent (although that could be half this Welsh team as well) is shouting "Pre-engaged Sir! Pre-engaged Sir!" but I'm not sure why they think Berry will pay them any more attention than they paid him when he spoke. It looks very much like Genge goes through John like a cheap vindaloo and John collapses in front of the referee, but Berry isn't interested and Wales play away.

They spread the ball wide to encourage Roebuck up and then Murray kicks long and low to aim for a 50:22. It's angled wrong and bounces into touch about 25m out - MSmith has swept around to patrol the 22 anyway so he would've covered it had the angle been different.

Minute 22: We run a 5 man lineout and get clean ball - CCS is at the front and dummies like he's about to shift backwards, Wales chase it like a Labrador after a fake-thrown ball, and CCS just pops up at the front for easy possession. I'm fairly certain that Wales are offside with their "scrum-half" encroaching on the lineout, but Berry's not looking and it's not hugely relevant.

Earl should be passing to BCurry on a very promising line, but Earl thinks Wales have stopped paying attention at the back and attempts to dummy, sidestep and go - unfortunately he's wrong and he gets scragged. Wales should really have a jackal turnover, but Dee is forcibly levered away and we set up a ruck. Genge is instructed to come around and form the caterpillar, but instead flops down off his feet - Berry very generously says that he's missed a clearout so it's fine.

The box-kick goes up and Roebuck once again gets there to compete - the loose ball bounces to Wales, but it's scrappy and slow. They attempt to run it anyway, only for Wainwright to get smashed and driven backwards by CCS and TCurry, so it's back to Anscombe for a high ball aimed at the wing.

MSmith comes forward onto this one and does just enough under high pressure to get it back to Daly. He passes to FSmith who goes for a very ambitious wiper kick to the far touchline - he's right to back himself though, cause he puts his boot through it and it's good enough to find grass rather than a Welsh hand.

Minute 23: The bounce kicks on and makes the Welsh 22 - Roberts kicks it back towards our 22 where Mitchell catches. He's thinking about a kick, but MSmith calls for it inside. The full-back goes for a sideways wander infield and it looks like he's running himself into a dark alley to get murdered, but he suddenly drops the ball onto his foot, puts in a delicious little chip kick off the outside of his boot, and put the hammer down to accelerate after it. The ball so nearly bounces perfectly for him, but TWilliams has done exceptionally well to get across and get a hand to it, ripping the ball away as he tries to regather.

The ball bounces beautifully for Blair Murray to run onto and he's facing a dishevelled English defence - our front line is good, but there's nothing behind. Murray angles like he's going for a 50:22, then puts in a lovely chip kick of his own. Another kind bounce and it looks like he's away for all money, but LCD puts in a dive tackle, just scragging enough of his heel to trip him and allow Earl to complete the tackle.

It's really easy to say, "Oh, LCD was so lucky that his last ditch despairing dive that he happened to be there for was enough to complete a tackle", but that's doing him a massive disservice. Watching the replay, he sees the chip coming and is running backwards as soon as the ball touches boot. He sprints with everything while the ball is in the air, arms pumping and high knees, in the hope that Murray will have to slow to take the ball and then, when the bounce adores Murray for some reason, he times a full-length dive perfectly, on the off-chance that he can get something on a trailing leg. I've got so much time for that kind of workrate (and he has been noticeably so hard working when I've done these m-b-ms) and I think he is very heavily underrated by fans.

It's also easy for the Welsh to say, "Oh, if we'd had different luck with the first try decision and that tap tackle, it would've been 14-14!" but that relies on requesting more luck on top of several very fortuitous bounces of loose ball to have breakaway tries against the run of play, so I don't know they're very hard done by here.

Earl bounces back to his feet after the tackle and reefs the ball away - where it bounces off a retreating BCurry, who then picks it up and secures it. If I were Welsh, I'd question where Earl releases and whether BCurry is offside, but it's English ball and we box-kick away.

Faletau makes a right hash of his attempt to catch and it really does look like he's knocked it on, but the ref calls off his knee, which turns out to be correct. The ball bounces almost back to the 22, and Mitchell looks stuck in a corner when he gathers. He wangs a 20m pass inside to FSmith, out of lack of any other options rather than anything else, but there's space for a counter-attack. Two more wide passes see Freeman and Daly with a 2-on-2 in space against Thomas and Llewellyn.

Minute 24: The two Welsh centres defend it well - there's an argument that Freeman needs to give the inside pass when Daly makes a switch, but I think the break is covered. England clear the ruck and the ball is at the back for Mitchell to attack with, but TCurry has a complete brainfart and decides he's going to take the ball himself and go for a box-kick grubber for some unknown reason. There's no-one there to chase so I have no idea what he's hoping for out of this, but it ricochets off a Welsh leg anyway. It bounces around on the Welsh side - Faletau takes it around the halfway line and TCurry makes a dominant tackle which he rather owes England after that decision.

Wales run two uninspiring one-out phases (TCurry throwing himself into the second tackle, trying to redeem himself), before TWilliams decides to go for a chip kick of his own. Earl is there to cover, but the bounce of a rugby ball always hates you and it dribbles along the floor. He does well to get his hands out of the way and kicks it across to Mitchell. The ball bounces nicely for him, but he promptly drops it, possibly because he's thinking about what he's going to do with the ball before he's caught it, possibly out of surprise at getting a lucky bounce. He then double banks the error by failing to be first to drop onto the loose ball and then goes for the three-for by playing it on the floor to change the scrum advantage into a penalty.

Minute 25: Anscombe does England a favour by going too ambitious from his touch kick and landing it touch in goal. Mitchell gets away with it and it's an England scrum.

Not during this minute though - that'd be madness!

[Mikey Brown]

On the quick, squint, no-jump, uncontested lineout thing, didn’t someone (Italy? It’s usually them) already basically exploit that law by throwing a quick one directly to their scrumhalf? I’m sure something like that happened, and maybe refs have realised how easily that new law will get bent.

Maybe a case of not strictly being the law, but also not wanting to set a precedent to allow that before the laws can be amended?

I sort of get it for challenges in the air but still don’t really know what it was meant to achieve other than very occasionally speeding the game up.

[Puja]

On the quick, squint, no-jump, uncontested lineout thing, didn’t someone (Italy? It’s usually them) already basically exploit that law by throwing a quick one directly to their scrumhalf? I’m sure something like that happened, and maybe refs have realised how easily that new law will get bent.

Maybe a case of not strictly being the law, but also not wanting to set a precedent to allow that before the laws can be amended?

I sort of get it for challenges in the air but still don’t really know what it was meant to achieve other than very occasionally speeding the game up.

I think I complained there was nothing stopping someone from throwing to the scrumhalf in a previous m-b-m (maybe France?) but on looking, the law variation does say it has to go to someone in the lineout, so there are limits. Worrying if refs are having to interpret it to decide when it does and doesn't apply though - if Stuart does a little hop in the air, would it apply then?

It just seems spectacularly poorly thought through for few benefits. May as well have an amendment saying not to penalise knock ons or forward passes as long as there's no-one within 5m of the player - that would also "avoid a stop in play where no material offence has occured," wouldn't it?

Puja

[Banquo]

On the quick, squint, no-jump, uncontested lineout thing, didn’t someone (Italy? It’s usually them) already basically exploit that law by throwing a quick one directly to their scrumhalf? I’m sure something like that happened, and maybe refs have realised how easily that new law will get bent.

Maybe a case of not strictly being the law, but also not wanting to set a precedent to allow that before the laws can be amended?

I sort of get it for challenges in the air but still don’t really know what it was meant to achieve other than very occasionally speeding the game up.

It just seems spectacularly poorly thought through for few benefits.

Puja

Not exactly fainting with surprise. CHANGE IS NOT GOOD

[CunningPunter]

I assumed it was meant to encourage sides to compete at the line-out. But I'm not keen on it either - they just ought to throw straight, like they do at, er, the scrum.

[Danno]

I assumed it was meant to encourage sides to compete at the line-out. But I'm not keen on it either - they just ought to throw straight, like they do at, er, the scrum.

[Puja]

Minute 26: Everyone has set a good 2 seconds before Berry gives the command. Comedy. Nicky Smith bests Stuart, but Berry calls for a reset and gives the captains a talking to about "Make sure there's the space you need because we're getting messy engages." Dee is paying attention, but none of the other front rows are even pretending like they're listening to the ref's monologue. Genge amuses himself by summarising it to TWilliams in a way that makes it all WillGriff John's fault.

We go again - Berry has stopped the clock and doesn't restart until he calls crouch, so this is the longest minute ever. The scrum goes down on Stuart vs Smith's side again - looks like Smith's got another win, but it's hard to see from this angle. However, Berry sees the ball at the back and lets England pass it away.

Dingwall is at first receiver and runs hard at the defensive line, dropping a pass off a millisecond before contact to put Freeman through a half-gap. Wales drag him down, but we're over the gainline and it's lightning quick ball with BCurry clearing out.

We go wide and MSmith runs a threatening line. Roebuck is free down the right, but he's far too flat for a pass to go to him, so Smith dummies and goes himself. Faletau does well to get across and cover, but Marcus makes a backhand offload out of the tackle and Daly continues the break. Roberts puts in a good tackle and strips the ball, but he rips it forwards whereupon it is dived on by Anscombe in an offside position.

Weird old 10 seconds this from Berry - he calls "That's stripped in the tackle!" which means that he definitely knows it's Roberts who did it, but obviously has a mental blank moment where he hasn't connected what that means for the ball squirting towards England's side. Earl then goes in for a jackal on the prone Anscombe who places it loosely so it's bobbling on the floor in the ruck. Earl goes for it, Berry shouts "No no no no no no," but by that point Earl has already slapped the ball back and it rolls out of the ruck towards England's side. Tom Curry goes to pick it up, at which point Berry shouts "NO!" and TCurry lifts his hands in surrender. Weird as hell - if Earl's not supposed to've touched it, then it's surely a Wales penalty, rather than "Shout at England not to play the loose ball so that Wales get possession back"? I mean, it's possibly equitable considering it puts Wales in pretty much the same situation as if Earl hadn't touched the ball (arguably slightly better they're a metre or two further forward and Anscombe can get off the ground), but it's not really how the game works and I'm sure Wales would rather have had the penalty.

Granted, we'd also rather have had the penalty for the offside a couple of seconds before, but that's by-the-by.

The moment is made more surreal moments later as Earl can be heard on the ref's mike saying "Sorry, sorry, sorry" to which Berry replies, "That's okay; well done."

Wales use their possession to reset with another carry to set up a caterpillar-and-box.

Minute 27: This one is a testing kick and MSmith does very well to take it under pressure from Roberts. It's a quick ruck, on our own 10m line which mean of course we set up for a cater... oh wait, we're attacking? This is wild!

Instead of setting a close forward pod for a slow reset, Genge is running his three-man pod off a wide pass into the midfield. Wales believe it's a forward move and commit to tackling him and the player on his shoulder, so the late pull-back to FSmith works a treat. He makes a miss-pass to Freeman and there's now a 4-on-3 in loads of room. Freeman runs at the first man to draw him and has a choice between a simple pass to Dingwall or a wider pass to BCurry - I see why he goes wide, because Wales's last two men are very tight and the trajectory of the pass would allow someone like Sleightholme or Furbank to run onto it without breaking stride, bypassing both defenders and leaving Daly free down the wing with a simple ball. However, the recipient is BCurry who is not fast enough to accelerate onto it - by the time he gets there it's dropping and he loses it backwards as he slides to try and gather. Wales nearly get lucky as the ball drops at the feet of Ellis Mee and he kicks through, but it comes off his boot sideways and rolls into touch. Thank gods for that; we might've never attacked from our own half again had we tried it and it ended in an opposition try!

As a side note, I'm sure it's just the Dad side of me (and that he has heard this joke a thousand times and is sick of it), but every time the commentary says something like "Mee chases the ball!" my instinct is to quip, "No, **I** chase the ball."

LCD throws the lineout to CCS at the front - no movement, just confidence that he's a strong enough jumper to win the ball even with competition. It's confidence well-placed and we form a maul.

Minute 28: The maul is well defended and not going anywhere, so Mitchell box-kicks beautifully to put the ball out just over the halfway line.

Wales form a lineout, then try throwing a sneaky one to NSmith at the front. LCD should be outraged; if his was deemed not straight, then that one definitely was! Plus it's competed for - Stuart is paying attention and hits him as soon as he touches it. Mitchell joins him and the ball goes loose - it bobbles around and we chase Wales into touch with it, but the touch judge pings Mitchell for deliberately knocking the ball on out of NSmith's hands. Looks a tough call from slow-motion and Mitchell's irked, but we get no replays so we'll trust the touch judge who had a much better view than the main camera.

Minute 29: Anscombe kicks for touch very conservatively and it's a Welsh lineout 28m out. Wales form the lineout quickly and go fast to the middle, passing for Mee to attack the midfield. He makes ground running into FSmith who makes a mistake by unsuccessfully targeting a rip and Wales have quick ball. Our defence is up well though - Faletau runs and tips the ball just before contact, but he's well tackled and so is the man he offloaded to. More Wales quick ball and hard runners, but our defence is equal to it with CCS making the tackle.

Wales make ground next phase as Genge misses a tackle from a sidestep - LCD is there in support, but Wales go over the gainline and have momentum. Out to the backs and Llewellyn runs a hard line at pace off Anscombe - it's more superb defence as we stay connected and FSmith makes a top first-up tackle. We're keeping our defenders on their feet and not overcommitting - Wales would've hoped to have disarranged us with some really strong, fast, accurate attack and yet we're still in position to make a tackle and have BCurry threaten a jackal.

This is a great minute of play - Wales are attacking really well, but we're defending really well and it's in an equilibrium where neither are going forward or backwards but everything is at high pace.

Next phase is great defence again, but a very uncharitable call from Berry on Earl not rolling away (he's away from an eminently playable ball and, if he rolls further, then he trips the 9, but Williams deliberately straddles him and puts his hands on him to emphasise that he's "in the way" and Berry rewards it) gives Wales the advantage. They spread it for a big forward runner attacking midfield, but more good tackling sees them going nowhere.

Minute 30: BCurry puts in a belting tackle to chop Rowlands down behind the gainline and Wales start going backwards. Anscombe drops back and puts in a cross-field kick - it's challenging, but Daly takes it ahead of Thomas, so we go back for the penalty advantage.

Replay shows nothing Earl could do - he makes the first movement of rolling away, but nearly gets a knee in the face from one of the clearers as he goes again, which makes him flinch and stop, at which point he gets used as a prop in Williams's mime show of "Look sir, he's in my way!" It is a touch uncharitable from Berry, but honestly it's not a wrong decision and I'd probably shout for it if the teams were reversed, so I'll admit to bias there. Nothing Earl could do, but probably a fair cop.

Anscombe tucks this penalty 5m from the line for a Welsh lineout.

[Puja]

Minute 31: Wales throw to the front and we look like we're setting to defend the maul, but Rowlands goes to offload as he's coming down and we've read the cunning Welsh trick play with the faked-maul-and-pass-away. Itoje comes through to charge the 9 and Genge starts to follow his captain. Unfortunately, we've gone a bit too galaxy-brained for our own good, as Wales are just going for the maul, and the loss of the right hand side of our maul defence leaves a massive hole for them to drive through. BCurry and CCS react quickly to come patch the hole, but Wales have driven so fast that the left hand side of our maul defence is overwhelmed and bypassed, leaving the two of them to face the entire Welsh pack at speed.

To be clear, this is a stone-wall yellow card and penalty try - the only difficult decision Berry would face is which of the erstwhile left-hand-side defenders to show the yellow card to, given that I reckon all three of Stuart, LCD, and TCurry are engaged in some attempt to kill the maul. Probably the latter is most culpable, but it's a tough call.

Penalty advantage is called and Wales go through a couple of phases against an English defence trying to rearrange itself after having been utterly splintered and having all of the forwards drawn in. Morgan gets right up to the edge of the line and we lose men off their feet to stop him, followed by every forward going to the fringe to try and stop the 9 just dotting down around the corner. Instead Williams ignores the temptation for white-line-fever and throws a wide flat pass that bypasses our entire pack and lets Thomas walk under the posts. Great work.

England should be grateful Wales scored there. Possible that cowardice from the referee would've seen them get away with a "final warning", but if that try isn't scored, then there's a high chance they're still conceding 7 and losing a man to the bin.

Minute 32: The TMO interrupts Anscombe's conversion to check something, but it's unclear what and it gets dismissed fairly easily, so time carries on and he slots the easy conversion. 7-14, and it feels against the run of play for Wales to be this close.

England kick off deep and Wales are awfully casual. Thomas catches uncontested and passes it wide back inside for Anscombe to clear, but BCurry sees the pass being wound up and puts the hammer down to pressure. He's rewarded by getting a hand to the clearance kick and the ball balloons up to just inside the 22. Unfortunately the chargedown means everyone's onside and John rips the ball from Earl as he catches and the ball ends up bobbling along the floor.

Minute 33: Mitchell gathers the loose ball and it looks like Mee is going to drive him into touch, but he hurls the ball hopefully over his head and back into play and, luckily, Stuart reacts well (and gathers a horribly bouncing ball that attempts to evade his slide) to dive on it and secure us possession just outside the 22.

It's very slow ball and Wales are set defensively by the time Mitchell has it at the back of the ruck. Genge is standing behind Mitchell and leans in to whisper a call in his ear - he's seen that there's no-one covering behind for Wales and wants a chip over the top and, Mitchell, like a trusting fool, does as he's told. He must really trust Genge, because he doesn't even look himself - he addresses the ball like he's going to pass and then dinks a blind chip over the top so as not to alert the Welsh to THE PLAN.

Unfortunately, he's been sold an absolute pup. There is indeed space there, and it would indeed be a great manoeuvre to dink a blind chip over the top if there was a back chasing it but, regardless of what he believes in his heart of hearts, Ellis Genge is not a back. It's actually quite sad - he's spotted the space, he's got the 9 to buy in, he takes a few steps back and times his run-up so he's at speed and passing the kicker just as ball touches boot... and then he gets to watch as Mee comfortably gets to the ball first, even with an awkward bounce, without ever getting out of second gear, and then has time to set himself and kick the ball away before Genge can even put pressure on.

The mind may be willing, but the body remains that of a prop forward.

England throw to CCS in the middle, bring it down to encourage Wales to stay put, but Earl plays away like a 9 as soon as CCS hits the deck. He snipes around the edge and looks like he's passing to a forward runner cutting a hard line, but instead picks out the wider pass behind to Daly. The disguise ties in the loose forwards and Daly gets a free run at the weaker midfield. Morgan does well to track and save Anscombe from being run over on his own, but we get quick ball which we then waste next phase with a poor clear. Still our ball though and Earl stands at first receiver, playing the pivot like he's a 12 all the time. He and the outside option hold in a bunch of Welsh defenders and, when he pulls the ball back to Dingwall, Wales have somehow ended up with a 5-on-3. Dingwall plays it beautifully - running at a gap to draw in two defenders and turn everyone's heads inside, before putting in a pass that I can only describe as "unreasonably sexy", looping over the remaining Welsh defence and landing perfectly into the hands of a full-speed Cunningham-South without making him break stride.

Minute 34: Cunningham-South gets a good run down the wing, but will get mocked in video review because he attempts to hand off a covering scrum-half and gets his legs absolutely chopped from under him in a textbook tackle. For all the press talk about Tomos Williams playing his way out of the Lions, he's had a belting game so far.

Ellis Mee is visibly relieved that he's not having to deal with a rampaging back row lock and backs away, leaving England clean ball as quick as Mitchell can get across. Earl shows he can do both by carrying the next phase up hard, and Wales are stretched and going backwards.

FSmith spots there's room wide and runs an arcing line behind Genge which would see the backs able to go wide, but the pull-back isn't perfect and he has to stop to catch it, losing the opportunity. Undeterred, he puts in a decent cross-field kick - it's not quite deep enough, as there's plenty of space and, if that's another 7-8m further forward, Roebuck runs onto it and scores. As it is, he has to slow and wait for it to come down, but once he has it in his hands, he steps inside and outside to make Roberts look a prat and then offloads to MSmith in support. MSmith doesn't try a miracle pass, but instead drives forward, takes the tackle and sets a ruck for the next phase.

LCD carries up hard to drag in more Welsh players, but John slows it by lingering on the wrong side and interfering with the clear. It's not enough to save Wales though - Mitchell does well to dig it free with urgency and BCurry attracts all the Welsh attention by looking like we're doing a one-out forward carry for the line before passing, carries to the line and pulls back. Dingwall and FSmith show terrific basic skills to get the ball in and out of their hands, putting in two crisp, accurate, fast, flat passes to get to the outside of the Welsh defensive line, and Freeman can accelerate through the gap and beat the last despairing dive of the cover to go underneath the posts.

Minute 35: FSmith knocks over the regulation conversion and it's 7-21. Replays show just how good those passes were - nothing too fancy, just technically perfect simple skills.

Wales kick off deep and Mitchell takes again. This time his clearance kick isn't as good - it's longer, but doesn't find touch, so Blair Murray gets the chance to run it back.

[Puja]

On the quick, squint, no-jump, uncontested lineout thing, didn’t someone (Italy? It’s usually them) already basically exploit that law by throwing a quick one directly to their scrumhalf? I’m sure something like that happened, and maybe refs have realised how easily that new law will get bent.

Maybe a case of not strictly being the law, but also not wanting to set a precedent to allow that before the laws can be amended?

I sort of get it for challenges in the air but still don’t really know what it was meant to achieve other than very occasionally speeding the game up.

It just seems spectacularly poorly thought through for few benefits.

Puja

Not exactly fainting with surprise. CHANGE IS NOT GOOD

The protecting the 9 one appears to be a resounding success though. The Daly try against France couldn't've been scored until the old laws, because any of the French players who had swung around the maul would've been allowed to grab at Mitchell as he took the ball out. I'm quite enjoying players not being able to spoil possession from a position not in the defensive line, that was only not offside by a technicality.

Puja

[Banquo]

It just seems spectacularly poorly thought through for few benefits.

Puja

Not exactly fainting with surprise. CHANGE IS NOT GOOD

The protecting the 9 one appears to be a resounding success though. The Daly try against France couldn't've been scored until the old laws, because any of the French players who had swung around the maul would've been allowed to grab at Mitchell as he took the ball out. I'm quite enjoying players not being able to spoil possession from a position not in the defensive line, that was only not offside by a technicality.

Puja

meh, one swallow . I still think that harassing at scrum time is legit. What is odd is that there doesn't seem to have been much of a defensive adjustment unless I've missed it; opposition 9 is now effectively a free defender.

Besides, 9's deserve all they get!!

[Which Tyler]

As a 9... hear hear!

[Puja]

Minute 36: Mitchell chases hard to turn his kick into a good one. Murray gives him the patented Will Stuart inside-outside step, but that only lands him in the path of Itoje and FSmith. We bring him down and Wales clear out the ruck.

The ball goes wide and Wales have numbers - we've pressed too hard in midfield instead of drifting and we are now short on the outside. Freeman does well to drift and then hunt down Roberts when the final pass goes - we give up some metres, but it's not a full break.

Wales go very deep with their attack, losing about 15m with four passes, but it looks like it's working as they lure us into blitzing and manage to get to the edge. NSmith has a nice break (and makes FSmith look like a prat with a dummy), but it doesn't actually get Wales up beyond the point at which the last ruck took place! They do have quick ball and attempt to snipe down the blindside - they do have a 3-on-2, albeit in little space, but they choose the wrong option and Daly levels Murray.

Wales go back to the one-out runners, but England chop them down. NSmith dives off his feet to seal off and Earl makes sure the ref knows all about it by leaning over his back and placing his hands on the (completely unprotected) ball while making no effort to lift it, but all effort into looking plaintively at the referee. Not sure what he was playing at there, but luckily the ref does ping NSmith for going off his feet and England get another penalty.

Minute 37: FSmith puts in another belting touchfinder - going from our 10m line to the 22 line. Not missing Slade at all in that respect.

We throw to Itoje at the tail, who shows he can learn from his enemies by pretending to pass off the top and instead bringing it down for the maul. Unfortunately, Wales can apparently learn as well and not a single one is suckered like Maro was earlier. We get a bit of forward momentum from the maul and lose a chunk of the Welsh players up the side due to some good work from Genge - they try to swing around to attack the ball while bound onto him, so he releases his bind and lets the three of them fall to the floor with him while the maul goes past. We're looking threatening, but NSmith is either very cunning and cynical or very stupid - comes around blatantly up the side to latch onto LCD at the back and stymie the drive.

The ref gives penalty advantage, but LCD wants to play - offloading out the back of his hand to BCurry, who takes a free opportunity to run into and through Anscombe. The Welsh forwards rescue their 10 eventually, but we've gained another 5 metres and Mitchell does a belting job of getting through a morass of not rolling bodies to get the ball and flip it away.

Minute 38: Earl takes the ball to the line and throws a perfect flat miss-pass to Genge running at a hole - we'd be effervescing if that late decision-making had come from FSmith, let alone an 8/centre. Llewellyn does well to jam in and make it only a half-break, but there's two English players securing the ball and the ball is at Mitchell's hands within 2 seconds. Dingwall makes another good gainline decision to release MSmith - he gives it a hitchkick, but the Welsh aren't biting so he feeds onto Roebuck who steps inside to beat one and goes forward through the next tackle. Freeman and Marcus clear and it's another sub-2s ruck.

Wales rush up on Itoje and he lets them come before tipping onto CCS who gets almost up to the line - Wales try to jackal, but TCurry is there to blast Morgan away. More quick ball and Wales try the same charge on LCD only to get the same result - Wainwright melts LCD, but the balls already gone to Stuart on the charge who gets even closer to the line.

It's a fourth sub-2s ruck in a row and it's no surprise that Wales have run out of defenders - CCS picks a line between two players and carries Murray over the line with him for his first try

Minute 39: FSmith runs down the shot-clock as far as he can before knocking over the easy conversion for 7-28.

Wales kick off short and try to get the ball back through Faletau, but Freeman does a good job to tap it back to our side. Stuart reacts well to catch the loose ball - he winds up a big pass backward to a playmaker and I hold my breath, but this one finds its target. MSmith belts the ball straight down the field. It's a beautiful kick - going from inside our 22 to land on the Welsh 22, bisecting the two backfield players, and kicks on to roll towards the line.

Minute 40: Anscombe is begging the ball to roll over the tryline, but it bounces up and kisses the post protector, so he has to play it back. MSmith and Daly have a good kick-chase going, so Anscombe has to kick from his own 5m line, giving England a lineout 30m out.

Short lineout and we've broken Wales's defence there - Itoje gets to jump uncontested without movement and tap down to Mitchell. Wide pass into midfield and we are running a move with three hard runners in a line outside FSmith. Fin picks Earl on the outside and chucks a lovely wide pass, but unfortunately Genge chooses the wrong moment to suddenly change pace, leaving him accelerating into the path of the ball. He barely has time to flinch before it caroms off his forehead and Wales are cursing their luck again - the ricochet could have gone up in the air or gone to a Welsh hand, but has instead become a bullet header that lands the other side of the Welsh defensive line.

Dingwall reacts first and is onto the ball that sits up nicely for him without him having to break stride. He draws the full-back and passes inside for BCurry who breaks one tackle, but can't quite get to the line before he's dragged down by three scrambling defenders. Earl clears and it's perfect ball.

Itoje makes his first howler of the 6N - he sees the tryline and actually pushes in front of Mitchell to try and pick and go. It's a terrible decision, as it's running right, into the only part of the Welsh defence that's actually set, and Mitchell's already looking at the overlap on the left but thankfully, Itoje trips over his own feet as he goes to pick the ball up and somehow fails to take it with him.

Mitchell feeds Stuart and the 135kg prop is running onto a ball, 3m from the line, with only an off-balance 85kg scrum half in front of him. The simple option is surely to run forwards, but Will's got the moves move so he busts out the double sidestep once more.

Godsdammit we're never going to hear the end of this now it's worked twice, are we? : IIII

"Worked" may be a strong word here, as the jink in and out does nothing but sap his momentum and give Williams the chance for a side-on tackle instead of getting bounced head-on, but he does maintain enough speed to slide towards the line and reach out to ground it.

[Puja]

Minute 41: Replay after replay to see if Itoje's fuck-up resulted in a knock-on. It looked like one live and, even after seeing a dozen replays, it still feels impossible that it wasn't, but somehow he managed to put both hands on the ball as he was running and falling forwards, fail to pick it up, and not impart any of his forward momentum onto it. Even his fuck ups are somehow perfectly executed!

Minute 42: The TMO finally makes a decision and the try stands.

Minute 43: FSmith takes his time over the conversion, but hooks it to the left of the posts. Sack him - he's shit.

7-33 to the good guys at halftime.