England 12 Wales 19: Future is England’s but Wales claim the honours

Manu Tuilagi and Chris Ashton roared up in support of the 20-year-old fly-half and the Twickenham crowd rose to acclaim the kind of attacking verve that has so often been in short supply from the men in white shirts.

In the stands, Stuart Lancaster acknowledged the adventure and the admiration it received from the home crowd with a wry smile.

This was the England he envisaged – attacking with brio, playing the sort of rousing rugby that gets rugby fans on their feet.

Alas, the grin had turned to anguish at the end of 80 minutes as David Strettle’s ‘try’ was ruled no good and England’s hopes of a grand slam had evaporated.

So typical of English rugby, a gallant defeat had been achieved. Ironically, Lancaster’s men earned more plaudits in defeat than they had in the preceding two victories that had added substance to the promise of the early days of the interim head coach’s brave new regime.

Wales were favourites to win by a larger margin than the seven-point victory they accomplished courtesy of Scott Williams’s late opportunism, when he stripped Courtney Lawes of possession, chipped through and galloped over when the ball bounced into his hands.

Warren Gatland’s men continue their grand slam quest with two games in Cardiff thanks to a second win at Twickenham in 24 years that earned them the Triple Crown. Wales are emerging as the northern hemisphere’s dominant force.

England may be some way behind such lofty thoughts, but there are signs that they are getting there from the wreckage of the World Cup campaign.

Gradual improvement since Lancaster assumed command, a stubborn defence that turned over an awful amount of opposition ball and flashes of attacking ingenuity are all positives.

Tuilagi’s venom in the centres, Farrell’s deftness and nerve, Chris Robshaw’s selfless leadership, the tackling of Brad Barritt and Tom Croft, and even David Strettle, who gave as good as he got against Wales’ mountain range of a three-quarter line. It all points to a bright future.

The hurt of defeat in such a tight game, where no quarter was given in front of 82,000 enthralled spectators, could serve them well in the long run.

But how many times has that straw been clutched at in recent years?

England’s inability to score tries is the major worry. They have just two in three games, though Wales defended as if their lives depended on it.

Ashton, who scored six in the first two games of last year’s championship, has not got close to the try line this season.

England’s greatest strength in the opening two games had been their ability to absorb pressure, and that trait served them well in a dominant first 20 minutes from the Welsh.

Wales produced 33 phases of rugby to just four by the hosts but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.

That was due largely to a terrific tackle from Strettle in the second minute on George North that denied the rampaging wing a try.

Halfpenny also missed his first kick as England took everything the visitors could throw at them.

Twickenham was muted, sensing the red tide would eventually penetrate.

But it was England who were first to show when a quick tap penalty from Lee Dickson got the white shirts pouring forward.

Ashton and Tuilagi were heavily involved with thrusts from deep-lying positions as Wales were induced into the concession of a penalty that Farrell converted.

Halfpenny quickly levelled but then another slick move saw Ashton offload inside to Tuilagi on the left flank. England’s bulldozer was unstoppable all afternoon but on this occasion, a terrific low tackle from the brilliant Sam Warburton denied him at the line.

The Welsh captain was penalised for holding-on and Farrell duly punished him with a penalty but Warburton’s intervention had prevented serious damage.

Then came that wonderful, adventurous passage of play from Farrell that had Lancaster smiling and Twickenham on its feet.

The fact that it did not create a score summed up England’s going concern.

Halfpenny and Farrell exchanged penalties before the interval and England extended their lead when Farrell kicked a close-range penalty after Mouritz Botha had threatened to score a third charge-down try in as many games.

Rhys Priestland went to the sin-bin for denying the follow-up try to the charge down, but with 14 men, Wales’ character showed.

They managed the game sensibly, conducting a 22-phase attack that ate up the clock in Priestland’s absence and created a chance for Halfpenny to kick a penalty.

Another kick from him levelled matters and few inside Twickenham would have argued at a draw between two committed sides.

But then came the drama; Lawes’s slack handling, Williams’s terrific strip, kick and chase, and the bounce of the ball that was the dagger in English hearts.

Strettle was rightly adjudged to have not touched the ball down as Halfpenny and Jonathan Davies summed up the spirit of the game with a collective brilliant tackle.

“No-one ever likes to lose, but it is about working on the positives,” said captain Robshaw. “There’s no knock to our confidence. Everyone had written us off but we were leading with 10 minutes to go. Everyone’s talking about the Welsh fitness but we went toe to toe with them.

“They got a bit of break, which is down to the pressure we applied, but we played some great attacking rugby and our scrum was good. It’s hard to take but it’s how we react to this.”

England: Foden (Brown 78), Ashton, Tuilagi, Barritt, Strettle, Farrell (Flood 66), Dickson (Youngs 61); Corbisiero (Steven 66), Hartley (Webber 72), Cole, Botha (Lawes 61), Parling, Croft, Robshaw, Morgan. Unused replacements: Dowson.

Wales: Halfpenny, Cuthbert, Davies, Roberts (S Williams 40), North, Priestland, Phillips; Jenkins, Owens, A Jones, AW Jones (R Jones 54), Evans, Lydiate, Warburton, Faletau. Unused replacements: Hibbard, James, Tipuric, L Williams, S Jones.

Referee: S Walsh (Australia).