No sooner had Ben Youngs made history as England’s most-capped player than he was told youth is the key to winning the Rugby World Cup.
Leicester’s scrum-half, 33 this year, had just won his 115th cap to leapfrog Jason Leonard on the all-time list.
He had come off the bench to an almighty Twickenham roar and calmed an England team seemingly intent on blowing a 17-point lead.
As a reference to go with his application to play in a fourth World Cup next year, it was about as good as he could wish for.
Eddie Jones duly said he “could not be more pleased” with him and that if he keeps going like this he will be in the squad for France.
“You always need that experience in your stable,” he said. “When you have got a young horse, you need a good experienced jockey to control it.”
But the coach added: “Youth is going to win the World Cup. The way the game is going it is getting faster and more intense and I think young players are going to be crucial.”
One look across at France, the hosts and now tournament favourites, and it is easy to see why he thinks that way.
Fabien Galthie’s young side is pulling up trees and on Saturday followed their autumn thumping of the All Blacks with a six-try rout of Scotland.
The question for Jones is whether he has enough time to transfuse the young blood of English rugby into a unit capable of contesting the sport’s biggest prize 557 days from now.
Against Wales he watched his ‘new’ England escape to victory without throwing a scoring pass.
Saw his team outscored three tries to one by a Dragons side on its knees with less than half an hour to go.
He was then reminded England’s remaining Six Nations fixtures are against top dogs Ireland and France.
Lose those and they could well be staring at a THIRD fifth-place finish in five years.
“We don’t fear anyone,” Jones responded. “We don’t care what other people think. We’re definitely on the right track.
“If a pregnancy is nine months we’re talking about the first two months here of where we want to be. We don’t have to be at our best until the 2023 World Cup.”
For the second time in three games England’s opponents made more clean breaks and beat more defenders. For a third successive game Jones’ team lost its way after half-time.
England relied not on smart attacking play but an aggressive defence which won the six penalties kicked by Marcus Smith and had Alex Dombrandt on his toes to intercept a calamitous Welsh lineout overthrow for their only try.
The likes of Dombrandt, Jack Nowell and Maro Itoje played a vital role in disrupting Wales with their jackalling.
Nobody impressed more than Itoje, the villain in Cardiff a year ago when personally responsible for five of the 14 penalties England conceded.
“I thought Itoje was exceptional,” said Jones. “It’s funny, when he first started he’d run on the field and be man of the match. Now he plays like Superman he can’t be man of the match. What’s going on?”
Youngs has long possessed superhero qualities of his own and showcased them when thrown into the fray with 19 minutes left and the lead down to a single score.
How fitting it was that he should kick the ball out to seal the win.
ENGLAND - Try: Dombrandt. Pens: Smith 6.
WALES - Tries: Adams, Tompkins, Hardy. Cons: Biggar 2.
