Maro Itoje tumbled out of the breakdown and came up with the ball, and finally it was over. This was not a game for the rugby aesthete, nor truly one for the rugby purist, but eventually a competitive Six Nations game broke down after the first half errata. Eventually, it was England and Itoje who clung on to hold off a double Welsh fight-back and keep faint title hopes alive in a messy affair.
This had been billed as knockout rugby but the early rounds were contested of squabbles and sloppy punches thrown against the ropes. It was a first half played in bits and pieces, rather stumbling across the broken bric-a-brac of scruffy breakdowns and slap-dash set-pieces, with scrums contested in the abstract as both front rows did everything they could except drive legally, often before the ball could be put in.
This meant that a Twickenham crowd afforded a Six Nations viewing since the last time these two teams met here never really had reason to rise to their feet. Shorn of Manu Tuilagi just eight hours after naming the centre among a Six Nations side for the first time since that fixture two years ago, Eddie Jones promoted Elliot Daly from the bench with Joe Marchant hastily called in to replace him among the substitutes after a single day of Friday training – team news belatedly confirmed with little less than an hour to play until kick-off.
There were fleeting glimpses from both sides in attack, and though Alex Cuthbert looked a danger when afforded space and time with ball in hand, it was more often than not England playing with definite adventure and accuracy.
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