There was a horrible moment for England in the second half when they staged what amounted to a parody of everything that Brian Ashton has been trying to instil. He is partial to the idea of attacking space but also to continuing attacks by offloading to people in more advantageous positions. England managed about five consecutive offloads to people in even more strife than the ball-carrier, with even Phil Vickery and Andy Gomarsall failing to take responsibility, continuing a move in rapid reverse.
The whole ghastly mess conceded the position from which Wales began to make their killing series of scores, and while the morale and resistance of Wales, together with their electric finishing, can only be cheered to the rafters, the final upshot was a sense of devastation at Twickenham. It is one thing to have all your hopes of momentum so cruelly shattered, but quite another for those hopes to be shattered after that kind of momentum has been successfully established out on the field.
There is no doubt in my mind that the run of sad England injuries will remove pressure from Ashton to drop Jonny Wilkinson for the match in Italy next Sunday. It seemed likely last night that none of Lewis Moody, Mike Tindall, David Strettle or Tom Rees will recover in time to play, so the idea that you might discard another senior player, given that kind of carnage, is probably anathema.
However, the disintegration in Wilkinson's game yesterday, at a time when all of England was looking to him, was almost scary. It was not as if England were suddenly being murdered up front, and yet the shockwaves of the Welsh revival seemed to shatter everyone dressed in white, in and around the No 10 jersey.
There is another danger, furthermore, that a competent English victory in Rome - which after all, is what they should still achieve - may well cement in place parts of the team that may need urgent attention.
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And so we still wait for momentum in the Ashton era, we still wait for a sequence of one or two excellent performances to be expanded into a decent run befitting a rugby nation as big as England. Admittedly, we definitely saw the first signs yesterday of England playing more expansive rugby on a firm base, albeit a period that lasted around 40 minutes.
At this stage, with the hard yards being gained by the forwards and with Wales unable to stand the flow of quick possession, we saw an England tending towards Ashton's own ambition.
What happens now? For a start, every other competing nation will scent blood, even Italy, who will clearly fancy a real crack at England in Rome. The key for England will lie at first in the medical rooms, and of all the injured players yesterday it seems to me that Tindall will be most missed, because he provided the extra power and edge that England were lacking in the World Cup. If he is to be absent for an extended period, then Ashton will need to replace like with like and not cast England's game to the wolves with too many tiny tots.
England must first take shelter behind the barricades. Their front five seems to be intact, and while searching questions will be asked as to how they allowed Wales back into the match after they had spent the whole first half on the front foot, England at least can invest in the likes of Vickery and the tight five.
Medical reports on Nick Easter will be eagerly scanned all week and with both Rees and Moody in injury straits, it could be that James Haskell is asked to show his versatility by playing in Rome on the openside flank. Elsewhere, it is really time for Ashton to hold up his hands and return Josh Lewsey to the full-back position without delay.
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England sorely lacked experience and composure in their back three yesterday, with Iain Balshaw as rocky in defence as he was clever in attack; Lesley Vainikolo unable to help out because of his lack of positional awareness, and Paul Sackey intent on flying in off his wing to try to close down the sudden surge of Welsh attacks. It is doubtful if Lewsey would have allowed all that to happen.
There has been a growing sense of anticipation in English rugby these past few weeks, fuelled by the rise of the next generation of players. It would be ridiculous for England to take refuge in the injury problems, and equally ridiculous for them to use the excuse that these are early days. This is an England team of vast experience, and Ashton and his lieutenants have been in charge for long enough to forge the team properly. The disintegration in the second half, not to mention the failure to cash in on superiority in the first, is nothing at present to panic about, but the first stirrings of alarm were present last night.
Ashton and Wilkinson are still in charge of this England team, they are both of iconic status but both will join the anxiety. It is time for Wilkinson to rediscover his ability to control a game, and it is time for Ashton's England to finally begin the march. It is remarkable, but true, that on the evidence of the second half, it is by no means guaranteed that the ultimate shock, a defeat at the hands of Italy, will not occur.
Half-time team talks
- Leading 16-6 at half-time, what went wrong for England? Was the team talk not inspiring enough? After all, Brian Ashton is one of several coaches with form here:
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- Lawrence Dallaglio criticised Ashton's leadership, claiming that he 'managed to turn our [World Cup] campaign into a Monty Python sketch - called The Life Of Brian'
- Level at half-time against 10-man Brazil in Japan in 2002, England's footballers had a great chance to reach the World Cup semifi nals. But, as one player in the dressing room said of Sven-Goran Eriksson, inset, 'we wanted Winston Churchill but we got Iain Duncan Smith'
- Brian Clough shunned convention and refused to come onto the pitch to talk to his Nottingham Forest side before extra-time in the 1991 FA Cup fi nal. Result? Forest were listless and lost
- Matt Dawson said that Lions coach Graham Henry's team talks didn't 'inspire me at all. Too much shouting and screaming.' The Lions went on to lose against Australia