What if the English were inspired by the XV of France? A few hours after the Blues’ victory in Scotland thanks to a late turnaround, the XV de la Rose in turn suffered a small hold-up at Twickenham. On Saturday February 10, Steve Borthwick’s men brought down Wales (16-14), after being behind for almost the entire match. The English finally managed to snatch victory thanks to a penalty from George Ford at the end of the match.
If the 2024 vintage of the Six Nations Tournament systematically or almost systematically offers close matches, its protagonists also seem to have the art of repeating scenarios from one weekend to the next. As in their first match against Italy, the English gave a disappointing score for a long time, before accelerating and winning at the end of the match. Likewise, the Welsh suffered a second consecutive defeat while victory was reaching out to them. Beaten by one unit by Scotland, this time they failed by two points.
However, the Leek XV cannot blame itself for having missed the start of the match against England. Involved and precise, the teammates of Dafydd Jenkins (21 years old, youngest captain of the Welsh XV since Gareth Edwards) struck first on a penalty try rewarding a maul (17th) before doing it again just before the break through the third row Alex Mann (38th).
End of an improbable series
Opposite, the XV de la Rose seemed a little lost in their Twickenham garden, despite the solo and powerful try of their number 8 Ben Earl (20th). Symbol of this general disorder in the English ranks, the experienced George Ford was countered on his transformation against the poles, an extremely rare occurrence in the game. Like his teammates, the opener nevertheless raised his head in the second act. In the wake of center Fraser Dingwall’s corner try, it was he who offered victory to his team with a penalty in a good position (70th).
Thanks to this success, England takes the lead in the standings of the Six Nations Tournament – pending Ireland’s second match against Italy, Sunday at 4 p.m. – and puts an end to an improbable series: from the start of the competition, no team playing on its lawn had managed to win. The Welsh would undoubtedly have loved for this statistic to continue for at least one match, as they are chasing a first victory at Twickenham since 2012. They will still have to wait for that. They will have the perilous mission of going to Ireland in two weeks to try to raise their heads. For its part, England will travel to Scotland.