"We struggled for field position, and as the ball we produced was so slow - fair play to the Welsh back row, who performed really well as a unit - there was no rhythm to our play," fumed the coach, whose impersonation of Krakatoa on the brink of eruption was of Dead Ringers quality. The youngster did not look out of place - "some of his passing was really crisp," said Andy Robinson - but he could have done without the embarrassment of being transported around Cardiff under Gavin Henson's left armpit. In between there was some meaningful running from the abrasive Dafydd Jones, the least skilled but most physical member of the Red Dragons' loose trio, and a whole string of precise cut-out passes covering the width of the field. It was a wonderful move, executed at pace and entirely in tune with the sense of adventure that has characterised Welsh rugby since their to-hell-with-it assault on the All Blacks during the World Cup.The England backs did not threaten to produce anything remotely as good. Cueto and Josh Lewsey threw themselves into the fray with their customary abandon, but Jason Robinson's tap-dancing routines cut no ice with the Welsh tacklers, who hit him in twos and threes and forced the celebrated full-back into a mish-mash of distinctly average passes, some of them of the hospital variety, and aimless kicks downfield. Noon made next to no impact; Tait, on his debut, had few opportunities. Quite how anyone with half-decent eyesight could miss Grewcock, Ben Kay and Chris Jones, who brought a combined height of very nearly 20ft to the service of their country, will remain one of life's more enduring mysteries, but the Northampton hooker managed it, apparently with considerable ease.

Time and again, Steve Thompson threw long - so long that he missed everyone except the predatory Martyn Williams, who had himself a ball with red-rose ball, so to speak. Fortunately, we finished strongly and came through."Jones was referring to events in Brisbane 15 months previously, when Catt came off the bench for the second half of a World Cup quarter-final that was going the way of Wales and turned the thing on its head, simply by lamping the ball downfield and giving the England pack some return on their investment at the sharp end. Everyone - yes, even pug-ugly props like Graham Rowntree and Julian White - needs a little tender loving care. On Saturday, the England heavyweights must have felt as cherished as lepers on a health farm.If the tactical shortcomings of the England midfield were all too predictable, the misfires at line-out time were less easy to spot in advance. Thus encouraged, Martin Johnson and company ground the Welsh forwards into the Queensland dirt and presented Jonny Wilkinson with enough kickable penalties to quell the uprising.

It also gave a hard-working quintet of tight forwards some much-needed support. For the first hour or so, they had been betrayed.By selecting two non-kicking centres, Jamie Noon of Newcastle and his 18-year-old club-mate Mathew Tait, the England head coach, Andy Robinson, flew in the face of rugby logic. The shop-soiled world champions were always likely to struggle in the loose once Martyn Williams, a veritable bloodhound of an open-side flanker, declared himself fit, and sure enough, the Cardiff Blues captain left the over-matched Andy Hazell, of Gloucester, for dead in pursuit of the loose ball, inspiring his two henchmen, Dafydd Jones and Michael Owen, to similarly Himalayan heights in the process. The longer the game went on, with Noon in particular either unwilling or unable to put boot to leather, the more flabbergastingly ludicrous Barkley's absence appeared.As Stephen Jones, the Wales outside-half, said afterwards: "When Barkley came on, pushed us into the corners and changed the shape of the match, I thought to myself: 'Oh no, it's Mike Catt all over again.' I feared the worst, to be honest with you.

If they were to survive this trip across the Severn Bridge, it would be through the efforts of their grunt-and-groaners.And how to get the best from these particular cauliflower-faced specimens? Put the ball in front of them This is common sense, not quantum physics. England were also at risk from a Welsh back-line full of dash and daring. He put in huge hits, he ran the ball well and he got probably the most important kick of the day."Stephen Jones added: "Gavin's defence was superb Great hits, a great game Physically he's a great specimen He's a balanced player. He glides when he runs and obviously he's got a great kicking game as well I'm glad he's Welsh.". At various points during this day of Welsh days at the Millennium Stadium - indeed, at every possible point following the early try by Shane Williams that set the home fires burning and rendered this thunderous game molten to the touch - the England coaches issued orders via their intermediaries at pitch-side.