England’s players have admitted they failed to deal with Wales’s wind-up tactics as their Six Nations grand slam hopes came to an end – but rejected Warren Gatland’s stinging criticism that they are big-match chokers.
Gatland claimed after his side’s 21-13 win that the ploy to target Kyle Sinckler had paid off after the England tighthead prop was withdrawn before the hour, having given away two penalties in quick succession and been lectured by the referee, Jaco Peyper.
Sinckler – described by Gatland as an emotional timebomb – excelled for the first 50 minutes but was drawn into an ongoing tussle with Alun Wyn Jones while the man of the match, Liam Williams, also clashed with Manu Tuilagi as Wales increasingly looked able to get under England’s skin.
“The biggest thing was them trying to take our mind off the game,” the England No 8, Billy Vunipola, said. “You saw in the second half there was a lot more niggle and we bought into that because we thought we had a seven‑point buffer. That’s where they grew and every time the game started to speed up one of their players would go down. They wanted us to play at their tempo and they did that really well. The disappointing thing for us is that we didn’t fire a shot in the second half.”
Wales gave away three penalties but as the home team fought back from 10-3 down at half-time England’s discipline got progressively worse, and they conceded six in the second half. Jamie George acknowledged Wales were more streetwise but denied Gatland’s claim that “when it’s really mattered, I’ve questioned whether they can win these big games”.
Jones refused to comment on Gatland’s barb but George said: “I think that’s unfair. Warren can say what he likes. He is in a position of power after winning that game, so fair play to them. We have won big games before and we are going to win big games again.
“They scrapped. You have got to give them respect and the credit they deserve. They certainly kept the pressure on and capitalised on field position we gave them through a lack of discipline.”
England have dropped to second in the Six Nations table but are two points behind Wales by virtue of bonus points against Ireland and France. Victories over Italy and Scotland would be enough to claim the title if Wales slip up.
England will begin their preparations for the final block of fixtures by welcoming Georgia to their Oxford base for live training sessions this week.
Jones will be without Dylan Hartley, who has knee surgery on Tuesday and will miss the rest of the championship. He is also waiting on the results of a scan on Courtney Lawes’s injured calf while Jonny May went off on Saturday with a head injury.
Lawes must be considered a doubt to face Italy, having hobbled off in the closing stages, but Jones is hopeful Maro Itoje will be fit following a knee injury. “He’s coming along well,” Jones said. “He might be a chance [against Italy]. I might have to give him the hurry-up, because we’ve potentially lost Courtney.”
Jones also called for Sinckler to be cut some slack after condemnation from supporters. “Trying to single him out and try to make a villain of him will do him a disservice,” he said. “He’s a very good young player and playing in one of the most difficult positions on the field, and he’ll come through as a great Test player for England.”