There is a danger of reading too much into a pre-World Cup friendly between two sides some way below strength, but the charitable view of England’s performance was that arriving in France in peak condition took priority over preparation for yesterday’s match.
England have made great play on how their conditioning, a weakness in the Six Nations when they tended to disappear in the final quarter, would be vastly better come the World Cup, but in Cardiff they were blowing early and when the home side increased the tempo after the break, they disappeared into the distance.
Tom Pearson was making his England debut on the openside after two campaigns for London Irish in which he stood out for his power over the ball and with it in hand as well as his awareness.
Test rugby is a few steps above and his first cap was a mixture of telling interventions and some awkward moments, not least when his opposite number Jac Morgan not only stopped him in his tracks but drove him backwards and into the turf.
With the England squad being announced less than 48 hours after the match, Pearson was one of a number of players who felt they had to make an impression. The former Wales flanker Sam Warburton, who was part of the commentary team at the ground, was a master at knowing when to intervene and when to bide his time.
Pearson wasted energy by committing himself to lost causes and at times getting exposed: he conceded the penalty near his own line that resulted in Leigh Halfpenny’s second penalty after England had taken a 6-0 lead, but no England player exceeded his 14 tackles and only Lewis Ludlam among the visitors’ forwards carried the ball further.
Pearson will be better for the experience, as Morgan showed. It was the Wales captain’s 10th international and he resembled Warburton in his decision-making, aware of what was possible. Wales were hanging on at times in the opening half as England, armed with scrum penalties, went on the front foot but it all changed after the break.
Wales sensed that England’s lungs were operating at full capacity and got in their faces more, turning the penalty tide and taking control. Morgan led the revival, making 26 tackles and setting up his side’s opening try, which took them into the lead for the first time, when he eluded two tacklers after Aaron Wainwright had taken Sam Costelow’s cross-kick.
Wales gained maximum impact from Morgan, who has to see off the challenge of Leicester’s Tommy Reffell come the World Cup. The loss of Justin Tipuric is not the blow it appeared when he announced his retirement from international rugby earlier in the summer.
Pearson is one for the future, but also the present. He was one of the few England players to show themselves in the second-half, winning a turnover and making his presence felt with Dan Biggar. He, understandably and like others, was guilty of trying too hard on a day when coaches were more concerned about the performance than the result.
England will field a very different team at Twickenham, as will Wales. Every player involved will know that they are going to France, unless injuries force head coach Steve Borthwick to opt for someone on the stand-by list. Tom Curry will be out for another fortnight because of a leg problem and there are other positions which hold fitness questions.
Borthwick was philosophical after defeat in a match England had been expected to win with something to spare. Wales had lost their last four Tests in front of their own supporters and had shed a layer of experience, but they had a cohesion their opponents lacked.
England dominated the opening half and regularly got behind the defence, prompted by outside-half Marcus Smith who left his goosestep in the locker, something that seemed to baffle his team-mates, with England rather than Harlequins, as much as the opposition.
England made four handling errors in the opening half and 20 in all. Even full-back Freddie Steward caught the bug and long before the end their attacking threat had disappeared. The closed roof should have made handling less hazardous on a rainy day, but while some of the dropped balls were unforced, others betrayed a lack of familiarity.
At least England created the openings, but Wales’s first try resembled one England had botched in the first-half when Smith’s kick saw Joe Marchant zig-zag towards the line. After the break, Morgan evaded two tacklers in the same part of the field but Halfpenny brought down Marchant before he could offload.
Wales’s head coach Warren Gatland said in the week that he expected Wales to cause a surprise in the World Cup. It would have been a story had he proclaimed the opposite, but his players showed where he was coming from.
Wales were renowned during Gatland’s first stint in charge as a physical, uncompromising side that wore down opponents. Defence was a core part of their game yesterday and their kicking exposed Joe Cokanasiga and, eventually, Steward, but they were smart in the way they attacked, armed with a stiletto rather than a bludgeon.
England had no such clarity, but the team that takes the field for the opening World Cup match against Argentina will bear little resemblance to yesterday’s starting lineup, either in terms of personnel or approach.
The two backs who rose above the mediocrity yesterday were Smith and Marchant, neither of whom is likely to be the first choice in their positions. It makes Saturday’s return at Twickenham all the more significant for Borthwick’s and his coaches.
Wales, who are on the same side of the World Cup draw as England, will sense an opportunity after inflicting a fourth defeat in six matches on Borthwick’s team following the December sacking of Eddie Jones. A fifth ahead of a trip to Dublin would leave even those who welcomed the change asking questions. The result will matter for England on Saturday.
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