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History repeated itself in the Cardiff cauldron. After the final act, when Aled Davies had booted the ball out of play, Alun-Wyn Jones opened his arms, bulged out his eyes like Diego Maradona and let out the ultimate victory roar.
England have a habit of losing half-time leads to Wales, and such was the case on Saturday night. The hosts triumphed through two late tries from Cory Hill and Josh Adams – upsetting the odds to leave 2019 up there in the annals with 2015, 2013 and 1999.
England had bullied their hosts for 40 minutes but Wales dipped deep into their reserves – squeezing out every last drop of emotion, hwyl and physicality.
Josh Adams made the run and the jump out on the right, got his fingertips to the ball and landed just short of the line
England scrambled but nobody could get there in time and Adams crawled over to secure stunning victory in Wales
Wales celebrate their second try as they pulled off a stunning second half comeback against Eddie Jones’ side
The introduction of Dan Biggar from the bench turned things in their favour and, as their Grand Slam bid came back to life, the Cardiff sky was filled with dregs of beer as pint cups flew. England’s Grand Slam bid is over.
The 35 phases in the build-up to Hill’s game-turning try will be replayed for years to come. In the shorter term picture, Wales will now take the bragging rights into the World Cup. They are now unbeaten in 12 and broke a winning record which dates back 109 years.
Tribal rivalries had started boiling well before kick-off. ‘End London rule! Come on Wales!’ bellowed Socialist Party campaigners as fans bundled off the crowded trains.
In the pubs, they joked how England’s team bus would never have been stuck in the traffic if Theresa May had not pulled the plug on funding for a bypass.
Inside the stadium, none of that love was lost. After Elliot Daly missed an early penalty, Owen Farrell landed a big hit on his opposite man in midfield. Cue the noise.
George North went alone and was brought down by Tuilagi, but Dan Biggar got the ball onto Cory Hill, who bundled over
Wales were digging deep and not surrendering any territory to England as they put in an impressive performance late on
Straight and true from a penalty for Owen Farrell and England gave themselves a little bit of breathing space
Kyle Sinckler had Alun Wyn Jones by the neck and Wales were awarded a penalty which Gareth Anscombe converted
Wales were awarded a second penalty, Jonny May didn’t release the ball after going down and Anscombe converted
By half time, Tom Curry and Kyle Sinckler had already made 16 tackles each. They had beaten up Wales in the contact area and forced the hosts backwards any time they got within sniffing distance of England’s tryline.
In contrast, England had two visits to the Welsh 22 and came back with two scores: a penalty and try. They were dominant in the set-piece and Kyle Sinckler kept his cool in the face of Welsh antagonisms.
Wales’ lineout was woeful – losing three from six under pressure from George Kruis – and they conceded a scrum penalty under pressure from Sinckler himself. Step up Farrell to kick the penalty after 17 minutes, as England drew first blood.
England swept the play right and Tom Curry skipped between the Wales defence and crossed the line for the first try
Wales had an opportunity to clear from a line-out but did not and Courtney Lawes did superbly to claim the ball back
Tom Curry celebrates scoring England’s try as the visitors dominated Wales in the first half on Saturday
Sinckler picked up and dumped Alun-Wyn Jones backwards. Warren Gatland had branded the prop a ‘timebomb’ – this was a case of ‘tick, tick… boom’. Anscombe drew the scores level after a high tackle – but those were Wales’ only points of the first half.
Coughing up another lineout, Courtney Lawes slapped the ball out of Ken Owens’ hands and England rumbled forwards in attack.
No Mako or Maro? No problem, it seemed. Up stepped Manu Tuilagi and Billy Vunipola to rumble the ball forwards and set up a ruck in midfield.
Wales were more interested in rubbing Ben Youngs’ face in the mud and, when the ball slipped out the back, Curry darted from the back of the ruck to score.
Farrell converted the try in the first half to extend England’s lead at the Principality Stadium on Saturday
Wales were awarded a penalty for a no-arms tackle by Kyle Sinckler and Anscombe leveled the score from close range
A questionable call from Peyper to penalise Wales at the scrum but Owen Farrell converted the penalty from 18m out
England claimed they had been preparing Jonny May like a Ferrari back at Pennyhill Park. The winger has scored 12 tries in 12 Tests and, tuned and polished, it was his defensive play that shone through as England repelled Welsh surges.
Having won the No 10 selection duel with Biggar, this was Anscombe’s biggest opportunity so far in his Wales career. As things stand, Biggar is still the main man.
Anscombe’s attempts to chip over the English defence did not come off and, by half time, Wales were relieved not to be more than seven points behind.
However 12 minutes into the second half, the Kiwi had his moment. He landed a cross-field kick on May, who was quickly snaffled and turned over by Liam Williams. He kicked the subsequent penalty and Cardiff came alive again.
The visitors had a penalty inside two minutes at the Principality stadium which Elliot Daly pushed wide of the post
Jonny May celebrates putting a Wales player into touch in front of a packed crowd at the Principality Stadium on Saturday
As the hour mark approach, the Sinckler time-bomb finally reached explosion point. He conceded a cheap penalty for a late barge on Anscombe and, seconds later, finally cracked and used his forearm to pin down Alun-Wyn Jones by the throat.
Another penalty. Three more points for Anscombe and Jones hauled off his tyro to a chorus of boos. That was Anscombe’s final act as Gatland sent on his old faithful, Biggar.
Farrell kicked his side’s first points of the half but, after 69 minutes, the tables turned. Hunched over in his usual stance, Biggar directed the flow of traffic for 35 famous phases.
Wales ran into brick walls until, eventually, something cracked. George North surged up the right wing, before Hill collected the ball and stretched over through Harry Williams and Vunipola.
Josh Adams of Wales collects the ball in front of Owen Farrell of England during the Six Nations match in Cardiff
Wales’ Justin Tipuric wins the lineout against England’s George Kruis during the match at the Principality Stadium
If the stadium roof were closed, it would have been blown off. In the word of Max Boyce, ‘they slide it back when Wales attack so God can watch us play’. Moments later, Biggar gathered one of his classic high balls before the majestic Liam Williams did the same.
Suddenly Wales were doing all the right things. They won a scrum penalty and, with two minutes left to play, Biggar launched a cross-field kick.
Josh Adams leaped above Elliot Daly to pick the ball out of the sky with two hands. He almost fumbled before landing on his chest and placing the ball across the line. The rest was history.
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