IAN HERBERT: A day of Twickenham froth when the true heroes were really the Welsh – England clinched a narrow win over a spirited young Wales side

When it was all over and some England rugby staff had waved four enormous red rose flags at a stadium that was quickly emptying, an excruciating sponsorship advert played on the big screens proclaiming that rugby was ‘our game that we have given to the world ‘.

Somehow it captured an air of righteousness that surrounded a place that had promised brilliance and delivered nothing even remotely comparable.

It was a day when Twickenham should have been a stadium reborn, with the marketing people helping to create the atmosphere we always see in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin at this time of year.

The room was full of hashtags and motivational messages – ‘Together we wear the Rose’, ‘The Power of Dreams’ – and before kick-off, clips of England players pretending to be movie stars.

It was foam. Surface gloss. No better able to bring heat to a stadium than the players taking a longer than usual walk from team coach to dressing room, which we believe was another part of the new Six Nations choreography.

Alex Mitchell’s boxing proved to be a central part of England’s plan to beat Wales

Wales pro Corey Domachowski looks discouraged as his side lost despite a strong performance

And as for captain Jamie George’s suggestion ten days ago that this England team could be the exponents of a Bazball of sorts. Well, the less said about that, the better.

The third best rugby country in the world? You’re laughing.

You need substance, excellence and esprit de corps on the playing field to sustain the marketing hype in any sport, and there was very little of that from the country that were winners in name alone. Who, despite themselves, take a second victory to the next round of this tournament.

The heroes here wore red.

Cameron Winnett, the 21-year-old back, who sat on his haunches, head in hands at the end of it all, coming to terms with the fact that this young Welsh side didn’t quite have what they needed to play the final miles.

Tomas Reffell, the young winger, red with effort, as Wales considered only a third win here since 1988.

And Rio Dyer, the winger who is making such an impact in this tournament.

They all knew that talent, a bit of extravagance and the unexpected would be needed on an occasion when some in Wales were concerned about a squad that was young and certainly not vintage. Warren Gatland’s accusations showed all three.

England forced the match to be a gritty and physical affair, with the defense scoring some huge goals

Wales’ Mason Grady is shown a yellow card after deliberately batting down a pass to stop England’s attack

Sepia images of the late, great JPR Williams and Barry John were projected onto the stadium screens before kick-off.

Those giants would have been proud of Gatland’s young side. The team arrived here in a state of transition, bereft of the experience of Dan Biggar, Alun Wyn Jones, the wonderful Louis Rees Zammit and with a fly-half, Ioan Lloyd, who quite frankly couldn’t match up with the best.

The only moment to take the breath away from the English came from above, shortly after the match had started. It was the luminous orange of the setting sun. Nothing in English rugby could produce that reaction, even though they stormed into Wales in the opening 15 minutes.

England worked with that early possession. A scrum just five yards from the Wales try-line came and went. The most animated man wearing the red pink badge was Steve Borthwick, who jumped from his seat to protest to the fourth official after Wales ran out to push a ball off the tee that George Ford was about to kick .

That moment was a metaphor for England’s anemia in that first half. Ford wasn’t still in his lineup and his hesitation made the Red advance completely fair. The howls of frustration came from a team that simply wasn’t good enough.

Compare this to the Welsh driving mauls that England couldn’t deal with for 40 minutes. And Reffell, such a shining spark for the Welsh, whose cutting line opened up an England defense so clearly still trying to adapt to a new defensive setup, allowing Alex Mann to finish the second try.

England captain Jamie George will be happy with his side’s win, but they didn’t play the Bazball style he promised

Wales flanker Alex Mann crashes in for his side’s first try to give them a shock lead

It marked Wales’ first halftime lead at Twickenham since 1980. When England finally found some life after the break, with Ford as architect, Twickenham finally mustered the enthusiasm to sing its ‘sweet chariots’, but no one was happy about it. to fool.

England had the upper hand thanks to two moments of Welsh indecision: by Lloyd, on his own line in the first half, which resulted in a try, and by substitute Mason Grady who surrendered the penalty, finally allowing England to take the narrow lead they were holding.

As the final whistle blew, the stadium’s animated ‘comperes’ became very excited as Borthwick, a gray man who coached a gray team, walked down to give his gray post-match assessment.

His captain, George, said during that Bazball conversation that he wants people to ‘love coming to see England’. It didn’t feel that way.