By Steffan Thomas
Wayne Pivac has praised Alex Cuthbert as a bright light amid the gloom of a frustrating defeat for Wales against England at Twickenham.
The Wales coach caused a stir when he left out Louis Rees-Zammit in favour of Cuthbert, but the Ospreys wing was his side’s most effective line-breaker in a game where England were outscored by three tries to one.
“I thought Alex in his 50th game was immense,” Pivac said.
“He was the guy coming off his wing, he was taking the ball down the right flank, then within a couple of phases he was taking the ball down the left flank in the 80th minute of the game. He was superb.”
And captain Dan Biggar added: “He was unbelievable. It was almost a bit like the 2013 and 2014 Alex Cuthbert.
“He looked in his prime today. He can be really proud of that on his 50th cap. If we were on the right side of the scoreboard, he is man-of-the-match every day of the week.”
Pivac questioned the legality of England’s decisive second-half try following his team’s 23-19 Six Nations defeat, which has effectively ended the champions’ chances of successfully defending their trophy.
Wales hooker Ryan Elias overthrew a defensive lineout and the ball was caught by England number eight Alex Dombrandt, who claimed his team’s solitary dot down alongside six Marcus Smith penalties.
Pivac said: “If we had an opportunity to review that try, it probably wouldn’t have been given, so that was frustrating.”
Hats off to Alex Cuthbert. Responded to criticism over his selection instead of Rees-Zammit with probably his best game for Wales. Big matches also from Taulupe Faletau, Nick Tompkins, both scrum-halves and another tour-de-force from @Dragons lock Will Rowlands, How good is he?
— Peter Jackson (@JackoRugby) February 26, 2022
Asked if he thought Wales lock Adam Beard had been pushed out of the lineout, Pivac added: “Yes, he was.
“He was chased down the lineout and bumped, which you can’t do, but unfortunately it wasn’t picked up and the try stands.
“The replay we’ve seen, there was an offence there, we thought.”
Wales were ultimately undone by the boot of Marcus Smith who kicked 18 points but they showed their attacking prowess after the break to suggest better times might be around the corner.
Josh Adams, Nick Tompkins, and Kieran Hardy crossed for Wales’ tries, and their inspirational captain Biggar was encouraged by aspects of the performance.
“We showed great character and skill to come back, and we stretched England,” said Biggar.
“But it is hard for us to ignore those first 25 minutes. You can’t come to a place like this and go 17-0 down and expect to get a result.
Hopefully, the last of Alex Cuthbert’s critics turned the lights off when they left the building.
— Andrew Baldock (@balders2) February 26, 2022
“We showed huge courage and huge amounts of determination and skill to come back and nearly nick it, but it is disappointing that we didn’t get the fast start that we had talked about before the game.
“I’m hugely proud of the boys, and especially the bench who came on and added some real impact. But as proud as I am of the boys, and happy with the finish, we are pretty disappointed at going 17-0.
“The breakdown was a killer for us and we gave away a lot of penalties. There were some soft decisions from us and we just couldn’t retain the ball.”
The stand-out player for Wales wasCuthbert who made an astonishing 176 metres with ball in hand on what was his 50th Wales cap.
What made his performance even more remarkable was the fact he had been in the international wilderness for the past four years. But his move to the Ospreys from Exeter Chiefs has rekindled his career.
“Alex Cuthbert was excellent in making some breaks, but we couldn’t back that up with phase on phase,” said Biggar.
“It was a remarkable performance from Cuthy and he was a real focal point for us.
“When we kept hold of the ball, we caused England loads of problems but we didn’t do it for the first 25 minutes.”
But the other star of the show was England playmaker Smith whose game management, and goal kicking was the difference between both sides.
A first try for England and Man of the Match performance from @Alex_dombrandt 💪
📹 @ITVRugby pic.twitter.com/tv2SpclHlo
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 26, 2022
He said: “It was a bit shaky at the end. We know how proud a team Wales are and we knew they would come back and have their patch.
“It was good that we had built up a lead because we were a little bit off in our accuracy. it was close, but we got the job done.”
After losing to Ireland in their opening game, hopes of a successful Six Nations title defence are all-but over ahead of remaining games against unbeaten leaders France and then whipping boys Italy.
“The first half we were disappointed with the discipline – we gave away eight penalties at the breakdown,” Pivac said.
“You can’t really get a foothold in the game, and going 17-0 down wasn’t the way we wanted to start in the second half. It was a very good end to the game, but a very frustrating try that we conceded.
“But to the players’ credit, they got straight back on the horse and came back with two very good tries and we were right in at the death trying to win the match.
“You are always trying to build on the performance, and there is plenty to take out of that game that was pretty positive.
TRY!@WelshRugbyUnion have the losing bonus point! A quick tap from Kieran Hardy and the gamble pays off.#ITVRugby pic.twitter.com/8SVocu1rnt
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) February 26, 2022
“In the second half, we built phases, got the ball in hand a lot more, we started to win some collisions and we looked dangerous.”
Biggar added: “We are very disappointed with the first half. It shaped the way the game went in terms of us having to chase it.
“We couldn’t retain the ball in contact, and breakdown penalties stopped any attacking flow for us.
“We are pretty disappointed with the start, but we found some real shape in the second half and played some really good rugby and stretched England.
“Ultimately, the main headline is going to be that you can’t start poorly in places like the Aviva Stadium (in Dublin) and Twickenham and expect to pick up results, really.
“It’s the starts for us away from home at the moment. When you are ahead on the scoreboard, it’s a lot easier to dictate play.”
