LONDON – England coach Steve Borthwick spent most of the Rugby World Cup lauding his team’s ability to “find a way” and he was singing the same hymn, after they battled back again to beat Wales 16-14 in the Six Nations at Twickenham on Feb 10.

In Rome, they trailed 10-0 before coming through 27-24 against Italy and they fell 14-5 down to Wales at half-time before overhauling them 16-14, thanks to a Fraser Dingwall try and the boot of George Ford.

“This is a team that stay in the fight, that find a way. We are a young side and we have a lot to learn, but we will grow together,” Borthwick said.

“At half-time, we were very composed and clear. There was great leadership from Jamie (George). There was a determination to find a way and we had belief we would do it. Our defence was excellent, there was control there, and there was some development in our attack.

“Against Italy we went to the edge 17 times, and today we were not too far short of that on a greasy day – we showed some progress.”

Despite receiving two early yellow cards, Borthwick also hailed England’s discipline as they gave away only one penalty in the second half, adding to six in the first, when Wales had not been penalised at all.

“We gave away eight last week and Maro Itoje set a target of seven this week,” he said. “So to achieve that, after a 6-0 penalty count against us in the first half, was excellent.”

Borthwick also praised the impact of his replacements, with hooker Theo Dan and abrasive flanker Chandler Cunningham-South enjoying impressive cameos.

“There were big contributions from the bench,” the coach said. “It means you can increase the intensity. Since 2018 England generally had lost their way in the second half, but we’ve seen an improvement in that through the World Cup and now.”

Wales skipper Dafydd Jenkins said his team were “absolutely gutted, that game was there for us to win and we didn’t take it”.

“When you come to Twickenham, you know it is going to be a physical battle and you have to match them – I don’t think we did that,” he told ITV.

“I don’t think we can use being a young team as an excuse. If we are here, we are good enough. I think we’ve created the chances, but we just weren’t accurate when finishing.”

England have a break before taking on Scotland on Feb 24 in Edinburgh, where they will seek a third championship win for the first time since 2020.

“There was definitely progress from last week,” said George after captaining the side for the first time at home.

“In the first half we were under pressure from a good Wales attack but we defended well, often multi-phase. I’d rather not have only 13 men on the field but we showed great fight and discipline.

“We said the bare minimum this England team is going to show is fight and character. There is belief but we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves as we know we are going to need to get better.”

Meanwhile, Scotland coach Gregor Townsend said he could not understand the decision not to award his side a try that would have beaten France with the final act of a controversial Six Nations clash on Feb 10.

The visitors clung on to win 20-16 at Murrayfield, as the television match official and referee Nic Berry decided not to award a try despite Sam Skinner appearing to ground the ball on the line.

Berry had initially ruled no try on the field and said there was not enough conclusive evidence to overturn that decision.

“We were celebrating in the coaching box having seen the pictures (of the ball) being placed on the try-line,” said Townsend.

“I don’t understand the rationale when you see the pictures and hear the conversation between them (referee and TMO). They have said the ball is placed on the try line.”

However, France captain Gregory Alldritt said the officials made the correct decision.

“I think the images are quite clear and I don’t see how he (Berry) can make any other decision,” Alldritt said, before revealing the team works tirelessly with defence coach Shaun Edwards to hold teams up over the try-line.

“We’ve been working for over three years to get the ball carrier behind the line, exactly like it was done,” he said. “When we talk about details, that’s part of it. It’s nice to see it pay off.

“With Shaun, we spend hours there during the week. These are small satisfactions as a player. Of course, there are things to work on and review. But small details make you win the match.” REUTERS, AFP