Rugby Union: Mistakes cost Triple Crown

IT WAS a catalogue of errors from start to finish. The final one came from Wembley's smooth announcer, who managed to give the wrong scoreline while the delirious Wales team and their delighted supporters were celebrating the marvellous Scott Gibbs try which won it for them.

But given the number of errors Wales had committed in the game there was more than an element of luck to it.

The Welsh mistakes were generally a team affair, but for sheer individual contributions England flanker Neil Back took the honours He it was who churlishly hung on to the ball when Wales were awarded a penalty.

When South African referee Andre Watson called him to account there appeared to be an exchange of views which resulted in England conceding another 10 metres. And those were enough to bring the lethal boot of Neil Jenkins into range.

That kick on the half hour brought Wales right back into the game. Then, within two minutes of the second half, Back ran back into the England 22 to cover a deep searching kick from Shane Howarth.

He turned around as the ball sailed over his head, but when he got his hands to it he knocked on. The Leicester flanker hoofed the ball into touch, but the referee had spotted the error, and, from the scrum, Wales set up the attack from which Howarth was sent over by a beautiful Neil Jenkins miss pass.

That try by the New Zealand-born Howarth went some way to making amends for the crassest of mistakes late in the first half.

The neatest of chip kicks by England scrum-half Matt Dawson threw the Welsh defence into confusion - well two of their number at least. Right wing Gareth Thomas appeared to have gathered the ball safely, not having taken his eyes off it once as it described its wicked parabola.

Unfortunately the ball was also under close observation by Howarth. He, too, kept his eyes on the ball and, inevitably, they collided. Given the level of noise withinWembley it was not surprising that neither of them heard the other.

Thomas spilled the ball, and it rolled obligingly for Richard Hill, who was dutifully following up. The England flanker scooped up the loose offering and, despite being tackled, somehow bounced his way over the line.

The frequency of turnovers by Wales was appalling for this level. It seemed that every time a Welshman came into contact with the opposition he would surrender the ball.

And when they were not turning over possession they were either not recycling quickly enough, thereby allowing England to reform their defences, or they were getting caught offside or not releasing.

But they were not alone in a less than perfect performance. England, too, fell foul of over eagerness and, perhaps, at the very end, of slackness. The Triple Crown price paid for the mistake was victory, the championship, and the Grand Slam.