The Hansen passion play is heartening

Six Nations: Humphreys the stop-gap captain leads a rediscovery of old values to question England's grand ambition

It is never wise to provoke the wounded beast, and England did their absolute best to avoid doing so. They treated their hosts with a degree of circumspection as Wales, exhorted by anyone with a view to spare in the Principality during the week on the question of players' pride, responded with a bravura performance.

Trouble is, they lost, though you would be hard-pressed to tell that from coach Steve Hansen's observations afterwards: "Some of our guys are sitting there gutted at losing the match. They really felt they could have shocked the rugby world today."

Perhaps that was slightly overstating matters because, as much as Hansen and his team will claim a moral victory here, in the context of a contest when beforehand there had been every prospect that Clive Woodward's team would improve on the 50, 44 and 46-point tallies inflicted by the old enemy over the last three years, the stark facts are that England are edging ever closer to that elusive first Grand Slam under his stewardship.

Wales must take comfort from a display which offered us occasional magic amidst the mayhem and continue their rebuilding. Here the nails and hammer were placed in the appropriate hands of captain Jonathan Humphreys, replacing the luckless Colin Charvis, who was charged with, in some supporters' minds, criminal neglect after that unpalatable defeat in Rome.

Even in a two-horse race, the bookmakers' pricing of England at 25-1 on was an insult which by itself should have galvanised the home supporters if anything would. Effectively, such odds suggested it would take nothing short of a volcano to disturb England's equilibrium. Yesterday there was little evidence of eruptions in the vicinity of the Principality, but not a few tremors within the England ranks in a frenetic, fiesty first half which Wales lost on points ­ principally by dint of Jonny Wilkinson's kicking even if, shock of shocks, he displayed a rare fallibility by missing a relatively straightforward penalty chance ­ but won honours for sheer dedication to the cause. They might have even concluded the half in front if Mark Taylor, bursting clear, had he passed before being tackled by Jason Robinson near the line.

Yet, if passion was the prerequisite quality desired of his captain, then the Wales coach could have chosen no better representative than Humphreys, who wryly informed us last week that he would have been shopping in his local B & Q if he hadn't hadn't been playing here. Yesterday, the Bath hooker epitomised the defiance of the Wales forwards, who always looked likely to succumb to more powerful opponents, but who certainly in the first half constructed a buffer to England's aspirations and might have built not only a lead, but a psychological barrier too.

Very much a DIY man is Humphreys who, together with the lock Robert Sidoli, knocked up a strong fence to negate English aggression in the first half. After the interval it still required all the experience of the captain, Martin Johnson, try-scorer Will Greenwood and Lawrence Dallaglio, the former captain, dropped after the defeat of the All Blacks, and playing only because of an injury to the young pretender Lewis Moody.

Woodward's men punctured a courageous home resistance twice early in the second half with tries effectively to place the match beyond their rivals, but there was no acquiesence from the Welsh. If their passing had matched their attacking play in the later stages the difference could have been even slighter.

A Grand Slam for England remains, of course, a plausible target, but against the team vying to avoid bottom of the pile come next month's conclusion to the competition there was an ample warning that none of their opponents, even the most troubled, will succumb obligingly. England did just enough here, but Woodward knows that Irish minds will already be already turning enthusiastically to that date in Dublin.

Before the start the massed Millennium choir sung not just Cwm Rhondda with fervour but gave us a rendition of Tom Jones' Delilah, "in recognition of the Welshman's lifetime achievement award at the Brits". For all the disgust articulated in various media outlets in recent days the Welsh supporters, as we knew they would, rallied behind their men. On the morning of the game, the Western Mail had rolled out the Welsh rugby greats, every Gareth, Barry, Cliff, Gerald and Mervyn of them, to "inspire" the current generation by explaining what playing for their country meant to them.

It epitomised the tone of the week, but tended to disregard the current talent available, the failure of administrative leadership over the last decade or more, a lack of cash, and indeed a dearth of quality players resident in the Principality itself, a situation not helped by the Welsh RFU's decision to dispense with two England-based recruitment officers who searched the enemy's side of Offa's Dyke for players entitled to play, through birth, for Wales.

We must not forget also that this compressed competition places the emphasis on strength in depth, which clearly benefits England. That factor may or may not accelerate a possible move towards a two-tier six-nations, with the Celtic teams, Italy and maybe Canada, playing their own tournament, with an end of season play off against England or France, a scheme dreamt up by Jeff Probyn, a member of the RFU council, amongst others.

After this, Probyn may be politely told by some deep voices from the Valleys that he might like to review that suggestion.