The Principality Stadium, Cardiff

What a change from La Rochelle! A closed roof, every sound echoing, the light-show blazing. It might have been Christmas.

For the third time in recent matches, it was all Wales at the start. They won a put-in eight metres out. Sarah Bern and Sadia Kabeya had to recover from minor knocks.

With Wales a metre or two from the line Kabeya won an easy turnover. The ball flew back to Zoe Harrison, who dropped the ball just in front of the dead-ball line. More drama, please! Harrison knew she had to convince John Mitchell of her worth. He had given Holly Aitchison the 10 shirt eighteen times running, despite howls of disbelief from all Sarries’ fans.

Georgia Evans made a huge burst for the line, but it was Jenni Scoble who finished the job, with a pile of white shirts on top of her. The stadium erupted. 7-0

It took England seven minutes to get their hands securely on the ball, then Wales won a breakdown penalty.

The English breakthrough came from a long kick ahead by Abby Dow, making another much delayed return after injury. Lisa Neumann was forced into touch. From the short line-out Maddie Feaunati found the waves parting – only the referee was slightly in her way – and she sailed through to score. The line-out call had left plenty of space behind to exploit. 7-7

Thrilling thrust and counter-thrust finished with the Red Roses in control. They manoeuvred the ball beautifully (though there was a final bounce-pass), and Megan Jones reminded the home crowd what a loss she was to the cause. A sprint, three steps past the cover and she was over. 7-14

Abbie Ward won her first line-out steal and Jess Breach grubbed ahead to keep the defence guessing.

England now turned on the taps. Harrison was keen to make up for that early error and really got things moving. An inside pass to Dow almost set her free, and the Welsh defence was forced into touch. From there clinical handling gave Bern her 24th try under the posts. That was three inside the first quarter. 7-21

Tatyana Heard’s passes were of the highest quality.

A glamorous move by the English back three finished with Breach touching down, but there’s some law about passing forward. Mackenzie Carson was replacd by Hannah Botterman, and at once the English pack rolled forward. This time no mistake: the ball passed through multiple hands; Breach did well to stay infield, and Feaunati picked up the bits to drop over. 7-26

That was the bonus in 26 minutes – and after a shaky start.

Half-time: 7-26

By now Cymru were finding it very hard making progress; the set-scrum was under pressure; often when Keira Bevan sent the ball out to Lleucu George, her only option was to put the ball high. But that opened up counter-attacking chances for that back three. Defending can be a tiring business.

Sean Lynn made two changes in the front row; the six players collapsed, in England’s favour. It took them seven minutes to add to the tally. Another multi-pass movement let Kildunne wander over on the far left. 7-33

It may be a sign of the times that Jasmine Joyce-Butchers was replaced at this early stage. With the Red Rose forwards doing the hard work Kildunne scored another easy try, this time on the right, with Dow unemployed outside her. (7-38) Harrison’s kick pinged back off the far post.

Another move saw Kildunne score again, but first a TMO check (remember them?). Yes, the grounding was fine; but before that? Indeed, a pass from Heard to Jones in midfield a couple of hours earlier did look forward, but offcials are kind-hearted people really, and the try, Kildunne’s third, stood, 7-43

Now the world spun on its axis. England disrupted a scrum, but Bevan spun the ball blind-side. A neat reverse off-load by Carys Cox saw Kate Williams dive over the line for a second helping. 12-43

On 66 minutes Abi Burton made her debut, one of the more remarkable comebacks in rugby history. We’ve had some grizzly yet heartwarming stories of serious illnesses and injuries, but hers takes some beating.

Now Dow had her golden moment. Harrison, still on despite Aitchison’s entry, hoisted a perfect cross-kick that she could take at full pelt. In and out and over. We haven’t seen that sort of finish for a good while, thanks to a damaged hand. 12-48

Next it was Burton’s turn to mark her first appearance with a try! It caused quite the biggest explosion of joy among her team-mates. 12-55

With four minutes left the white shirts had their tenth try. Lucy Packer went to the short side, and Harrison’s quick hands gave Dow all the space she needed. 12-60

The game could hardly have ended better from an English point of view. The ball, panting for breath, was spun across the field for the new star left-winger, Burton, to run in from a distance, neatly shepherded by the full-time 11, Breach. What a debut, two tries! A final flourish from Harrison brought a conversion from the edge.

Result: Wales 12 England 67
Player of the Match: Ellie Kildunne (another contentious decision; many unqualified voters chose Maddie Feaunati)
Referee: Clara Munarini (FIR)
Attendance: 21,886 (a new Welsh record by a long chalk)

Teams

Wales
15 Jasmine Joyce-Butchers 14 Lisa Neumann 13 Hannah Jones (captain) 12 Kayleigh Powell 11 Carys Cox 10 Lleucu George 9 Keira Bevan 1 Gwenillian Pyrs 2 Carys Phillips 3 Jenni Scoble 4 Abbie Fleming 5 Gwen Crabb 6 Kate Williams 7 Bethan Lewis 8 Georgia Evans
16 Kelsey Jones 17 Maisie Davies 18 Donna Rose 19 Alaw Pyrs 20 Bryonie King 21 Meg Davies 22 Courtney Keight 23 Nel Metcalfe

England
15 Ellie Kildunne 14 Abby Dow 13 Meg Jones 12 Tatyana Heard 11 Jess Breach 10 Zoe Harrison 9 Mo Hunt 1 Mackenzie Carson 2 Lark Atkin-Davies 3 Sarah Bern 4 Morwenna Talling 5 Abbie Ward 6 Zoe Aldcroft (captain) 7 Sadia Kabeya 8 Maddie Feaunati
16 Amy Cokayne 17 Hannah Botterman 18 Maud Muir 19 Rosie Galligan 20 *Abi Burton 21 Lucy Packer 22 Holly Aitchison 23 Helena Rowland
*uncapped

Afterthought

It was a great pleasure seeing the large crowd that turned out at the national stadium. Inevitably the atmosphere cooled as England took over, but the Welsh squad can take encouragement from the support. Now we will see what more repairs Lynn can make as he gains more time with his players.

Trouble is, he has a fortnight before another daunting fixture, against France in Brive. That won’t be a picnic.