After Wales’ record 15-44 defeat to England in the opening round of the Six Nations, it amounted to a post mortem. “We gave them the first two tries, and when you’re ahead things are always easier,” Carter said. “It put us under the cosh.”Instead of passing inside to Neil Jenkins or finding touch, Scott Quinnell, fielding a speculative kick, punted the ball straight to Iain Balshaw, who ran it back with interest. “Because of the pace of the counter-attack, when they recycled the ball England’s quicker players wereup against a mixture of ours, and when Gareth Thomas went for Neil Back instead of Jonny Wilkinson the gap was there.” Wilkinson’s inside pass found the unmarked Will Greenwood.Try number two also resulted from Wales kicking away possession, this time from Rob Howley deep inside his own half. “Rob’s box kick wasn’t quite far enough and Gareth Thomas was warned by the referee that he was offside. Although Ben Cohen took it, three of our players failed to wrap him up.

When England moved it right our back line were stretched because they had come in for the kick. Also Dafydd James came in off the left wing to defend.”Balshaw was caught close to the line by Mark Taylor but popped the ball up to Greenwood: 0-12 after 14 minutes to the white hair, white jerseys, and a hair shirt for Wales, who never recovered after spending the first 10 minutes laying siege to the England line.It wasn’t just that two poor kicks had allowed the English to unleash their cavalry There was a lot more to the pattern of play than that. “If you don’t get over the gain line you’re in trouble,” Carter said. “England did that from ruck and maul, Wales did not, and that was a big factor Another was that England played with more pace and wit. We didn’t offload the ball in contact, whereas they did on 25 occasions, freeing up space every time They kept the ball alive, we did not England set up 60 rucks, Wales 115 That’s too many, and we weren’t going anywhere. When chasing a game, 80 per cent of teams are intent on creating rucks and mauls. Why?”There were also factors which would have escaped the cameras.

It was no secret that after Cardiff were humbled by Gloucester in the Heineken Cup, several key players, including Jenkins and the captain, David Young, were subdued in the build-up to the international. Jenkins, who threw up during the anthems, seldom kicked the ball, although part of Wales’ strategy was to push Balshaw into the corners, in the expectation he would run. And Wales were well aware of England’s intentions, but their defence had the wrong people in the right place at the wrong time. Some observers thought England’s body language was more decisive, and that even in the huddle before the kick-off they were louder and more aggressive.When England’s considerable back-room staff occupied the touchline – they were so close to the pitch they were able to shout instructions – Clive Norling, the former referee, pointed out that they were infringing the rules. Phil Larder, the England defensive coach, went on the offensive, telling Norling where to get off.”Clive Woodward has certainly surrounded himself with some very good people,” Carter said.

“There are many facets to rugby, and in some respects it’s becoming more and more like American football. In appointing specialist coaches, Woodward has borrowed from the US, and he’s had the full support of the RFU. The structure they’ve got now is superb and the players get confidence from that. They also have the technical know-how which will help them to become the best in the world They’re not far off it now. Wales are going forward, but not as quickly.”Woodward has more coaches than the royal household. In addition to Larder, Andy Robinson, Brian Ashton and the kicking guru Dave Alred, he has men concentrating on scrums and line-outs.