England's victory over Wales proves reliance on opposition mistakes and minimisation of risks is side's blueprint

In the yin and yang between attack and defence, rugby union feels like it is currently trapped behind a permanent solar eclipse.

It had already been established during this thoroughly dispiriting Autumn Nations Cup that you are better off without the ball and should aim to kick for the sake of kicking. Now England scrum half Ben Youngs has tacitly admitted that teams may wish to avoid making line breaks.

The front row club may dispute this but there should be few more electrifying sights than a player running past a defensive line into the wide open space. Yet Youngs says that more often than not it leaves the ball carrier isolated and at risk of being jackalled.

“The breakdown is now so fiercely competitive,” Youngs said. “It’s highlighted by the fact you make line breaks and you’re still unbelievably vulnerable. Previously if you made a line break all the odds were on you to go and finish it. There’s certainly a shift in the balance. It’s not going to change, certainly not soon.”

There was evidence of this during England's 24-13 win over Wales at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday. On 24 minutes, flankers Sam Underhill and Ben Curry combined superbly to put George Ford away. Yet no sooner than the fly half was felled on the edge of the Welsh 22 by Leigh Halfpenny and Josh Adams was over the ball forcing a penalty for holding on. Advantage Wales.

According to England head coach Eddie Jones this was the fault of the support in failing to follow Ford, even if he veered infield from runners on the outside.

“It’s your ability to capitalise once you have broken the line to quickly get into the position to move the ball to where the next space is quickly or get momentum again,” Jones said.

“Our next phase after a linebreak today was not as sharp as it needed to be. It’s always a combination of factors. For example, George Ford made a linebreak and we got turned over. Our support players were not chasing hard enough. That’s a bit about playing the rugby that is in front of you rather than playing to a prescription. That’s something that we have been working on consistently but we are not quite there yet.”

In total, England were credited with making five linebreaks although two of those by Jonny May and Henry Slade amounted to little. On 64 minutes, Youngs capitalised upon a bouncing ball and a subtle bodycheck by Jack Willis to arc past the Wales captain before putting Anthony Watson on the right-hand touchline. This time support was on hand and Jack Willis kept England on the front foot with a pick and go. Yet with Wales still scrambling backwards, Ford failed to spread the play and Billy Vunipola then knocked on his brother Mako’s pass from the next phase.

Yet England did score from the other linebreak, made by the outstanding Sam Underhill. Crucially, Kyle Sinckler appeared on his shoulder to take his offload which sucked in 13 Wales players, leaving England with the simple task of putting the ball through the hands of the backline for Slade to score.

Their other try was scored by Mako Vunipola after Wales attempted a quick lineout to Taulupe Faletau who was tackled behind his tryline by Underhill and Curry. This reliance on opposition mistakes and minimisation of risks – however great the reward – is the blueprint that England have adopted.

Not that this is exclusive to England by any means. Wales too looked bereft of ideas in possession after more than a couple of phases. Their sole try, scored by Johnny Williams, was virtually their only visit to the English 22 came from a blocked Henry Slade kick. The trend has even reached the Southern Hemisphere, according to Jones.

“I was watching the Mitre Ten Cup final on Saturday morning and I think I saw about eight consecutive box kicks which you never used to see in NZ rugby,” Jones said. “It just indicates how hard it is break down defences now.

“We have got 15 incredibly athletic players who are all trained to be bigger, faster and stronger and the field has not changed size. When I played rugby 30 years ago only seven people defended the field because you had eight people the ruck. Now we have got 15 players able to defend the field, it is just getting harder and harder to break them down. Defences are coming off the line harder so you have got to attack rush defence, which is a new set of skills that are players are slowly developing. We still have a long way to go which is good for us.”