Welsh rugby has had some troubling times in the past 18 months. Allowing England to run riot in their Cardiff home will rank as the lowest point.

England produced one of their best performances for years to crush hapless Wales by a record 68-14 scoreline on Saturday, finishing the Six Nations in second place after France took the title by beating Scotland in Paris.

England consigned ailing rival Wales to a 17th straight loss with a record 10-try 68-14 drubbing to finish the Six Nations on Saturday. England ended up second, its highest finish since it was the 2020 champion.

Steve Borthwick has never been a man to deliver dramatic post-match verdicts, either as England's captain or coach, but he must have been fighting the urge to punch the air after his team's 68-14 Six Nations thrashing of Wales on Saturday.

It is fear that England players are meant to feel on their journeys west, a raw and primeval terror of having their reputations torched in the white heat of the Cardiff cauldron. As Long as We Beat the English: that was the ditty written by the Stereophonics especially for this duel in 1999,