Too easy for Hook to catch out England's 'meatheads'

Wales's James Hook dives over to score the only try of the game (Getty Images)

Theoretically, it should have been a perfect match for connoisseurs of the 0-0 draw: a team incapable of winning the ball against a team incapable of using it. But in practice, there is always the chance that an individual as gifted as James Hook will mess things up by being brilliant without permission, and so it came to pass.

Hook had one chance to score a try in the second of these trans-Severn warm-up matches for the forthcoming World Cup. Correction: Wales had one chance to score a try and the touchdown was duly completed.

Over the stretch of the two fixtures, Wales looked more dangerous than their opponents with ball in hand – quicker in thought, more subtle, more imaginative, more surprising, more ruthless – and were good value for their aggregate victory over the two legs.

Even if the England backs had played with brains fully engaged they would have had to work hard to break down a Welsh defence in which the two flankers, Sam Warburton and Dan Lydiate, made the Trojans of old look like slackers.

Toby Faletau, the inexperienced No8, was scarcely less effective, and although his handling errors make him something of a liability, his energy will be of value over the next few weeks – especially if the body-count is high during and after his country's opening World Cup pool matches with South Africa and Samoa.

Warren Gatland, the Wales coach, knows a decent open-side flanker when he sees one: as a New Zealander, he can claim common heritage with Waka Nathan, Graham Mourie, Michael Jones, Josh Kronfeld and Richie McCaw. It would be stretching a point to put Warburton alongside those titans – the 22-year-old breakaway from Cardiff is not one of life's more creative spirits. But as Gatland pointed out, there are few better when it comes to the down-and-dirty business of forcing penalty turnovers or pinching the ball on the floor.