Analysis: The twenty minutes of baiting from Alun Wyn Jones that led to Kyle Sinckler's demise
Ahead on the scoreboard 10-3 in Cardiff, England looked in a comfortable position at half time against Wales in last year’s Six Nations.
What would transgress in the second half was a huge momentum swing in Wales favour off the back of a targeted period of off-the-ball incidents against England prop Kyle Sinckler, which led to multiple penalties and piggybacks for the home side.
Under the microscope, the ‘game-within-the-game’ between Welsh captain Alun Wyn Jones and Sinckler was very much an influential part of this result.
From the second-half kickoff, Alun Wyn Jones’ pestering of Sinckler began immediately.
As Ben Youngs steadied to launch a box kick, Jones charges into Sinckler in a faux attempt to counter ruck, sending a high knee towards the prop.
Jones (5) is able to bail on the ruck just as quickly, retreating as part of Wales’ transition into attack, having successfully ‘poked’ England’s prop quickly and moved on.
Whilst retreating, Jones then makes sure to locate Sinckler, stopping in his path to block the prop before Sinckler, with a rush of blood, floors him with a shove in the back.
Sinckler’s reaction to Jones’ niggle was confirmation that the tactic could potentially work in Wales’ favour if persisted with.
Ahead of the match, Wales coach Warren Gatland called Sinckler an ‘emotional time bomb’, a sign that this was perhaps part of the game plan to get under his skin.
Jones’ reaction to the shove in the back certainly suggests so, as he immediately looks to Jaco Peyper and the touch judge to appeal instead of getting up and playing on.
Like a schoolyard pest, Jones continues the cycle of baiting Sinckler and politicking the teacher to deliver some sort of punishment.
Less than four minutes later, with Wales mauling inside their own 22, Jones swims around the outside to take out Sinckler.
Jones pushes the envelope, persisting until Sinckler trips backwards over a fallen teammate.
Jones gets his second reaction when the prop tries to bring the lock down with him.
The ‘niggle’ is beginning to agitate England’s prop.
Wales win a couple of penalties and begin to get some momentum in the match, exiting out of this zone before sending up a midfield bomb that spills into touch.
A fight for the ball over the sideline between Liam Williams and Manu Tuilagi sparks a push and shove between the two sides.
Guess who makes a beeline for Kyle Sinckler? Alun Wyn Jones.
Neither player is particularly close to the scuffle, but Sinckler (3) goes in to pull Liam Williams off his teammate, while Jones just goes straight for Sinckler to antagonize him.
Jones pushes Sinckler backwards while getting in his face, trying to incite some offence that would see England get punished.
He is not in any way interested in breaking up the Williams-Tuilagi scuffle, only focused on inciting something new with Sinckler and building up a perception that the Englishmen is a hothead.
This is hardly the actions of a role model captain but, rest assured, once the ref drags him for a chat the hands go behind the back, the head is bowed subserviently, the apologetic ‘sorry sir’ get issued and Jones is back to being a saint all again.
Jones is trying to paint the picture to the ref that he is the victim of Sinckler’s indiscretions when really it is just Sinckler’s retaliation to Jones’ incessant baiting.
The way Jones is able to carry on with the ref blind to the act is impressive but altogether petty nonsense.
In this day and age, the heckler has become the enforcer of the older era. Protected by the laws of the game, hecklers are rarely dished out any punishment without the opposition paying for it.
Off the last possession, Wales ended up with three points from the territory and edged closer, 10-6.
From England’s subsequent kick-off, Wales prepare to exit with a box kick. Jones is protecting the ruck and he is seen watching Sinckler like a hawk.
His head follows Sinckler across the ruck and the lock gets a third reaction out of him, Sinckler drives the shoulder into Jones after some verbal exchange.
The sideline official may have cautioned Sinckler as he is seen retreating with his hands in the air and with a wry smile.
Jones must know the fuse is lit and time is ticking until there will be some action that can be milked into a penalty and possible card.
A minute later, Jones protests to Peyper about something innocuous at the ruck before doing the exact same thing, driving into Sinckler from the side.
This seems to be a final straw that begins to unwind Sinckler.
20 seconds later, the England prop is penalised for a ‘late’ shot on Gareth Anscombe after a chip kick, which amounted to not much but was milked for all it was worth.
After the incident, the first man in Sinckler’s ear is none other than Alun Wyn Jones.
Wales kick for territory following the penalty and begin attacking in prime field position.
Alun Wyn Jones takes a carry into a two-man tackle involving Sinckler, where the tackle slips up after contact and catches him around the neck.
The ever-aware Jones is sure to make sure Peyper knows what’s going on, taking the time to physically point this out to the referee.
Wales received a penalty for the tackle, which was slotted to reduce England’s lead to 10-9. Sinckler was promptly substituted.
The narrative was spun that Sinckler lost control when the reality is the ref’s perception of Sinckler had became detached due to Jones’ artistry, painting a picture and then singing poetry in the ref’s ear whenever he could.
It wasn’t worth the risk to England leaving him out there to play the fool in Alun Wyn’s story any longer.
But in that twenty-minute period, Wales took control of the game and all but erased the first half lead England built.
“If I’m being honest, the Wales game taught me a lot,” Sinckler said six months later during the Rugby World Cup.
“I let the team down, I let my country down. If we had won that game we would have been Grand Slam champions. I had to look within and just work on that side of my game. Rugby is my canvas. I’ve always expressed myself through it, like my outlet.”
If Sinckler really expressed himself that day he would have clocked Jones in the jaw, but he didn’t – so kudos to Sinckler for maintaining control. He did fail to arrest the narrative and control the perception, which led to Wales gaining the upper hand but he didn’t do anything wrong.
This time around, England will have their Alun Wyn Jones-tonic, Maro Itoje, who wasn’t on the pitch last time. Itoje, an equally gifted agitator, will no doubt keep Jones’ hands full and keep Sinckler out of the way – for England’s sake.
Could this 19-year-old play for Wales this weekend against England:
Comments on RugbyPass
9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
8 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
8 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
8 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
8 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to comments