After the heroism, the devastation, and confidence in Rob Howley, is not flowing like a river in Wales

You only had to look into Rhys Webb’s eyes to see what the defeat had meant. He didn’t seem so very far from breaking down late on Saturday as he articulated the overwhelming sense of regret that Wales had not held out to the last.

“We know that we need to play for the full 80 minutes,” Webb said. “We've talked about that before. We played some great rugby at times, but basic errors that crept in during that last 10 or 12 minutes. We can't afford to switch off. It is difficult to take as a loss, to be honest.”

To have talked about seeing the job through is one thing, though when the dust had settled on the defeat, it was hard to evade the reality that England had seen to the small percentages that win games such as this. The performance provided a little deliverance for the interim coach Rob Howley but confidence in him does not flow from it like a river.

The removal of Ross Moriarty in the game’s 53rd minute took away from Wales the source of the momentum which had been building with some monumental tackling and Howley’s explanation of this did not provoke confidence. “It was just a substitution,” he said. “He played 70 minutes last week. Our bench had a huge impact last week.” The flying gumshield of Moriarty told the story as Wales defended like it was their life’s work in the first half. It sailed through the night air after one of his myriad thumping tackles.

There was another haunting for the Welsh, in the decision of Alun Wyn Jones not to kick penalties and points when the opportunity twice arose in that same first half. Howley said it was his players’ call. “You back your players making decisions on the field,” he said. ”They felt at the time that was the right option. They backed themselves. You trust your players. If that was how they felt at the time; that’s okay with me.” It felt like the kind of group-think which did for Stuart Lancaster's England, against Wales, in the 2015 World Cup match at Twickenham.

It was equally hard to find empathy for the decision to throw Alex Cuthbert into the occasion when the nation’s conversation had centred on his desperate struggle for form. In the final reckoning, it was the inadequacy of Jonathan Davies’ attempt to clear his lines which proved fateful, and then the failure to fan out and prevent England gaining width in possession.

Cuthbert’s failure to take down Elliot Daly in the corner at the end, taken with a spilled ball in the tackle, revealed an individual out of self-belief, though. To select him on the basis of what he delivered four years ago was an error of judgement. He should have been protected from an outcome such as this.

For Howley, there was blessing in the way that the side provided what they had not in Rome, nor for much of the autumn, though to hear in the aftermath Eddie Jones discussing England’s obsession with the closing minutes of Test matches was to appreciate the difference between experience and world class at elite level coaching.

Sam Warburton located another difference - between what the players and coaches had agreed was necessary and what transpired in the final outcome. “We just need to get better in the last 10 minutes. That was the message from the coaches, and all the players agree. The message came on that we had given away four penalties in a 12-minute period, and they got a lot of territory from that in the first half and scored a try.” Webb and Company delivered something epic and heroic but the nation would have sacrificed both for victory.