Full back Wes Pooley was Wales’ hero, scoring four of his side’s five tries in a comfortably victory. It meant Wales atoned for their 21-8 defeat to England when the two sides last met.
Skipper John said: “We knew the first half was going to be difficult because of the wind but the boys stuck at it into the second half. We played to our game plan and scored a lot of tries. The boys are really pleased.
“England beat us two years ago, we had the attitude of the underdogs and we came out firing. We wanted to win the game and we did.”
Given the chance to play on the artificial surface at Cardiff Arms Park, Wales took advantage by producing some superb running rugby.
John added: “The crowd was fantastic today – it’s the first time I have ever played in front of a crowd like that. We had 40 deaf children playing at half time today and that’s great to see. They can now look to us and hopefully we can inspire them to pursue their rugby, playing for Wales Deaf or for any international team.
“These kids can achieve anything they want to achieve if they set their mind to it. It doesn’t matter if they are deaf or not.”
Try hero Pooley said: “It was a great day with a great crowd. Our deaf team has grown and grown and with a platform like this, I hope the sport can grow and grow.
“The more we play in stadiums like Cardiff Arms Park, the more we can develop the game.”
Pooley’s four tries downed England with tighthead David Wellbeloved adding the fifth score. A loan penalty from scrum half and skipper Graham Sage was England’s only response.
Sage had missed an early chance to open the scoring but after growing into the game, Wales started to get on top. Fly half Richard Lewis set up Pooley for his first score of the day and although Sage was successful with his second penalty effort, another Pooley score gave Wales a 14-7 interval advantage.
The restart saw the heavens open leaving both teams to adjust to the new conditions. The change in the weather failed to halt the home side’s momentum though with Wellbeloved extending Wales’ lead to three scores.
The procession continued with Pooley adding two more scores to complete a memorable win.
