Aaron Wainwright’s stunning showing for Wales on Sunday will probably be best remembered for Sebastien Vahaamahina’s elbow to the jaw. But we should not forget the amount of elbow grease that it took from the Dragons flanker in his man of the match showing to get his side over the line. The flanker scored a stunning solo try in the first half, played the full 80 minutes for the first time in a big game this tournament after Josh Navidi limped off early, copped Vahaamahina’s elbow in what proved to be the pivotal passage of play after half time, and still had enough energy to help Ross Moriarty over the line for the crucial late score. “It was a brutal game and very, very tight. We’re pleased to come away with the win, but there is lots to reflect on,” said Wainwright, who also made 14 tackles in the 20-19 win. “We’ve been building for the last 18 months and the belief has always been there. Coming in at half time behind, we came out with belief we could still get the job done. “We kept pressuring them and we knew we had to get points on the board first and we did that. We built from there and we’re really glad to get the job done. We’re into next week now. “It shows we can grit it out and get the job done even if it’s not the prettiest. That’s a positive we can take out of today, but hopefully we won’t have to do that next week and we can play some pretty rugby.” This time last year, Wainwright have never started a Test for his country.
