“There’s quite a few bumps and bruises among the players but most of all our pride has really been dented,” admitted Ruddock. “We felt confident all week before the game but in fairness to England they were very strong and powerful and put us to the sword.”

Martyn Williams had given hope of ending 18 years of Welsh hurt at Twickenham with his try just before half-time, but the veteran flanker then left his team a man down for ten-minutes after being sent to the sin bin for fouling Lewis Moody. Ruddock refused to criticise Williams but admitted the yellow card turned the game.

“We were right in the game after 50 minutes and I thought we looked comfortable, but the crucial moment was the yellow card,” said Ruddock. “It’s the referee’s decision and we have to respect that, but it made things very hard and England went for the jugular.

“Overall I thought the boys really got stuck in. We were worried about the first 20 minutes because we knew England would come out all guns blazing. We dealt with that and I thought we played some good rugby.

“In the end, little mistakes cost as and England’s power told. The scoreboard doesn’t lie and the better team on the day won but I thought the scale of the defeat was pretty harsh and didn’t reflect the game.”