England have sealed a Six Nations Triple Crown with a 33-30 win over Wales this evening at Twickenham.
The victory which was by no means easy for the hosts as Wales put up a valiant performance with a late rally, but it leaves them in contention for the title as they wait to see how France and Ireland fair in their final games.
England came bolting out of the blocks at the start of the game, putting in some massive early hits on their opponents and their bright opening was rewarded in the fourth minute.
Following a break through the Welsh half the home side had a line-out inside the Welsh 22 and off that they unleashed a brilliant move leading to Anthony Watson stepping through the defence, holding off two tackles to touch down. Captain Owen Farrell slotted over the conversion from the right-hand side to make it 7-0.
Wales came back fighting and thought they had scored a try five minutes later only for George North to knock-on at the vital moment. Although Leigh Halfpenny got his side off the scoreboard with a penalty that resulted from the afters of that try incident.
However, a quarter of an hour in and Farrell smashed over a penalty of his own to push England 10-3 in front.
Halfpenny cut the lead back down to four minutes later as he kicked his second penalty of the match.
It was the hosts that struck again next as they spread the ball out left off the back of a line-out that was in a similar position to the one they scored their opening try from and Elliot Daly ended up darting over in the corner after some quick hands. Farrell made no mistake from the conversion to stretch the lead out to 17-6 with eight minutes to go in the half.
Over the final 10 minutes Farrell and Dan Biggar traded blows at penalty time to leave the score at 20-9 in England’s favour come the half-time whistle.
It took Wales just 27 seconds to register the first try of the second half as they broke from their own 22 straight from kick-off putting the ball through the hands while charging forward, with Tomos Williams eventually sending it to Justin Tipuric, who raced under the posts for the score. Biggar provided the extras with from the tee to make it 20-16 a minute into the half.
However, four minutes later and England went further in front as Farrell once again punished the visitors with a penalty kick.
While Farrell received attention for an injury George Ford took over kicking duties as the home team won another penalty, but the result was the same as the ball sailed between the posts to extend the lead back out to 10-points.
Just past the hour mark and England had their third try of the evening as Ben Youngs broke away in the middle of the pitch, and within a number of phases the ball found Manu Tuilagi who had the easiest of jobs in waltzing over for the try. Farrell continued his perfect form from the tee to leave it at 33-16 heading into the final quarter.
Wales camped in the England 22 for the next few minutes as England conceded penalty after penalty before substitute Ellis Genge was sent to the sin-bin after the referee lost his patience.
Two minutes later and they were reduced to 13-men as Tuilagi went from hero to villain following a dangerous hit on George North, which left the referee with no option other than to show him a red card.
With that two man advantage Wales eventually got over the line for a try as Biggar ran through a gap in the defensive line, reaching out and tapping down. He converted his own try to make it 33-23 with two minutes to go.
Wales ensured they left Twickenham with a losing bonus-point as Rhys Webb provided a lovely offload for Tipuric to touch down for his second try of the game with the clock in red. Biggar kicked the two-points with the last action of the match to leave it at 33-30 come the whistle.
As mentioned above the win leaves England in with a chance of winning the championship depending on results elsewhere and their own postponed fixture against Italy that was meant to be played next weekend. Meanwhile Wales will hope to avoid a fourth loss in a row when they take on Scotland next Saturday.
Player Ratings
England Starting XV:
Elliot Daly (8), Anthony Watson (8), Manu Tuilagi (6), Owen Farrell (7), Jonny May (N/A), George Ford (7), Ben Youngs (9); Joe Marler (8), Jamie George (7), Kyle Sinckler (7) Maro Itoje (8), George Kruis (7), Courtney Lawes (7), Mark Wilson (7), Tom Curry (8)
Replacements (7)
Wales Starting XV:
Leigh Halfpenny (8), George North (7), Nick Tompkins (8), Hadleigh Parkes (7), Liam Williams (7), Dan Biggar (8), Tomos Williams (7); Rob Evans (6), Ken Owens (7), Dillon Lewis (6), Jake Ball (7), Alun Wyn Jones (8), Ross Moriarty (7), Justin Tipuric (8), Josh Navidi (8)
Replacements (7)
