4 hours ago
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No surprises here, not even a hint of one. England have had tougher training sessions in preparation for this Six Nations and by the end the scoreboard spoke for itself. Wales were not so much beaten as buried beneath an avalanche of seven white tries including a first-half hat-trick for the pacy Bath wing Henry Arundell on his first England start since the 2023 World Cup.
If not quite as big a rout as England’s 68-14 win in Cardiff 11 months ago, the flashing red warning lights were visible from the moment the visitors had two players sent to the sin bin in the first quarter. They never looked like recovering and, in its own way, this disappointment will sting as much as the 73-0 defeat by South Africa in November.
If there was some consolation that England could not always sustain their first-half momentum it was strictly relative. The plain truth was that the game had long since been won and the bonus point banked, although head coach Steve Borthwick will be slightly irked by his side’s inability to put the hammer fully down when Wales were again reduced to 13 men by two more yellow cards in the final quarter.
Either way this was another sobering result for those who believe the Six Nations is only ever as strong as its weakest link. If this 145-year-old fixture ever becomes humdrum the championship will be fundamentally the poorer for it and its traditional colour and passion will steadily ebb away. It is not just Welsh fans who will be praying for some light at the eastbound end of the Brynglas tunnels.
You certainly had to admire the pre-match optimism of the defiant visiting supporter carrying his inflatable leek up the road from Twickenham station. Good news is not exactly rife within Welsh rugby just now and the off-field politics remain poisonous. Those trying to keep the faith badly need something to cling to in the coming weeks but there was scant encouragement here on a cool, grey evening.
By the end Wales had been shown four yellow cards, meaning they played almost a quarter of the game with 13 players. In their last five Test they have now accrued 10 yellows and one red, an indicator of the pressure they are frequently under. For England George Ford ran the game with practised ease and Ollie Chessum was a constant menace but, for the most part, the home side did not have to lift themselves much above second gear.
Just about everything that could have gone wrong for Wales did so in the first half. They were already 3-0 down to a Ford penalty when a charged-down clearance from Louis Rees-Zammit coughed up a useful position and Ford’s precision pass put Arundell over for the game’s first try. It was all a little bit too easy and decidedly ominous.
While Wales were gallant and spirited, their captain Dewi Lake was soon being warned that his side were conceding too many penalties. Within moments Nicky Smith was being despatched to the sin bin and, two minutes later, Wales were reduced to 13 players when Lake also saw yellow for illegally killing a maul.
Sure enough the floodgates opened. With the patched-up Welsh scrum backpedalling and gaps out wide, Ford dropped a little cross-kick neatly into the arms of Arundell to put England 15-0 up inside the opening quarter. With nine penalties already conceded and 51 tackles already made it already had the makings of a hard day’s night.
Then Ben Earl powered through on the left, with Ford’s conversion making it 22-0. It then got steadily worse even after Wales were restored to 15 men. Relatively speaking there was little pressure on Ben Thomas as he headed right and prepared to pass to Rees-Zammit on his outside but the move went catastrophically awry. The ball went to ground a couple of yards behind the flying full-back and instead fell into England’s grasp, with Fraser Dingwall putting Arundell away for his hat-trick score.
The wing has had to be patient since bursting on to the scene, having spent a spell in France playing for Racing 92 after the financial collapse of his previous club London Irish. What has never been in doubt, however, is his searing pace and he now has 11 tries to his name in 12 appearances for his country.
Given England’s 29-point cushion at the interval, the rest was mostly academic. Tom Roebuck slid over for England’s fifth try and, while Wales did finally break their duck through a converted try by Josh Adams, a comeback was never remotely on the cards. Even after Maro Itoje was shown a yellow card within moments of arriving as a replacement, England were swiftly back on the attack with Henry Pollock close to scoring in the right corner. A penalty try was subsequently awarded for a high tackle by Taine Plumtree and Tommy Freeman powerfully rounded things off in the final minute. For Wales, who now welcome France to Cardiff next Sunday, this tournament is already a case of damage limitation.
