England defeated by Wales in Summer Series opener

5 Aug 2023 | 5 min |

England defeated by Wales in Summer Series opener

Three first half penalties from Marcus Smith gave England a narrow lead at the break, but two second half tries from Gareth Davies and George North proved decisive for the home side as Steve Borthwick's men struggled to capitalise in their opposition's half.

England took control in the early encounters, holding on to possession and working their way up the field from the Welsh kick off. It took Smith just seven minutes to get on the scoreboard, kicking a penalty from just inside the Wales half for an ;early advantage. He added ;a second soon afterwards to double the score.

The home team countered with six points of their own through Halfpenny. The full back opened the Welsh scoring account on the occasion of his 100th Test cap with two penalty kicks to level the scores.

England dominated possession for the remainder of the first forty, Danny Care and Smith pulling the strings but finding no luck inside their opposition's 22; The Welsh defence held strong. With the clock in the red, Smith kicked his third penalty of the game to send his team into the changing room three points ahead.

A momentum shift on the resumption saw the home side score the opening try of the evening. A Sam Costelow cross field kick to Aaron Wainwright opened the gap for captain Jac Morgan to press forward before offloading to scrum half Davies to find the whitewash. Halfpenny converted, and suddenly it was Wales ahead on the scoreboard.

North scored a second converted try as the game neared its final quarter. The outside centre capitalised on a scrambling England defence to dart under the posts following a successful Halfpenny kick chase down the left flank.

Fresh legs in the shape of Kyle Sinckler, Bevan Rodd, Jonny Hill and debutants Theo Dan and Tom Willis looked to inject new energy into England's set piece as they chased an 11-point deficit.

But it was not to be. Despite their best efforts, Borthwick's men were unable to overcome the Welsh defence and Nic Berry's whistle sounded on 80 minutes to bring an end to the game at the Principality Stadium.

The two sides will meet again next week on 12 August for the return fixture at Twickenham Stadium (17:30).

REACTION

Steve Borthwick: "We will see this experience as a positive as we continue to build towards the World Cup. You always want to win a Test match and you want to make sure you get your team in a position to win it. From my point of view, I'm looking forward to next weekend. England v Wales is always a fantastic Test, it's always hard-fought and what we have to do is make sure we take our opportunities better next week."

TEAMS

England

15. Freddie Steward, 14. Max Malins, 13. Joe Marchant, 12. Guy Porter, 11. Joe Cokanasiga, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Danny Care, 1. Ellis Genge (C), 2. Jamie Blamire, 3. Will Stuart, 4. David Ribbans, 5. George Martin, 6. Lewis Ludlam, 7. Tom Pearson, 8. Alex Dombrandt

Replacements

16. Theo Dan, 17. Bevan Rodd, 18. Kyle Sinckler, 19. Jonny Hill, 20. Tom Willis, 21. Jack van Poortvliet, 22. George Ford, 23. Henry Slade.

Wales

15. Leigh Halfpenny, 14. Louis Rees-Zammit, 13. George North, 12. Max Llewellyn, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Sam Costelow, 9. Gareth Davies, 1. Corey Domachowski, 2. Ryan Elias, 3. Kieron Assiratti, 4. Dafydd Jenkins, 5. Will Rowlands, 6. Christ Tshiunza, 7. Jac Morgan, 8. Aaron Wainwright

Replacements

16. Elliot Dee, 17. Nicky Smith, 18. Henry Thomas, 19. Ben Carter, 20. Taine Plumtree, 21. Tomos Williams, 22. Dan Biggar, 23. Mason Grady