England defeat Wales at Twickenham
England kept their Guinness Six Nations championship ambitions alive with a 23-19 win over Wales at Twickenham.
It had been 721 days since Twickenham hosted fans for a Guinness Six Nations match, and those in attendance witnessed England set a blistering pace against Wales, as Marcus Smith bagged two penalties inside the opening five minutes.
The visitors settled however and worked their way up the pitch, setting up camp close to England's line where they tested the hosts' scrum and lineout defence, which held firm.
Full back Liam Williams was shown a yellow card on the 20-minute mark for tampering with the ball at the base of a ruck, and just before he rejoined the Test, Smith extended England's lead to nine points.
As half time approached, Henry Slade executed a sublime 50-22 to hand England a prime attacking platform, and although they couldn't make it count, Smith was on hand moments later to slot his fourth penalty of the match, making it 12-0 at the break.
In what was a scrappy first 40, Eddie Jones' men had 62% possession, made 66 more metres, 21 more carries and had beaten four more defenders.
Alex Dombrandt struck for England early in the second half, catching the wayward throw of Ryan Elias 10 metres from the Welsh line, before cutting inside Tomos Williams and dotting down in the left hand corner for his first international try. Smith was unable to add the extras.
Josh Adams' try after 53 minutes got Wales on the scoreboard, and Nick Tompkins' converted effort seven minutes later reduced the deficit to five points, as Wales came back into the Test.
Ben Youngs replaced Harry Randall on the hour mark to become England Men's most capped player of all-time, before a brace of Smith penalties gave England a comfortable buffer, at 23-12.
Wales finished the game strong, scoring via Kieran Hardy and securing a losing bonus-point, and England held on for a nervy finish to see out the game 23-19.
Teams
England
1. Ellis Genge, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Charlie Ewels, 5. Maro Itoje, 6. Courtney Lawes (c), 7. Tom Curry, 8. Alex Dombrandt, 9. Harry Randall, 10. Marcus Smith, 11. Jack Nowell, 12. Henry Slade, 13. Elliot Daly, 14. Max Malins, 15. Freddie Steward.
Finishers
16. Jamie George, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Sam Simmonds, 21. Ben Youngs, 22. George Ford, 23. Joe Marchant.
Wales
1. Wyn Jones, 2. Ryan Elias, 3. Tomas Francis, 4. Will Rowlands, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Ross Moriarty, 7. Taine Basham, 8. Taulupe Faletau, 9. Tomos Williams, 10. Dan Biggar, 11. Josh Adams, 12. Nick Tompkins, 13. Owen Watkin, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 15. Liam Williams.
Replacements
16. Dewi Lake, 17. Gareth Thomas, 18. Leon Brown, 19. Seb Davies, 20. Jac Morgan, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Gareth Anscombe, 23. Jonathan Davies.
Fixtures & Results
England 23 - 19 Wales
England v Ireland - Saturday 12 March
France v England - Saturday 19 March
