England claim victory over Wales in Summer Series

12 Aug 2023 | 6 min |

England claim victory over Wales in Summer Series

England overcame Wales 19-17 at Twickenham in their second Summer Nations Series Test.

A Maro Itoje try, nine points from the boot of Owen Farrell, and five from George Ford secured the victory, as Steve Borthwick's men held off a tough Welsh side whose points came via a penalty try, as well as from Tomos Williams, Owen Williams and Dan Biggar.

Early pressure at scrum time yielded penalties, and enabled England to dictate territorial advantage. On their first visit to the Welsh 22, Farrell placed a grubber kick behind the defensive line and into the path of the onrushing Henry Arundell - but the wing was beaten to the ball by Liam Williams, who touched down in-goal.

Ill discipline at the breakdown from the visitors led to the first points of the match, as Farrell opened his account with a penalty on the 10-minute mark.

England showed glimpses of promise in attack, Farrell looking dangerous when taking the ball to the line, and Jack van Poortvliet threatening gaps around rucks. But the scrum half was forced to leave the field on 30 minutes with an ankle injury making way for Ben Youngs, who came on to earn his 123rd Test cap.

Borthwick's charges went down to 14-men when Arundell was shown a yellow card for tackling Williams, after the full back had called a mark and tapped to run the ball out of his 22. It gave Wales confidence, and they worked down the field, setting up their most promising attack off the back of a five metre line out - stubborn English defence thwarting what looked a certain rolling maul score.

Farrell doubled England’s lead on the stroke of half time with a penalty directly in front of the posts, and though it was a slender lead, the half time stats were more substantial: England making 98 more metres, beating six more defenders, carrying 17 more times, and forcing Wales to make 35 more tackles.

The Match Centre highlighted Elliot Daly as a standout performer in the opening half - making his first appearance in over a year - the Saracen beat a defender on each of his three carries.

England were restored to 15-men at the resumption but Wales went down to 14 within the opening 40 seconds, as Tommy Reffell was shown a yellow card for an infringement at the breakdown, and Farrell slotted the subsequent penalty to make it 9-0. Opposite fly half Williams got one back minutes later, opening his side's account, and reducing the deficit back to six points.

Ellis Genge came off the bench to earn his 50th Test cap, but received a yellow card four minutes later. Freddie Steward was sent to the sin bin in quick succession after making contact with Josh Adams in the air - referee Nika Amashukeli deemed a try would have been scored from the cross-field kick if Adams hadn't been impeded, so awarded a penalty try, giving Wales a lead for the first time at 9-10.

Captain Farrell was then shown a yellow card minutes later for a high tackle on Taine Basham - which was later upgraded to a red - and Wales took immediate advantage, breaking from inside their own half before centre Joe Roberts provided the try assist for scrum half Williams. Biggar's extras made it 9-17.

England roared back with a try of their own, as Itoje powered over from a line out rolling maul, and Ford's extras made it a one-point game. Wales second row Adam Beard was shown a yellow card on 74 minutes, and moments later England were awarded a penalty. Ford stepped up, and sent it through the uprights to confirm a 19-17 win.

Teams

England

15. Freddie Steward, 14. Henry Arundell, 13. Joe Marchant, 12. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Elliot Daly, 10. Owen Farrell (C), 9. Jack van Poortvliet, 1. Joe Marler, 2. Jamie George, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. George Martin, 6. Courtney Lawes, 7. Ben Earl, 8. Billy Vunipola

Replacements

16. Theo Dan, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Jonny Hill, 20. Jack Willis, 21. Ben Youngs, 22. George Ford, 23. Max Malins

Wales

15. Liam Williams, 14. Josh Adams, 13. Joe Roberts, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Tom Rogers, 10. Owen Williams, 9. Tomos Williams, 1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Dewi Lake (C), 3. Tomas Francis, 4. Rhys Davies, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Dan Lydiate, 7. Tommy Reffell, 8. Taine Plumtree

Replacements

16. Sam Parry, 17. Kemsley Mathias, 18. Dillon Lewis, 19. Christ Tshiunza, 20. Taine Basham, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Dan Biggar, 23. Kieran Williams