England secure victory over Wales at Twickenham
England made it two wins from two in the 2024 Guinness Men's Six Nations with victory over Wales in front of a home crowd.
Tries from Ben Earl and Fraser Dingwall complimented two George Ford penalties to secure the 16-14 victory at Twickenham as Wales responded with a score from Alex Mann and a first-half penalty try.
- Talking Points: Borthwick and George react to victory over Wales.
- Extended Highlights: England v Wales
Warren Gatland's men came into the fixture looking for a first win of 2024 following their narrow loss to Scotland in round one, while England had their sights set on a second successive victory following their 24-27 victory in Rome last weekend.
Borthwick's men earned a fast start in the early exchanges, attacking deep inside the Wales 22 with piercing runs from the likes of Freddie Steward and Elliot Daly. However, an early yellow card to Ollie Chessum shifted the momentum and it was the visitors who chalked the first points on the score board.
It came when referee James Doleman ran under the posts to award Wales the penalty try following the collapse of their driving maul. Ethan Roots saw yellow and England went down to 13 men.
Minutes later Earl crossed for a try, much to the delight of the Twickenham crowd. Maro Itoje forced a Welsh knock-on and the resulting scrum opened a gap for the Saracens No.8 to extend for the line and score.
Wales' second came just minutes before half time. Tomos Williams broke through the England defence, offloading to Mann on the inside for the blindside flanker to run in unopposed.
The half time stats echoed the 5-14 home deficit with Wales retaining 68% of possession in the first forty. Steward made the most metres for England with 43, while Sam Underhill led England's defensive effort with 13 first-half tackles.
Jamie George led his side out for the second half with obvious intent, which was rewarded when Ford slotted an early penalty to narrow the deficit to within six points.
Roared on by the crowd and with fresh legs in the shape of Ellis Genge and Dan Cole in the front row, England began to turn the tide when a string of scrum penalties earned them field position in opposition territory.
With the forwards unable to break through the goal line defence, Mitchell shifted the ball wide through Ford and then Daly, whose gather and offload to Dingwall afforded the Northampton Saint the opportunity for a try in his first ever game at Twickenham.
The inside centre dived inside the left corner flag to draw the game to within one point heading into the final quarter before Mason Grady saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on challenge in his own 22. Ford slotted the resulting penalty kick to give his side the lead for the first time in the contest.
As the clock ticked over the 80th minute, Danny Care gathered from the base of the maul and thumped the ball deep into the stands to seal the victory.
TEAMS
England
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Tommy Freeman, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Fraser Dingwall, 11. Elliot Daly, 10. George Ford, 9. Alex Mitchell, 1. Joe Marler, 2. Jamie George - captain, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Ollie Chessum, 6. Ethan Roots, 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Ben Earl.
Replacements
16. Theo Dan, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Alex Coles, 20. Chandler Cunningham-South, 21. Danny Care, 22. Fin Smith, 23. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Wales
15. Cameron Winnett, 14. Josh Adams, 13. George North, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Ioan Lloyd, 9. Tomos Williams, 1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Elliot Dee, 3. Keiron Assiratti, 4. Dafydd Jenkins - captain, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Alex Mann, 7. Tommy Reffell, 8. Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements
16. Ryan Elias, 17. Corey Domachowski, 18. Archie Griffin, 19. Will Rowlands, 20. Taine Basham, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Cai Evans, 23. Mason Grady.
FIXTURES AND RESULTS
England 16-14 Wales
Scotland v England - Saturday 24 February
England v Ireland - Saturday 9 March
France v England - Saturday 16 March
