Venue: Twickenham Date: Saturday 25 February Kick-off: 1600 GMT
Wales were expected to start on a tough note as their last win at Twickenham was 1988, making it one victory out of thirteen, but many pundits felt that it could be Wales’ afternoon with the strength of the team and the maturity of their development.
Wales were expected to start on a tough note as their last win at Twickenham was 1988, making it one victory out of thirteen, but many pundits felt that it could be Wales’ afternoon with the strength of the team and the maturity of their development.
When the game kicked off Wales instantly put the pressure on England, 19 year old George North began storming through England’s defence but was luckily pushed back before the red’s tried to make it through again.
Although England persistently tried to knock their rivals away it proved difficult.
12 minutes in and ‘Swing low, sweet chariot’ was echoing round the stadium in a bid to get England back to their winning form. But still this proved to be ineffective, as Wales continuously held possession.
However there was still no score on the board 20 minutes in but Wales currently held territory at 64%.
England’s former hooker and BBC sport pundit commented at this point during the game and said; ‘"England's chasing game cannot be singular. Tom Croft did well to get to Leigh Halfpenny but there has to be more than one white shirt there to be effective."
But then England won a penalty and Owen Farrell took the squad into a 3-0 lead, scores became level, however after just one restart when Halfpenny earned the points for Wales.
England soon began beating down the Wales defence and Farrell yet again scored another penalty making a 6-3 lead. But it didn’t take long for the scores to become level again when a sense of déjà vu was apparent with Halfpenny making Wales even.
At half time England were in the lead 9-6 with Farrell scoring yet another penalty for the squad.
At which point BBC Sport Rugby Union expert commented; ‘I've been really impressed with how comfortable Owen Farrell has looked. He is playing with his head up and, alongside Manu Tuilagi, he has made England's backs look really good.’
It looked like England’s game in the start of the second half, when the score was bumped up to 12-6 but Wales managed to earn themselves another penalty 52 minutes into the game.
At that point there was a sense of urgency. Both teams became frustrated, England were warned about their tackles causing Wales to earn yet another penalty making it 12-12 with just eight minutes to go.
And then the fatal blow for England was when Scott Williams plummeted through their defence earning a try for Wales and ultimately grabbing seven points with a mere three minutes to go, England could do nothing to fight off the Welsh, ending their victory streak.
Wales completed their triple crown, three wins out of three with two more games to go.
Team Line Ups
England : 15-Ben Foden, 14-Chris Ashton, 13-Manu Tuilagi, 12-Brad Barritt, 11-David Strettle, 10-Owen Farrell, 9-Lee Dickson; 1 Alex Corbisiero, 2-Dylan Hartley, 3-Dan Cole, 4-Mouritz Botha, 5-Geoff Parling, 6-Tom Croft, 7-Chris Robshaw, 8-Ben Morgan.
Subs: 16-Rob Webber, 17-Matt Stevens, 18-Courtney Lawes, 19-Phil Dowson, 20-Ben Youngs, 21-Toby Flood, 22-Mike Brown
Wales : 15-Leigh Halfpenny, 14-Alex Cuthbert, 13-Jonathan Davies, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-George North, 10-Rhys Priestland, 9-Mike Phillips; 1-Gethin Jenkins, 2-Ken Owens, 3-Adam Jones, 4-Alun Wyn Jones, 5-Ian Evans, 6-Dan Lydiate, 7-Sam Warburton, 8-Toby Faletau.
Subs: 16-Richard Hibbard, 17-Paul James, 18-Ryan Jones, 19-Justin Tipuric, 20-Lloyd Williams, 21-Stephen Jones, 22-Scott Williams.
Referee : Steve Walsh
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