Wales suffer a third consecutive defeat as England claim the Triple Crown despite a Tuilagi red card in the final stages.
England started quickly, charging straight into the Welsh 22, determined to replicate their victories against Ireland and Scotland.
It only took Eddie Jones’ men 3 minutes to get on the score board as a lineout provided Ben Youngs with an opportunity to play Anthony Watson on his inside who skipped past two Welsh defenders to touch down. Farrell converted with ease to take his international points tally past 900.
The England captain conceded a penalty minutes later for pushing winger George North in a ruck near England’s try-line. It was Halfpenny kicking, not the usual Biggar, to make it 7-3.
Winger Jonny May suffered a head injury after challenging for a high ball, he later failed a head injury assessment – Henry Slade replaced.
Farrell scored another penalty to restore England’s seven point lead, following Alun Wyn Jones conceding for not moving away in the ruck.
However, a high tackle on Navidi resulted in Halfpenny kicking between the posts for another three points as the game became scrappy and disjointed.
There was a clever piece of play from Wales as Biggar accurately kicked across field to Tipuric who drew yet another foul. Instead of going for the posts, Wales decided to kick to touch in a move which amounted to nothing.
England were putting Wales under a large amount of pressure without the ball as well as with, their pack aggressively charging at the team in possession.
31 minutes played, Ford switched the ball to the wing as Henry Slade’s dummy run duped George North who came too narrow leaving space for Daly to surge through and score making it 17-6 after Farrell’s conversion.
On the brink of half-time both teams exchanged successful penalties, allowing England to have a deserved 20-9 lead at the break.
Wayne Pivac’s players needed to respond swiftly after the interval, not wanting a repeat of their previous losses against Ireland and France.
That’s just what they did – Wales produced a moment of magic, a try to be added to the greats.
Tompkins set off from his five-metre line, playing the ball to Josh Navidi who returned it to the youngster. He slid it inside to the supporting Tomos Williams who set off a sprinting Tipuric after drawing the last man Daly. It was a 25 metre run but Tipuric finished under the posts just 22 seconds into the second half. Biggar scored the conversion to narrow the gap to 4 points.
Even though Wales seemed to come quickly out of the blocks, it didn’t stop the hosts from picking up more points. Lawes won a penalty for digging at the ruck which Farrell scored with his constant precision.
A scrum penalty was won by English forwards and scored by George Ford – Farrell was suffering with a dead leg.
It was Youngs with the initial break, the ball was eventually played to Ford who, with the Welsh defenders being drawn in yet again, slipped the ball to an unopposed Tuilagi to touchdown what could possibly be the easiest try of his career. Farrell slotted away the conversion.
After conceding countless penalties, Ellis Genge was shown the yellow card for diving in at the ruck, leaving England with 14 men for the remainder of the game.
With Wales on the attack, the ball was played to the wing for George North who was brought down illegally by Tuilagi. After much deliberation between the referee and TMO, he was shown the red card. England were down to 13 men for the final moments of the game.
With 3 minutes left , the visitors completed a simple piece of play, leaving Biggar diving through on the line before he converted.
All momentum was with Wales as the clock went red. Tipuric ran over the line unopposed as the outnumbered 13 man English defence were unable to keep them at bay.
It was too little too late for the visitors though as the whistle was blown and England secured the Triple Crown for the first time in 4 years.
The excitement of quite possibly the game of the Championship is tempered somewhat by the realisation that the tournament may not conclude until the Autumn of this year. France, with a fixture against Scotland on the 8th of March, remain on course to win their first Grand Slam in ten years.
CTSPORTS 