England vs Wales LIVE: Rugby result and reaction after Owen Farrell red card in Rugby World Cup warm-up
Steve Borthwick’s side rallied late after going down to 12 men to edge Wales at Twickenham
Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing
Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news
England fought back to edge Wales 19-17 in a World Cup warm up full of incident, injury and yellow cards - and notably a red card for captain Owen Farrell that could see him suspended for their opening game of the tournament in France next month.
A dull game burst into life in the second half amid a flurry of sin-binnings for both sides, with one for England‘s Freddie Steward leading to a penalty try for Wales. England were reduced to 12 men with further cards for Ellis Genge and Farrell - later upgraded to red - and Tomos Williams put them further ahead with a breakaway try. However, Maro Itoje hit back for battling England, replacement George Ford converted then kicked the decisive penalty four minutes from the end.
England‘s fans were left somewhat bewildered as they had spent a frustrating hour wondering just how their team were going to score a try and play some rugby but left delighted by the gutsy comeback. Relive all the action from Twickenham LIVE below:
Find the latest rugby tips and betting offers
Warren Gatland reacts after Wales defeat
“Mixed emotions, really. It answered a few questions for us, and about a few individuals. Our game management in the final quarter wasn’t good enough. It should have been comfortable.
“There were some good things we did last week and today capitalated a little bit in terms of accuracy and guys knowing their roles. Some soft penalties. We will have learned a lot from that. That was the most experienced team that England have ever put out there in terms of caps so we have to be pretty pleased with that. They didn’t really put any pressure on us from an attacking perspective.
“Dewi Lake has a bit of a knee issue. We need to get that scanned on Monday.”
Steve Borthwick reacts to England win over Wales
"At this stage, we'll wait to see what happens,” Borthwick says on Farrell’s red card.
“We need to adapt, we have a number of players bringing up to speed, we know situations happen.
“We wanted to name the 33 this week for clarity, but I know we’ll need to adapt.”
Ford and Ojo react to Farrell red card
"He's a leader, we'll get around him, whatever the situation is. He's huge for us, the way he drives us every day, he plays on the edge, of course he does, but that's why he's our captain,” Ford adds on Farrell.
“One thing for sure, we’ll have the best preparation and plan to win the game.”
“We work two or three times per week on height. Somebody goes low, the second man, there are a lot of unfortunate events. We practice it every week.”
Topsy Ojo adds: “There's a ban coming, we just don’t know how long. He's not a dirty player, but a few instances a bit too close to the line. There isn't enough mitigation there, he'll be out for a while. The hope is he isn't out throughout the World Cup, he is going to have a ban. We have to wait to see how long it'll be.”
“It's a lot of lads' first game. We've had a great pre-season, the way we train, we want the ball in hand and get into space, score tries.
“It takes the longest, it’ll come. 100 percent [before the World Cup]. We have the foundations in place.
“We need to add the bit on top, which is the attack.”
George Ford reacts to England win over Wales
“It's a big win in terms of toughing it out. The boys up front won it for us with a set-piece,” George Ford says.
“Critical thing is, what do we do next? Thinking clearly, come up with a plan and go execute it, make sure everybody knows it.
“Three guys off with 15 minutes to do, it’s a tricky one of course.”
Ben Earl picks up the player of the match award after England 19-17 Wales
Ben Earl, who has won the player of the match, reacts to that crazy match: "A lot of hard work, the last seven weeks, that's proof of that, working to the end. We speak about never stopping. There's enough there, we're really pleased.
“We said, ‘rely on what we’ve done, trust our game plan’. We have so much rugby IQ and knowledge, show a bit of fight.
“Questions were asked last week. Test match rugby, against Wales, it’s not going to be pretty.
“It’s about staying the fight. It opened up when we had 12 men, but we kept fighting.”
FT! ENGLAND 19-17 WALES
By the skin of their teeth, England have the win they so needed. It was dismal and dreary for 60 minutes at Twickenham with constat errors and scrum-time squabbles disrupting any chance the game had of developing any rhythm. But it all came to life, rather, in a madcup final rush to the finish, Wales looking to be streaking clear when England were reduced to 12 men but Steve Borthwick’s side somehow, some way finding the fight they needed to steal it.
England 19-17 Wales, 80 minutes
Elliot Daly times his defensive intervention perfectly to catch Liam Williams behind the gainline. Gareth Davies threatens something spectacular from inside his own 22 but is chopped down.
A Welsh fumble - England have clung on!
England 19-17 Wales, 78 minutes
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies