Wales v England LIVE: Result and reaction from Six Nations as brilliant England seal record win in Cardiff
Wales 14-68 England: Steve Borthwick’s side ran in 10 tries to humiliate Wales and put the pressure on France in the title race
England produced one of their best performances for years to crush hapless Wales by a record 68-14 scoreline to finish the Six Nations on a high and retain a chance of winning the title should France fail to beat Scotland later.
England have 20 points after winning four matches for the first time since taking the title in 2020 but France, on 16, will top the standings with any sort of Paris victory due to their points difference advantage. Wales will come last for the second year in a row after their 17th successive defeat – a record for a Tier One nation since the game went professional.
England were in total control from the start and tries by Maro Itoje, Tom Roebuck, Tommy Freeman – who became the first Englishman to score in all five rounds of the competition – Chandler Cunningham-South and Will Stuart put them 33-7 ahead at half-time.
Debutant 20-year-old flanker Henry Pollock came off the bench to score two tries and Alex Mitchell, Joe Heyes and Cunningham-South crossed after the break to take the tally to 10 as England easily surpassed their previous biggest victory margin in Cardiff, the 43-9 success in a 2003 World Cup warm-up, and their previous highest score (44-15 in 2001).
Relive all the action from the Principality Stadium in our live blog below:
Wales 0-14 England, 24 mins
Lovely little dink by Marcus Smith in midfield and he almost regathers at full speed but the ball just bounces away from him. Instead Murray picks it up and he sets off!
Surges through a gap, chip of his own which he does collect and he looks set to race away for a try- with Smith out of position, only for Cowan-Dickie to make a diving tap tackle on his ankles to bring him down! What a tackle by the hooker - try-saving, even though it was near halfway.
Very fun passage of play. Both full backs showing what they can do and ]then a hooker showing his athleticism.
Wales 0-14 England, 22 mins
Lineou mistake from England as Cowan-Dickie goes short to the front but it’s not straight. Dear oh dear.
The Welsh scrum just about holds, although it was starting to go backwards and Murray opts to put boot to ball and fire into the 22. Not as ambitious as Wales have been over the last couple of matches in attack.
Wales 0-14 England, 19 mins
Bad, bad news for England. Ollie Chessum is trudging off gingerly. Hopefully nothing serious with the Lions on the horizon...
No legitimate second row cover on the bench for England so Chandler Cunningham-South, a flanker by trade who can play a bit of lock, comes on and will now have to be in there alongside Itoje for 62 minutes... Something for Wales to exploit?
Disaster for England!
Major concern for both teams with a player from each receiving treatment. Wales wing Joe Roberts looks fine to continue, which is good news given the lack of cover in Matt Sherratt’s squad - but it’s a proper nightmare for England, with Ollie Chessum trudging off! Steve Borthwick eschewed any specialist lock reserve on the bench, which will force Chandler Cunningham-South to go 60 minutes at a position at which he is barely familiar at all.
Wales 0-14 England, 18 mins
A little bit of afters following a ruck. Tom Curry lightly touched Smith, leading Wainwright to take exception and then the pushing and shoving began. A whole lot of nothing.
England win a scrum free-kick and then pilfer the ball from the normally solid Welsh lineout. The visitors are making an impact in every facet of the game.
Wales 0-14 England, 15 mins
It has been some start for England in Cardiff
Wales 0-14 England, 13 mins
Itoje penalised for illegally disrupting the lineout and Anscombe kicks into the 22.
Wales have a good platform to build but the attack peters out with solid England defence and eventually they hold Anscombe up in the tackle and win the turnover. A Wales chance fores begging
TRY! Wales 0-14 England (Tom Roebuck, 10 mins)
Daly into the line at pace and wins the penalty advantage. But they don’t need it!
The ball is flung wide to the right, with a long, looping Fin Smith pass, and Tom Roebuck, on his first Test start, powers outside the covering Murray, holds him off and dives over in the corner. Brilliant, brilliant finish from the winger.
And then Smith nails the touchline conversion. Everything going right for England!
NO TRY! Wales 0-7 England, 9 mins
Oh my word! Out of nowhere - Wales have the try! A good box kick by England towards halfway and Daly goes up to compete with Blair Murray.
The ball bounces loose and Murray picks it up and sets off into space. He’s got the gas to race clear and go over for the score.
But we’ll go to the TMO to check... It’s a lengthy process and eventually it’s disallowed, as Tomos Williams was offside and affecting play when it came off the head of Murray. Unlucky for Wales
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