Stu not content to settle for Crown
ENGLAND won their first Triple Crown for 11 years and will go into the final weekend chasing the Six Nations title after swatting aside champions Wales at Twickenham. In emphatically avenging a record drubbing at Wales’ hands last season, England’s victory means if they beat Italy in Rome next Saturday and current tournament leaders Ireland lose or draw away to France, then they will take the crown. Wales’ bid for an unprecedented Six Nations title hat-trick effectively ended on a sobering afternoon for a team that was also dismantled by Ireland four weeks ago. Scrum-half Danny Care and centre Luther Burrell scored tries during the opening 35 minutes for England, while Owen Farrell kicked 19 points, landing all of his shots at goal. Only Leigh Halfpenny’s astonishing accuracy — six penalties from six attempts — kept Wales interested, but they could have no complaints as England’s dominance gained a rich and right reward on the scoreboard. It was a landmark success in England coach Stuart Lancaster’s two-year reign but he is taking nothing for granted going to Rome to face Italy. ‘All we can do is control the controllables. Italy will be disappointed and they will be back at home in front of their passionate home fans and it will be a tough match,’ he said after the win in London.
Wales’ woeful kicking strategy and tendency to concede penalties at regular intervals played into English hands, yet the hosts also possessed the game’s sharpest attacking forces in Care and Mike Brown. England, though, should have won by more than they did.
ENGLAND: M Brown (A Goode 78); J Nowell, L Burrell, B Twelvetrees, J May; O Farrell (G Ford 78), D Care (L Dickson 78); J Marler (M Vunipola 63), D Hartley (T Youngs 68), D Wilson (H Thomas 72); J Launchbury (D Attwood 72), C Lawes; T Wood (T Johnson 78), C Robshaw, B Morgan. Scorers — Tries: Care, Burrrell. Cons: Farrell (2). Pen: Farrell 5. WALES: L Halfpenny (L Williams 74); A Cuthbert, J Davies, J Roberts, G North; R Priestland (D Biggar 61), R Webb (M Phillips 52); G Jenkins (P James 63), R Hibbard (K Owens 54), A Jones; J Ball (A Coombs 72), A-W Jones (R Jones 66); D Lydiate (J Tipuric 72), S Warburton, T Faletau. Scorer — Pen: Halfpenny (6). Sin Bin: G Jenkins. Referee: R Poite (France).