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No surprises here, not even a hint of one. England have had tougher training sessions in preparation for this Six Nations and by the end the scoreboard spoke for itself. Wales were not so much beaten as buried beneath an avalanche of seven white tries including a first-half hat-trick for the pacy Bath wing Henry Arundell on his first England start since the 2023 World Cup.
If not quite as big a rout as England’s 68-14 win in Cardiff 11 months ago, the flashing red warning lights were visible from the moment the visitors had two players sent to the sin bin in the first quarter. They never looked like recovering and, in its own way, this disappointment will sting as much as the 73-0 defeat by South Africa in November.
If there was some consolation that England could not always sustain their first-half momentum it was strictly relative. The plain truth was that the game had long since been won and the bonus point banked, although head coach Steve Borthwick will be slightly irked by his side’s inability to put the hammer fully down when Wales were again reduced to 13 men by two more yellow cards in the final quarter.
Either way this was another sobering result for those who believe the Six Nations is only ever as strong as its weakest link. If this 145-year-old fixture ever becomes humdrum the championship will be fundamentally the poorer for it and its traditional colour and passion will steadily ebb away. It is not just Welsh fans who will be praying for some light at the eastbound end of the Brynglas tunnels.
You certainly had to admire the pre-match optimism of the defiant visiting supporter carrying his inflatable leek up the road from Twickenham station. Good news is not exactly rife within Welsh rugby just now and the off-field politics remain poisonous. Those trying to keep the faith badly need something to cling to in the coming weeks but there was scant encouragement here on a cool, grey evening.
At least it was slightly drier than it might have been. Not that full-backs these days have it remotely easy either way. Up went the first couple of Welsh up and unders and neither of them were claimed by Freddie Steward, once supreme in the air but now as mortal as the rest because of the revised statute of limitations around defensive “blocking” runners.
It did not remotely matter in the wider scheme of things. England were already 3-0 up through a George Ford penalty when a charged-down clearance from Louis Rees-Zammit coughed up a useful position and Ford’s precision pass put Arundell over for the game’s first try. It was all a little bit too easy and decidedly ominous.
While Wales were gallant and spirited, their skipper Dewi Lake was being warned inside the first quarter that his side were conceding too many penalties. Within moments Nicky Smith was being despatched to the sin bin and, two minutes later, Wales were reduced to 13 players when Lake also saw yellow for illegally killing a maul.
Sure enough the floodgates opened. With the patched-up Welsh scrum backpedalling and gaps out wide, Ford dropped a little cross-kick neatly into the arms of Arundell to put England 15-0 up inside the opening quarter. With nine penalties already conceded and 51 tackles already made it already had the makings of a hard day’s night.
Then Ben Earl powered through on the left, with Ford’s conversion making it 22-0. It then got steadily worse even after Wales were restored to 15 men. Relatively speaking there was little pressure on Ben Thomas as he headed right and prepared to pass to Rees-Zammit on his outside but the move went catastrophically awry. The ball went to ground a couple of yards behind the flying full-back and instead fell into England’s grasp, with Fraser Dingwall putting Arundell away for his hat-trick score.
The wing has had to be patient since bursting on to the scene, having spent a spell in France playing for Racing 92 after the financial collapse of his previous club London Irish. What has never been in doubt, however, is his searing pace and he now has 11 tries to his name in 12 appearances for his country.
Given England’s 29-point cushion at the interval, the rest was mostly academic. Tom Roebuck slid over for England’s fifth try and, while Wales did finally break their duck through a converted try by Josh Adams, a comeback was never remotely on the cards even when Maro Itoje was shown a yellow card within moments of coming on as a replacement. England were awarded a penalty try after a high tackle on Henry Pollock in the right corner. Tommy Freeman touched down in the final minute. For Wales, who now welcome France to Cardiff next week, this tournament is already a case of damage limitation.
