ENGLAND 48-7 WALES
by DAVID NICHOLSON 
at Twickenham

A COMFORTABLE win for England saw their Six Nations campaign get off to a bonus-point victory as they thrashed a demoralised Wales on Saturday.

Crisis-stricken Wales hastened their downfall with a brainless first-quarter disciplinary implosion that conceded 10 penalties in 21 minutes and saw front rows Nicky Smith and Dewi Lake sent to the sin bin.

Welsh ill-discipline saw four players in the sin bin, and on two occasions the men in red went down to 13 on the field.

Cardiff centre Ben Thomas and Scarlets flanker Taine Plumtree were shown yellow cards in the second half as Wales were reduced to 13 players on two occasions.

“Playing against England with 15 men is hard enough, let alone playing the game with 13 men for 20 minutes,” said head coach Steve Tandy.

“We’re not a good enough team to have these big lapses. We’ve got to be more accurate and I’m bitterly disappointed.”

Referee Pierre Brousset gave his yellow card a full workout as also sent two English players to the bin.

Maro Itoje came on in the second half to deafening roars but was instantly sin binned for off-side as Wales attacked the English line for their only score of the game.

Tom Curry was also shown a yellow card for a tackle off the ball, which seemed gratuitous as the Welsh were no danger even with the ball.

The Welsh domestic game is in disarray at the moment as the Welsh Rugby Union ineptly tries to reduce the number of regional sides from four to three.

This will reduce the number of players in Wales and whether this had an impact, it was clear that many of the Welsh side did not look as though they wanted to be on the field.

Wales lacked discipline, their set piece and especially line-out was poor and they failed dismally to compete for the ball in the air.

The referee awarded Wales a penalty five metres from England’s line and the visitors decided to tap and go, except the forwards forgot to tap the ball first — a schoolboy error.

Contrast that with England’s intelligent kick chase as the home side looked to retain possession and use the captured ball as an attacking springboard.

Wales have now won only two of their past 24 Test matches, while head coach Steve Borthwick’s men move on to their 12th successive victory.

Tommy Freeman scored in all five of England’s games in the tournament last year, and steamed over in the final seconds to keep his scoring streak going.

England’s fly-half George Ford was a deserved man of the match, kicking beautifully, and probing the Welsh defence with excellent passes and dinked kicks.

England had their bonus point in the first half with flying winger Henry Arundell scoring a hat-trick within 35 minutes.

The Twickenham crowd greeted Henry Pollock’s entry onto the field with a buzz of anticipation and the youngster didn’t disappoint as he went over for a try.

But the try was disallowed with Pollock having a foot in touch, but Welsh foul play by Plumtree was penalised with a penalty try and a yellow card.

Head coach Steve Tandy has a huge job on his hands as his side take on the defending Six Nations champions France next Sunday in Cardiff.

Tandy hopes Wales will receive the usual home backing. “The fans have given amazing support for the team.

“We know what it means to the boys to play in the Principality Stadium and the fans give them huge belief,” Tandy said.

England head coach Steve Borthwick praised his side’s defence, but was critical of their attacking prowess ahead of next weekend’s visit to Edinburgh.

“I thought we defended exceptionally well, but I think we left a lot out there on the grass.

“We’ll review this game and say there’s a load of things we could do a lot better. Those are the things we need to step up next week.”