England hang on to edge Wales

The goalkicking of flyhalf Marcus Smith ensured that England survived a second-half surge by Wales to triumph 23-19 at Twickenham to stay in the hunt for the Six Nations title – and effectively end Welsh hopes of retaining it.

England first-five Marcus Smith.
Photo: Photosport/INPHO

England led 17-0 early in the second half after four Marcus Smith penalties and a try by Alex Dombrandt but Wales closed the gap to five points with tries by Josh Adams and Nick Tompkins.

Two more Smith penalties looked to have got the job done but never-say-die Wales scored again through replacement scrumhalf Kieran Hardy to ensure the first Twickenham crowd to watch a Six Nations match for two years had to endure a nail-biting two minutes before the defending champions were eventually snuffed out.

The win takes second-placed England to 10 points, four behind France, who beat Scotland 36-17.

England host Ireland in two weeks before signing off in a potential title decider in Paris.

Wales, who lost their opening game to Ireland, have five points and are just about out of the running.

France were at their flamboyant best as they scored six tries at Murrayfield to make it three wins out of three.

Two tries in the opening 13 minutes served notice of their form and status as tournament favourites, as Paul Willemse and Yoram Moefana went over early.

There were four more tries from Gael Fickou, Jonathan Danty and Damien Penaud (2) in a devastating performance, with Melvyn Jaminet adding three conversions.

Scotland offered resistance at stages but only went over the line twice through loose forward Rory Darge, making his first start for the home team, and Duhan van der Merwe. Finn Russell converted one of the tries and added a penalty while Stuart Hogg converted the other.

France, who host next year’s World Cup, keep top place in the standings and remain the only side still capable of taking the Grand Slam – with Wales away and England at home left on their fixture list.

– Reuters