England began their quest for Six Nations glory with a 48-7 defeat at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium, where they powerfully punished Wales.
After France defeated Ireland in the tournament opener on Thursday, England were tasked with underscoring their status as the reigning champions’ biggest rivals, a challenge they met relentlessly.
Arundel celebrated their first Test start since the 2023 World Cup with three first-half tries, including touchdowns and penalty tries from Ben Earl, Toe Roebuck and Tommy Freeman.
Wales were the culprits in creating their own downfall, faltering time and time again under England’s brutal rule, with the visitors reduced to 13 men in the first period after Nicky Smith and Dewi Lake were sent to the sin box.
Wales may have arrived at Twickenham with unprecedentedly low expectations, but this slapstick once again hit Steve Tandy’s side with a sobering reality and exposed the scale of the task of reviving Welsh rugby.
For Steve Borthwick and England, the comprehensive bonus point victory – their 12th consecutive Test win – was the latest measure of their continued progress ahead of next week’s injury-hit Calcutta Cup trip to Scotland.
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James Cole and Jack Wilkinson reflect on England’s 48-7 victory over Wales in the Six Nations
England put poor Wales to the sword
England were well on their way in the first minute. George Ford made a misplaced pass following an early penalty, allowing Arundel to escape into the corner for his first goal, building a 10-0 lead within eight minutes.
Prop Smith paid the price for a persistent Welsh foul in the 17th minute and was sent for bingo, before captain Lake followed up with a cynical maul 30 seconds later, leaving the visitors with 13 men.
It took England a few seconds to take advantage of their numerical advantage, with Ford and Arundel linking up again, with the winger collecting the fly-half’s cross-field kick and touching down the second goal unopposed.
Wales eventually conceded 12 points, with Smith and Lake running off the pitch and Earl attacking the touchline and heading over for a corner to score England’s third goal midway through the first half.
Even if they returned to full strength, there would be no rest for Wales. Fraser Dingwall pounced on a mishandling error from Wales’ last line and immediately passed the ball to Arundel, who completed his hat-trick by firing past Aaron Wainwright.
Henry Arundel scores England’s first try against Wales
England picked up where they left off early in the second half, with Tom Roebuck cutting through Wales to score the hosts’ fifth try.
Twickenham gave a loud salute to England captain Maro Itoje, who came off the bench for the first time since his mother’s death.
However, he was on the field only seconds before being sent to the bin for repeated fouls due to increased pressure from the Welsh side, with Josh Adams collecting a cross-field kick for a touchdown, leaving the visitors with no blushes and eventually bringing the score to the table.
Manager Henry Pollock saw the try was canceled for touching the leg, but Tain Plumtree’s tackle on the forward was judged to be high and England were awarded a penalty.
After seeing the score chalked out by a Luke Cowan-Dickie neck roll at the breakdown, Tommy Freeman rose to the corner to add the final sparkle to England’s victory, clinching the victory with ease.
Ben Earl scores England’s third try in the first half against Wales
Ford: I have some unfinished business.
The match’s man of the match, England fly-half George Ford, told ITV:
“There was a bit of frustration there. We were hoping for a good start and a decent performance and we got that.
“The start of a Test match is always a big deal. The first 10, 15, 20 minutes are needed to tactically get a foothold into the game and build that foothold.
“We’re trying to put parts of the game together, very good defense, kicking game, set pieces, we want to make everything an attacking opportunity. The more we create, the more we’ll get.”
“We probably left a little bit of unfinished business today. Murrayfield is always tough but we’re looking forward to it. We always love going up there and we’re going to do our best.”
Borthwick: There’s a lot of room for improvement.
England head coach Steve Borthwick: “Defensively we were great. We know Wales have a lot of dangerous players and they have a lot of pace out wide, but we contained them really well.
“Our kicking game was good, our set-pieces were good, but there is a lot of room for improvement.
“What I’m really happy about is that we’ve been able to create a lot of chances and convert them well.
“We didn’t take our chances the way I wanted, especially in the second half. There’s a lot to work on.”
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England head coach Steve Borthwick was full of praise for Henry Arundel, who scored a hat-trick in England’s big Six Nations win over rivals Wales.
The ‘self-inflicted’ element of Wales’ defeat
Wales head coach Steve Tandy: “We’re really frustrated. We loved the work we did all autumn and as a group. But today we’re more disappointed in ourselves.”
“A lot of what happened today was of our own making. We felt we were in a good position, but to lose when you’ve got four yellow cards and your ball handling is so inaccurate, you’re always going to be behind on the scoreboard.
“It’s part of the game and part of the journey of where we’re going. There’s a reason we’re where we are.
“At the end of the day, we’re really disappointed with our performance tonight. England are in a really good position and we’re extremely disappointed.”
What’s next?
England travel to Murrayfield to face Scotland in the Calcutta Cup on February 14th at 4.40pm, while Wales host defending champions France in Cardiff on February 15th at 3.10pm.
