England clinch first Triple Crown since 2016

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England clinch first Triple Crown since 2016 Posted On 09 March 2020

England beat Wales in the Six Nations to keep the title race alive with one game left to play.

England’s third victory since defeat on the first day means they sit atop of the Six Nations table, level on points with France after Scotland’s impressive 28-17 win on Sunday.

It took England five minutes to score their first try. It came from a lineout in Wales’ 5m. A planned move to get the ball to Anthony Watson worked and he found the gap to put the ball down for a try. Owen Farrell converted the penalty and set the mood for the day.

Less than five minutes later, Wales were awarded a penalty after England Captain, Farrell, slapped George North while he was on the ground; leading to some pushing and shoving between both sets of players. Leigh Halfpenny converted to make it 7-3.

On the 15-minute mark, England were awarded their first penalty, when Alun Wyn Jones got caught on the wrong side of the ruck and the ref wasn’t happy with his attempt to roll away. Farrell made no mistake with the kick to make the score 10-3. It was a frantic first half with some heavy-hitting tackles from England.

Wales were awarded a second penalty in the 20th minute after England were both caught offside and guilty of trying to take down Josh Navidi by grabbing him around his neck. Halfpenny scored to take the game to 10-6. The game went into a bit of back and forth with lots of kicking until the 33rd minute.

After a quick break featuring Farrell and George Ford, England got the ball to Elliot Daly out on the left touchline who scored the try, and Farrell converted from a difficult position. Moments later, England were awarded another penalty which Farrell again converted, followed by a converted penalty for Wales which took the score to 20-9 at half time.

After half time, Wales made a bright start from the kick-off with a glorious 80m try from Justin Tipuric, but England pegged them back with a converted penalty from Farrell again just minutes later. It was breathless stuff to watch, and in the 52nd minute, Ford, this time, converted a penalty for England.

England’s third try came from Manu Tuilagi in the 61st minute and Farrell kicked the extras. After a raft of substitutions, the game got a little disjointed and in the final five minutes, after a TMO check Tuilagi was sent off for a high tackle on North. With an extra man, Wales managed to score two penalties at the death, one from Dan Biggar and another from Tipuric.

Final score: England 33-30 Wales

England were due to play their last game against Italy on the 14th March, however, with the Coronavirus situation in Italy, it is unlikely we will find out the winners of the Six Nations until the cancelled game is rearranged, which could be in the Autumn.