Second-half tries from scrumhalf Gareth Davies and centre George North earned Wales a 20-9 victory over error-strewn England in their Rugby World Cup warm-up fixture in Cardiff on Saturday.
England coach Steve Borthwick selected an unfamiliar team and gave several players, including flyhalf Marcus Smith, a chance to impress ahead of naming his World Cup squad on Monday, but few rose to the occasion. The visitors led 9-6 at halftime and might have been further in front but a combination of poor execution in the Wales 22, not helped by 16 handling errors in the game, and some scrambling home defence kept them at bay. Wales were much improved in the second period and claimed a morale-boosting victory in their first in five tests in Cardiff – but there was plenty of rust from both sides a month before the start of the World Cup in France. Read the game back below with our dedicated match blog, featuring expert insight and analysis from Nick Purewal in Wales!
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Full-time!
81min: Wales boot into touch to call an end to what turned out to be a huge confidence-boosting second half.
For England, that was very concerning.
79min: Young Wales skipper Jac Morgan is named man of the match, and it’s well deserved. A superb showing ahead of the World Cup.
78min: England win a scrum just inside their own half after a fumble from Rees-Zammit. Can England get anything out of this?
76min: Almost a stunning third for Wales but Rees-Zammit is denied on review.
He ran onto his own dink over the top and appears to have grounded it just in the nick of time but replays show it was a knock on.
75min: Wales are keeping England at arm’s length, as they have done all half. Some turnaround.
73min: An untimely fumble from Dan – England’s 16th handling error of the game – halts a promising attack. Borthwick does not look impressed.
71min: Captain Genge is replaced by Bevan Rodd and Hendry Slade is on for Mallins.
69min: Dyer has just been sent to the shops by Cokanasinga.
66min: England cannot get to grips with their line-outs today, another wayward delivery. So many errors today.
