Tries by Anthony Watson, Kyle Sinckler and Ollie Lawrence propelled England to a nervy 20-10 victory over Wales in a scruffy Six Nations encounter on Saturday that showed how much both teams have to do to become competitive in the championship.
England started strongly with an Owen Farrell penalty and a well-crafted try for Watson, making his first start for two years, but Wales briefly led after an intercept try by Louis Rees-Zammit at the start of the second half.
England regained the lead when Sinckler burrowed over and though they were on top for most of the second half, they made the game safe only 10 minutes from the end with another well-crafted try finished off by Lawrence.
It was England’s second successive win following the home victory over Italy but made it three defeats out of three for Wales, who rarely looked dangerous, to complete a wretched week where the fixture was in doubt after the players threatened to strike in their row with the Welsh union.