Late try gives Wales Triple Crown

Wales won the Triple Crown at Twickenham on Saturday, after beating previously unbeaten England 19-12 in their Six Nations match.

This dramatic win kept alive their hopes of a Six Nations Grand Slam.

The last Welsh side to win at Twickenham, in 2008, went onto win the Grand Slam.

The match was all square at 12-12 with four minutes left, when Wales replacement Scott Williams stole the ball in the tackle from Courtney Lawes from some 50 metres out and hacked downfield before regathering for the only try of the game.

Leigh Halfpenny converted and Wales, who had been down to 14 men after flyhalf Rhys Priestland was sin-binned, were seven points clear.

England though hit back with virtually the last move of the match as wing David Strettle went over in the corner. But he was held up in the tackle by Wales centre Jonathan Davies.

Scottish video referee Iain Ramage prolonged the agony of a crowd of more than 81,000 with several minutes study before deciding no try had been scored and Wales had just their second win at Twickenham since 1988.

And it meant England, who like Wales came into this match on the back of two wins, had suffered their first defeat under acting coach Stuart Lancaster.

They had been six points in front early in the second half on the back of four penalties from Owen Farrell but Wales kept pace with four of their own from fullback Halfpenny.

Lancaster made the bold decision to start 20-year-old Farrell, playing only his third Test, at No.10 in an international for the first time after Charlie Hodgson was ruled out with a finger injury.

Wales nearly had a try as early as the second minute when, after winning clean line-out ball, scrumhalf Mike Phillips’s inside pass sent George North clear.

But the teenage flyer’s surge to the line was halted by a last-ditch tap-tackle from Strettle.

Farrell gave England the lead with a 23rd minute penalty.

But from the ensuing kick-off, England infringed and Halfpenny, having missed first time, was on target to make it 3-3.

Fit-again Manu Tuilagi, filling the hole left by Farrell’s move from centre to flyhalf, gave England a physical presence in midfield they’d so far lacked this tournament.

It needed a brilliant tackle from Wales captain Sam Warburton to deny the Samoa-born powerhouse a try.

Wales were offside though and Farrell knocked over a simple penalty to make it 6-3 before Halfpenny levelled the game at 6-6.

Farrell then made light of a tricky penalty from wide on the left to give England a 9-6 half-time lead.

England’s two previous tries this tournament, one each in wins over Scotland and Italy, had been scored by Hodgson charging-down.

And they nearly had a third when his Mouritz Botha blocked Rhys Priestland’s kick early in the second half.

No try resulted this time but Priestland then went offside and was yellow-carded by referee Steve Walsh.

Farrell made it four penalties out of four and England were six points up at 12-6 with Wales a man down.

But a huge hit by Wales centre Jonathan Davies on Farrell turned an England attack into defence and Halfpenny’s third penalty cut the lead to 12-9.

Farrell then missed his first penalty from five attempts and, with 17 minutes left, England were still just three points in front.

Lancaster took off Farrell with 14 minutes and brought on the experienced Toby Flood as England looked to close out the match.

Wales then missed a great try-scoring chance when Scott Williams didn’t pass with two men outside him.

But Halfpenny tied the match with 10 minutes left and Williams then atoned in dramatic fashion.

Man of the match: Owen Farrell had a fine day at flyhalf for England, both in terms of his general play and goal-kicking. Leigh Halfpenny also had a good day with the boot. However, Scott Williams came on and made the impact expected of him – also scoring the match-winning try. He wins our award.

Moment of the match: There is no doubt it is the Scott Williams try four minutes from time – which turned out to be the match-winner.

Villain of the match: This one goes to Rhys Priestland, who was sent to the bin for a professional foul – for deliberately killing the ball.

The scorers:

For England:
Pens: Farrell 4

For Wales:
Try: Williams
Con: Halfpenny
Pens: Halfpenny 4

Yellow card: Rhys Priestland (Wales, 45 – professional foul, killing the ball at the tackle)

Teams:

England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 David Strettle, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Courtney Lawes, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Mike Brown.

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Michael Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (captain), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Paul James, 18 Ryan Jones, 19 Justin Tipuric, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Scott Williams.

Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Pascal Gauzere (France)
TMO: Iain Ramage (Scotland)

AFP & rugby365.com