By Ben Thomas
A clinical performance from England set up a 68-14 thrashing of woeful Wales on the final weekend of the 2025 Six Nations.
Five first half tries from Steve Borthwick’s men put the game all but to bed by the midway mark. A further five in the second half rubbed salt in gaping Welsh wounds.
Becoming the first tier one side to lose 17 consecutive test fixtures, defeat for Wales also left them collecting the wooden spoon for the second year running after another utterly miserable campaign.
It was the dream start for England with captain Maro Itoje crossing the white line after just three minutes, Fin Smith converting to extend the visitors’ early lead.
Wales thought they had levelled the scores four minutes later when Blair Murray was fastest to a loose ball to break clear, however the try was cancelled out due to an offside ruling against Tomos Williams.
England doubled their advantage in the 10th minute when Tom Roebuck finished well in the corner, Smith there again to add the extras for the away side.
Murray looked the best attacking hope for Wales and looked to have broken through again with a smartly timed kick-and-chase, but a fantastic last-ditch tackle by Luke Cowan-Dickie denied the full-back.
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The home side halved the deficit in the 30th minute, Ben Thomas crossing over under the posts after a well worked Wales move before a conversion from Gareth Anscombe.
However, it didn’t take long for Steve Borthwick’s side to pick up further points with a fast-paced move finished off by Tommy Freeman in the 34th minute.
The try continuing his streak of scoring a try in every Six Nations fixture in 2025, becoming only the second player in history to do so.
The try began a late first-half flurry from England with early replacement Chandler Cunningham-South getting their fourth in the 37th minute, converted once again by Smith.
There was time for a fifth try as Will Stuart scored in the 39th minute to extend their lead to 33-7 heading into the break, all but ending any hopes of a Wales victory.
Matty Sherratt’s team looked a different side in the opening ten minutes of the second half but despite pinning England on their own try line on multiple occasions couldn’t make it count.
England punished them in the 55th minute with Alex Mitchell latching onto a dropped ball, chasing down his kick before converting their sixth try of the evening, converted by Smith.
The rout continued as Henry Pollock sealed his first international cap in the 67th minute with a try, Marcus Smith converting.
Joe Heyes added an eighth for the visitors three minutes later, Smith converting once more to add further suffering for stunned Welsh fans.
Thomas got his and Wales second try of the evening in the 77th minute adding consolation points to the home scoreboard.
There was still time for debutant Pollock to score once more two minutes later, before Cunningham-South added his second and England’s tenth bringing an end to a day to forget in Cardiff.
Wales: Forwards; Nicky Smith, Elliott Dee, Willgriff John, Will Rowlands, Dafydd Jenkins, Aaron Wainwright, Jac Morgan ©, Taulupe Faletau.
Backs; Tomos Williams, Gareth Anscombe, Joe Roberts, Ben Thomas, Max Llewellyn, Ellis Mee, Blair Murray.
Replacments; Dewi Lake, Gareth Thomas, Kieron Assiratti, Teddy Williams, Tommy Reffell, Rhodri Williams, Jarrod Evans, Nick Tompkins.
Tries – Ben Thomas (2).
Conversions – Gareth Anscombe (1), Jarrod Evans (1).
England: Forwards; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Will Stuart, Maro Itoje ©, Ollie Chessum, Tom Curry, Ben Curry, Ben Earl.
Backs; Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Elliot Daly, Fraser Dingwall, Tommy Freeman, Tom Roebuck, Marcus Smith.
Replacments; Jamie George, Fin Baxter, Joe Heyes, Chandler Cunningham-South, Henry Pollock, Tom Willis, Jack Van Poortvliet, George Ford.
Tries – Maro Itoje (1), Tom Roebuck (1), Tommy Freeman (1), Chandler Cunningham-South. (2), Will Stuart (1), Alex Mitchell (1), Henry Pollock (2), Joe Heyes (1).
Conversions – Fin Smith (5), Marcus Smith (4).