George Ford’s late penalty and a Maro Itoje completed a thrilling turnaround as England claimed their first win of the Summer Nations Series against Wales.
Reduced to 12 men for a period of the second half, caused by two sin-bins and a red card for captain Owen Farrell, the hosts looked doomed when Tomos Williams put Wales 17-9 up.
But England, with their backs against the wall, responded brilliantly and muscled their way over the line through Itoje from a lineout to restore some hope with 11 minutes left.
With momentum with them, and 14 players again on the field, the hosts dominated the final 10 minutes and Ford capitalised on when a Wales player was caught offside, to kick England to a 19-17 victory.
It was not a game without incident. There were six yellow cards, a red card for Farrell and three players forced off with injuries that could have huge World Cup ramifications.
England will sweat over the fitness of scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet, as well as the disciplinary procedure that will follow Farrell’s red card for a dangerous tackle on Taine Basham, while Wales lost captain Dewi Lake and No.8 Taine Plumtree.
Farrell was in the thick of the action early as England, backed by a vocal home crowd, started positively.
In the second minute Farrell booted a high spiral bomb into the gloomy Twickenham sky that Josh Adams was unable to catch. Adams’ knock-on invited England into Wales’ 22 and Farrell’s kick in behind for Henry Arundell to chase forced Tom Rogers to quickly scamper back and prevent a try.
The England captain was soon on the scoresheet, as he successfully converted his first penalty kick from close range, christening a fast start for the hosts.
But Wales nearly responded when a fabulous 50:22 from No.8 Plumtree set-up a Wales lineout, from which they won a penalty and a five-metre scrum. But England turned the ball over and cleared their lines to maintain a slender lead.
The half notably slowed, as scrums dominated, and Wales head coach Warren Gatland was soon forced into a change, as Lake hobbled off with a knee injury to curtail his first game as captain.
England had problems of their own. First, Arundell was then sent to the sin-bin for taking out Liam Williams from a quick-tap, before scrum-half Van Poortvliet had to be helped from the field after suffering what appeared to be a severe ankle injury.
England finished the half with a second Farrell penalty but only after failing to breach the Wales’ defence following a lineout five metres out.
Wales went down to 14 men soon after the re-start as Tommy Reffell was pinged for not releasing at the breakdown. Farrell took aim at goal and knocked through his third penalty of the match.
Owen Williams soon put Wales on the board with his first penalty of the day, but the good news stopped there as Plumtree gingerly walked off with his arm in a sling – Wales’ second significant injury of the match.
But the game turned around the hour-mark, as Wales took advantage of an Ellis Genge sin-bin to score the game’s first try.
A high, hanging crossfield kick from Dan Biggar found Adams on the left wing, but he was tackled in the air by the covering Freddie Steward. After a TMO review – which also included a potential try for Liam William – Steward was also sent to the bin and Wales awarded a penalty try.
Things soon got worse for England, as Farrell was pinged for a dangerous tackle on Basham. The referee sin-binned the fly-half and asked the TMO to review the incident under the new review system.
Wales cashed in, exploiting the space that 12-man England left to score their second try, as Tomos Williams went in unopposed after a fabulous break from Adams.
Incredibly, England replied with their first try of the Summer Nations Series, Itoje grounding the ball following a five-metre lineout, before George Ford’s conversion cut Wales’ lead to 17-16.
England welcomed back Genge to the game but confirmation that Farrell’s yellow card was upgraded to a red soon followed.
However, the hosts had their tails up following Itoje’s try and the game changed again. With Steward soon back on the field, they built some momentum inside Wales’ 22 and almost took the lead when Joe Marchant, diving full length to reach a Ford crossfield kick, just knocked it on.
The referee came back for a penalty for offside, which Ford knocked through to give England a two-point lead, while Adam Beard became the sixth player to be sent to the sin-bin, ensuring Wales joined England in finishing with 14 players.
The hosts then survived the final few minutes to clinch a crucial victory.
