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Tuilagi sees red but Wales can't stop 13-man England bagging Triple Crown

By Online Editors
(Photo by David Rogers - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

England temporarily signed off a Guinness Six Nations abbreviated by coronavirus by winning the Triple Crown in a 33-30 victory over Wales that was marred by a red card shown to Manu Tuilagi.

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Tries by Anthony Watson and Elliot Daly helped establish a 20-6 half-time lead but memories of Cardiff a year ago resurfaced when a spellbinding try finished by Justin Tipuric just seconds after the restart hinted at another dramatic comeback.

On that day at the Principality Stadium, Eddie Jones’ men were in full command as they cruised 10-3 ahead at the same stage only to suffer a harrowing collapse that the Australian head coach admitted last week still rankles.

But England were ready this time as they stepped up a gear to remove any danger, penalties by Owen Farrell and George Ford followed by a converted Tuilagi try sweeping them beyond reach.

The last six minutes were played with only 13 men after Tuilagi was sent off for a shoulder-led charge to the head of George North as the Wales wing approached the whitewash.

Having showed his remorse to North, Tuilagi departed for the stands where he joined Ellis Genge, who had been sin-binned shortly before for straying offside, but England were already out of sight as Dan Biggar and Tipuric ran in late consolation tries.

Victory over fierce rivals keeps the title quest alive but they must wait to learn when their final round clash with Italy in Rome can be played after it was postponed due to the outbreak of Covid-19.

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If France defeat Scotland and Ireland in their remaining two games, the ill-fated 2020 Six Nations will have new Grand Slam champions and Jones’ decision to take a knowingly undercooked team to Paris will haunt him over the months to come.

A feisty but captivating encounter produced the comical sight of Joe Marler grabbing Alun Wyn Jones by the testicles as tempers frayed around them in what will be a unique case for the citing officer to investigate.

Wales woke up to the news that their former centre Matthew J Watkins had died at the age of 41 after a long battle with pelvic cancer and their spirits sank further as they crashed to a third successive Six Nations defeat for the first time 2007.

Alongside Mark Wilson, Watson was making his first England appearance since the World Cup final and the Bath wing took less than four minutes to make his presence felt.

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Ben Youngs dashed sideways from an attacking line-out and found Watson on the inside, the switch of play offering sight of the try-line. Several side-steps and an outstretched arm later and Watson was over.

Wales muscled their way downfield only to spill the ball over the line, resulting in the first flashpoint of the afternoon.

Biggar and Farrell exchanged penalties but England were dealt a blow when Jonny May failed to reappear from an HIA required after he had collided in mid-air with Leigh Halfpenny.

Farrell was incurring the wrath of referee Ben O’Keefe as he conceded a second penalty and, while Wales had plenty of possession with Jones’ work-rate especially high, their play was aimless.

England’s kicking game overseen by Ford was superior as the underdogs were manoeuvred around the pitch, but once again it was the set-piece that laid the foundations for their second try.

A dominant scrum was rewarded with a penalty and from the subsequent line-out a succession of forward carries created an overlap that was finished with stunning precision when Ford fixed the last defender to send Daly diving over.

Biggar sent a long-range kick between the uprights and just 22 seconds after the break he successfully landed a conversion after Wales had produced a magical try that started when they caught a deep restart and expertly raided the blindside.

Josh Navidi, Nick Tompkins and Tomas Williams timed their passes to perfection and Tipuric had the gas to the finish under the posts.

Successive Farrell penalties calmed home nerves but the killer blow was landed in the 61st minute when Tuilagi strolled over after Wales had splintered in the face of waves of attacks.

George Kruis waved to the crowd as he was replaced, perhaps in recognition that he had played his final match for England as he considers a move to Japan, but upon their arrival the bench were forced to subdue a sustained Welsh assault.

Genge was sent to the sin-bin and Tuilagi trooped off after him and the lack of numbers helped Biggar and Tipuric plunder late tries.

WATCH: Jim discusses the ramifications of the Six Nations going behind a pay wall and no longer being shown on free to watch TV.

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Jon 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
j
john 6 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

28 Go to comments
A
Adrian 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

28 Go to comments
T
Trevor 10 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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