England showed no mercy as they hammered a sorry Wales side to begin their Six Nations campaign with a bang. The hosts ran in seven tries at Twickenham to lay down their title ambitions with a comprehensive victory over their old rivals. Henry Arundell led the attacking charge for England, scoring a hat-trick on his first international start since the last Rugby World Cup.
It was all too easy for the Red Roses, who capitalised on a string of errors from Wales in the early exchanges. Dewi Lake and Nicky Smith were sin-binned in the opening minutes and England twisted the knife by racing into an insurmountable lead. They never looked back and will be hoping to build on their ruthless display when they face Scotland in their next match.
Express Sport rates and slates the England players from today’s game…
Couple of high ball errors early on but showed his attacking power.
Not played since November but back with a bang with England’s fifth.
Some big busts through the guts of Welsh midfield but one poor pass.
Compared to Rodri in the week and like the Man City star made England tick.
First start since 2023 World Cup and made it count by outpacing the Welsh.
106 caps and counting for the Little Master who ran the show for the Red Roses.
Some good early contestable kicking put Welsh under the cosh and linked well.
Part of a dominant scrum but gave away one soft penalty before half-time exit.
Stand-in skipper led the charge at scrum-time and good line-out throwing.
Fast becoming one of England’s go-to players, strong in scrum and loose.
Good at line-out and turning into a really solid operator for boss Borthwick.
Put in some galloping runs but did the nuts and bolts of lock’s job too.
A monster at the breakdown in the first half and really growing into his role.
Like Pepper, bossed Welsh at breakdown in another all-action display.
Big runs off base of the scrum and bulled Mee to barge over line for try.