England rout Wales to keep title dream alive

Men's Six Nations

Wales (7) 14

Tries: B Thomas 2 Cons: Anscombe, J Evans

England (33) 68

Tries: Itoje, Roebuck, Freeman, Cunningham-South 2, Stuart, Mitchell, Pollock 2, Heyes Cons: F Smith 6, M Smith 3

England are poised to profit on any slip-up by title favourites France after scoring 10 tries in a record Six Nations win over a dismal Wales at the Principality Stadium.

If France fail to beat Scotland in Saturday's final match (20:00 GMT kick-off) then England will lift the trophy for the first time since 2020.

The visitors' selections gambles - bringing Tommy Freeman into midfield and picking six forwards on the bench - paid off despite injuries, as their power overwhelmed the hosts and nudged them within sight of the tournament jackpot.

Wales were left with little to cling to as a 17th successive defeat was all-but assured by half-time and a thrashing confirmed by the end.

Despite the initial air of optimism injected by Matt Sherratt's three-game spell as interim head coach, Wales finish bottom of the table again, 'retaining' the Wooden Spoon from last year.

This defeat surpassed the 50-10 Six Nations loss Wales suffered at Twickenham back in March 2002. Only a 62-5 Rugby World Cup warm-up defeat in 2007 stands as a worse result for Wales in the fixture's 144-year history.

Steve Borthwick's side will watch France v Scotland at their team hotel, and return to an empty Principality Stadium for a potential trophy presentation if a win for the visitors appears to be in the offing at half-time in Paris.

Buoyed by the belief inspired by narrower scorelines against Ireland and Scotland, Wales fans had dared to dream before kick-off, snarling and singing through England's warm-up.

It only three minutes for reality to intrude. England kicked a penalty to the corner, caught, drove and burrowed over though captain Maro Itoje.

England's Under-20 side had taken a similarly early lead the previous night at the neighbouring Cardiff Arms Park, only to be overhauled by a committed Wales performance.

Blair Murray scooping up a loose ball and scampering in might have been the spark for a similar comeback, or at least longer-lasting resistance.

But referee Nic Berry chalked off the score, spotting Tomos Williams getting involved in play from an offside position after an Alex Mitchell box-kick had been spilled.

Instead a minute later Tom Roebuck, picked out by a fizzed Fin Smith miss pass, showed tremendous reach and strength to dot down, with Murray hanging off him unable to prevent the score which stretched England's lead to 14 points inside 10 minutes.

The visitors kept winning the small battles. Gareth Anscombe was held off the floor after running into a tag team of Will Stuart and Tommy Freeman. Ben Earl celebrated a scrum penalty. Luke Cowan-Dickie made a superb tap-tackle to deny Murray.

And by the end of the half they were making big dents in the scoreline.

Freeman cantered in on 34 minutes after quick hands from Northampton team-mates Fin Smith and Fraser Dingwall to become the first Englishman to score in every round of a Six Nations campaign.

On 38 minutes, Chandler Cunningham-South, on early for the injured Ollie Chessum, powered through Murray on his second surge in quick succession.

With the final play of the half, Will Stuart stepped and shunted over. Fin Smith missed only the final conversion and England went down the tunnel 33-7 ahead, with the bonus point already secured.

Wales, in danger of disintegrating in the face of England's power and cohesion, had only Ben Thomas' score, a well-taken line off Anscombe, in reply.

A second Wales score went begging after the break as Aaron Wainwright and Max Llewellyn failed to grasp Ellis Mee's offload in sight of the line.

With England's back row dominating both the breakdown and gainline, it was a rare opportunity.

England were forced to rejig when Freeman went off with an injury. Henry Pollock, who turned 20 in January, was summoned for his Test debut, while Earl moved into the centres.

But the disruption did not stem the flow of scores.

Mitchell hacked upfield and gathered for England's sixth try after Elliot Daly's tackle had dislodged the ball from replacement Jarrod Evans' grasp.

The replacements cashed in on England's unrelenting dominance.

Pollock gleefully marked his Test bow with a score, sprinting in out wide from a sharp pass from George Ford before prop Joe Heyes gathered Tom Willis' spectacular offload for another.

In front of a muted Principality Stadium, the only sound was pockets of celebrating England fans and the shredding of record books.

The visiting supporters' minds turned to title permutations as chants in support of Scotland sprouted in the stands, broken only by cheers as Pollock and Cunningham-South doubled their tallies.

A large proportion of Wales fans had departed before the end, missing Thomas' 77th-minute score which proved little consolation.

The brutal chasm the hosts still have to bridge was obvious to all, however.

Wales: Murray, Mee, Llwellwyn, B Thomas, Roberts; Anscombe, Tomos Williams; Smith, Dee, John, Rowlands, Jenkins, Wainwright, Morgan, Faletau.

Replacements: Lake, G Thomas, Assiratti, Teddy Williams, Reffell, Rhodri Williams, Evans, Tompkins

England: M Smith, Roebuck, Freeman, Dingwall, Daly; F Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Stuart, Itoje, Chessum, T Curry, B Curry, Earl

Replacements: George, Baxter, Heyes, Cunningham-South, Pollock, Willis, Van Poortvliet, Ford