MAY SIX IT

Jonny breaks his tournament duck in style to slay Dragons England ........... 12 Wales ................ 6 by Gary Fitzgerald

JONNY MAY proved he can be a Six Nations scoring sensation as England came out on top in a Twickenham arm wrestle.

The wing grabbed his first tries in the tournament to move Eddie Jones’ side a huge step closer to winning a third successive title.

It also dented Welsh hopes of breaking the England-Irish stranglehold on the competition having been brought back down to earth following their thrashing of the Scots on the opening weekend.

Leicester star May, 27, took his England tally to 12 but had never managed to get over the line in the battle for northern hemisphere supremacy in the past.

But he dived and then cantered over for two quick first-half scores to help Jones’ men make it 24 victories from 25 Tests.

England also made it five straight wins over Wales – only the second time they have achieved that feat.

They were lifted before kick-off with the news that Wales’ full-back and lethal kicker Leigh Halfpenny had been ruled out with a foot infection.

Halfpenny was outstanding against Scotland in Cardiff and his loss was a huge blow to the Dragons who were already weakened by injuries. England captain Dylan Hartley needed off-the-field treatment for a head injury after tackling fellow No.2 Ken Owens seconds tihnet o contest. The hooker managed to recover his senses in time to get back on the field.

Then Owen Farrell showed again why Jones claims he is one of his world-class stars, supplying the ammunition with a perfect diagonal kick into empty space and May applied the after-burner to beat Josh Adams to the ball and slide over.

Farrell failed with his conversion but a loud chorus of Swing Low echoed around the stadium.

Young Rhys Patchell, the target for Jones’ comments to try and unsettle him beforehand, looked nervous early on. He knocked on then missed a long-range penalty kick to the left.

Farrell also set up the second try with a superb looped pass out wide where Joe Launchbury gathered. The big lock had the speed of thought and hand to pass inside to May who strolled over untouched, Farrell converting. Wales appeared to have hit back when full-back Gareth Anscombe dived full-length to beat Anthony Watson to the ball as it bounced behind the line off Steff Evans’ knee.

But referee Jerome Garces ruled, after consulting the TMO, that he did not have sufficient control of the ball when grounding it. He had already awarded a penalty to Wales and Patchell closed the gap by three points.

Wales thought they were about to charge right back into the contest when a superb move down the left flank saw wing Scott Williams try to dive over the line from a fair distance. But a stunning piece of skill and quick thinking from Sam Underhill saw the replacement flanker dive and bundle him into touch.

Anscombe set up a nail-biting final four minutes with a penalty after Ben Te’o was guilty of a high tackle on Adams but England held out.

Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones said of the disallowed try: “I thought it could have been a try but the TMO thought differently. It was a huge moment but we have to take this defeat on

the chin.”