SIX NATIONS 2020 TRIPLE FROWN
Delight and dismay for England as Tuilagi scores but is sent off for no-arms tackle
ELLIOT DALY
Used pace to cross for England’s second try in the left-hand corner after being switched to the wing.
ANTHONY WATSON
handful from when he scored early try with a lovely stutter step.
MANU TUILAGI
Second-half try, but saw red with shoulder charge on George North.
OWEN FARRELL (CAPT)
Sparked early brawl and whinged at ref but flawless kicking.
JONNY MAY
Afternoon ended early after collision with Leigh Halfpenny.
GEORGE FORD
Controlled the game well from stand-off and put Daly then Tuilagi in for their tries.
BEN YOUNGS Sharp inside pass from rehearsed move for Watson’s try and break set up position for Tuilagi try.
JOE MARLER
Unacceptable contribution to dust-up with grab of Alun-wyn Jones’s private parts but strong scrummaging.
JAMIE GEORGE
Hit lineout targets consistently and helped dominate the scrum.
KYLE SINCKLER
Tremendous tackle count. On his best behaviour after his volcanic show in Cardiff a year ago.
MARO ITOJE
England’s player of the tournament. Inspiring.
GEORGE KRUIS
With a move to Japan a possibility, it may have been Kruis’ final England game. Did not let anyone down. Kicking still terrible.
COURTNEY LAWES
As effective as against Ireland with his defensive contribution.
MARK WILSON
Recalled after one league start since World Cup but topped the tackle charts.
TOM CURRY
Ferocious defensive contribution.
REPLACEMENTS: Luke Cowandickie for George (57) 7; Ellis Genge for Marler (66) 5; Will Stuart for Sinckler (77) 6; Joe Launchbury for Kruis (57) 6; Charlie Ewels for Lawes (66) 6;
Ben Earl for Wilson (76) 6;
Willi Heinz for Youngs (70) 6;
Henry Slade for May (8).
AAlex Spink
MANU TUILAGI was sent off and England finished with 13 men - but still hung on to capture rugby’s Triple Crown.
Eddie Jones’ team had promised to raise the spirits of a nation bogged down by the twin-pronged misery of flooding and coronavirus.
They provided the thrills all right as they powered into a 33-16 lead an hour into a brutally physical contest at a sold-out Twickenham.
But they got carried away with themselves and after Ellis Genge was sent to the sin-bin Tuilagi saw red for a reckless no-arms hit to the head of George North.
The decision left Jones raging: “I don’t know what Manu is supposed to do in that situation. How else do you tackle if you don’t tackle with your shoulder? The guy is like literally half a metre off the ground. I just find that bizarre.
“I find the whole thing ridiculous but that is the way it is and we had to cope with it. There was only one team that was ever going to win the game and that was us.”
Fortune
Wales could not believe their good fortune and Dan Biggar and Justin Tipuric snatched late tries to grab a bonus point and leave England clinging on by their fingernails.
“It shows what we can do with those two tries,” said Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones. “But it was too little too late in the end. Ultimately if you don’t win it doesn’t matter.”
For the second game in a row England put themselves in position to take maximum points and blew it. It means they fail to leapfrog France and put any sort of pressure on the unbeaten leaders, who play Scotland today at Murrayfield. Tuilagi’s dismissal made him the sixth England player to be sent off, the first since Elliot Daly against Argentina in 2016 – and the first EVER in a Five/six Nations match.
How it changed the mood of a stadium which had revelled in
England’s customary barnstorming start, with Anthony Watson crossing after just four minutes.
Maro Itoje won a line-out in the Welsh 22, Tom Curry fed the ball out to Ben Youngs who flicked it back inside for Watson to power through two tackles to the line.
Responded
Wales responded by manufacturing a flare-up which ended with TV cameras picking out Joe Marler squeezing the lunchbox of the Wales skipper (left) and Owen Farrell being penalised.
Their tactic seemed to work as they kicked their way back into the contest but England reacted with Youngs, Farrell and George Ford brilliantly putting Daly over in the left corner.
Wales’ response, with the first play of the second half, was even more thrilling.
Nick Tompkins caught the kick-off and played a one-two with Josh Navidi before finding