Winger Henry Arundell scored a first-half hat-trick of tries as England hammered Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.
England, who last won the Six Nations six years ago, ran in seven tries in a 48-7 victory, with Ben Earl and Tom Roebuck also crossing Wales’ line before a penalty try was followed by Tommy Freeman’s late score.
The remainder of England’s points came from the boot of veteran flyhalf George Ford, who was named Man of the Match after conducting the hosts’ attack in style.
Victory extended England’s winning streak to 12 matches and was a personal triumph for Arundell, who has now scored 11 tries in just 12 Tests.
By contrast, this was Wales’ 22nd defeat in 24 Tests and left them still searching for a first Six Nations win since 2023.
Bath wing Arundell featured against Argentina in the third-place playoff at the 2023 World Cup but became unavailable for England when he signed for French club Racing 92 and the 23-year-old only made his Test comeback as a replacement against Fiji in November.
Wales’ cause at a rainswept Twickenham was not helped by Arundell scoring two tries while they were down to 13 men after Nicky Smith and captain Dewi Lake were both sent to the sin-bin in quick succession.
Following Ford’s early penalty, England scored their opening try in the eighth minute following a tap penalty off a close-range lineout, with the flyhalf’s quick pass sending Arundell in at the corner.
Beautiful finish from Henry Arundell
#GuinnessM6N #Since1883 @EnglandRugby pic.twitter.com/CnP6EF3cRe
— Guinness Men’s Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 7, 2026
Wales’ problems intensified when prop Smith was shown a yellow card following repeated infringements by the visitors.
And they were down to 13 when hooker Lake followed fellow front-row Smith into the sin-bin.
England made their two-man advantage count with two more tries.
In the 19th minute, Ford’s excellent cross-kick fell straight into the unmarked Arundell’s arms before an overpowered and undermanned Wales could not stop Earl going over in the left corner despite the best efforts of wing Ellis Mee to tackle the England No 8.
And five minutes before the break, Arundell had his third try.
Wales centre Ben Thomas’ loose pass was picked up off the ground by England counterpart Fraser Dingwall, who released Arundell for a simple score.
Ford’s third successful conversion left England 29-0 ahead at half-time, with the only question now whether they would surpass their 68-14 thrashing of Wales in Cardiff during last season’s Six Nations.
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Sale wing Roebuck, who was only called up after Immanuel Feyi-Waboso pulled out with a hamstring injury on Friday, added England’s fifth try early in the second half.
There were more cheers from the Twickenham faithful in the 50th minute when England captain Maro Itoje, who had started the game among the replacements following the death of his mother, came off the bench.
Although he was shown a yellow card almost immediately after taking to the field.
Wales avoided the embarrassment of being ‘nilled’ when wing Josh Adams caught flyhalf Dan Edwards’s 52nd-minute cross-kick.
Ben Thomas was then sin-binned and Taine Plumtree became the fourth Wales player to be shown a yellow card following a high tackle on Henry Pollock in the 67th minute as the England replacement crossed the line.
French referee Pierre Brousset punished Plumtree’s offence with a penalty try and Freeman’s 79th-minute try completed the scoring.
England continue their quest for a first Grand Slam in a decade away to Scotland, beaten 18-15 by Italy, next Saturday with Wales at home to France, fresh from an impressive 36-14 defeat of Ireland, a day later.
ENGLAND – Tries: Henry Arundell (3), Ben Earl, Tom Roebuck, penalty try, Tommy Freeman. Conversions: George Ford (4). Penalty: Ford.
WALES – Try: Josh Adams. Conversion: Daniel Edwards.
Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
The post Rampant England add to Wales’ woe appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Winger Henry Arundell scored a first-half hat-trick of tries as England hammered Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.
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