London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Messy England pile on more Wales misery by edging Six Nations dogfight

Messy England pile on more Wales misery by edging Six Nations dogfight

England win in Cardiff for the first time since 2017, but it was far from pretty

Error-strewn England averted a crisis of their own with a vital 20-10 win in Cardiff to plunge strike-racked Wales deeper still into a pit of despair.

Lose this match and England could have been staring down the barrel of a grave predicament. Instead, it is Wales who will be haunted by the ghosts of a bleak future.

Owen Farrell missed 10 points off the tee but had enough nerve to grind a messy England home at the Principality Stadium.

A week dominated by Wales’ strike threat gave way to a Test match of low quality, worryingly for both sides but particularly for Warren Gatland’s men.

Athony Watson, Kyle Sinckler and Ollie Lawrence bagged the scores to drag England to their second victory of this year’s Six Nations, with Steve Borthwick’s men doubtless relieved to tiptoe out of Wales with the win.


Louis Rees-Zammit claimed an intercept score for Wales, but Gatland’s team were poor, especially at the breakdown where they were bested by England’s gleeful turnover hunters.

Wales have now suffered their worst Six Nations start since 2007, with a haunting time ahead, as much on the field as off it.

Freddie Steward was masterful in the air while Jack Willis and Lewis Ludlam were imperious over the ball. Lions stalwart Farrell struggled with boot on ball but still dragged England home, seemingly on sheer will alone.

Whatever the positives, England face tournament top dogs Ireland and France to close out this competition. Surely only a major improvement will allow Borthwick’s men to add to their win tally, suggesting another mid-table finish.

England’s profligacy kept the game tight throughout. Farrell was charged down, punted straight into touch, missed five points off the tee – and still kept on coming in a mixed first half.

The gritty skipper insisted England would have to cope with making mistakes in Cardiff, but he did not expect to be at the heart of such fire-fighting. Steward mopped up after Taulupe Faletau charged Farrell down to start a raucous day.

England lost the ball three times in contact in a rusty opening, before Farrell converted an early penalty. The visitors then claimed the half’s sole score, with Max Malins and Lawrence combining to scythe the line on the same angle.


Henry Slade’s dummy line opened the door, and Malins and Lawrence busted it down. Alex Dombrandt’s floated miss-pass then sent Watson home for a well-worked try.

Farrell missed the tricky conversion then Leigh Halfpenny put Wales on the board with a penalty. England talisman Farrell then made the rare mistake of punting out on the full to spark a circumspect final 10 minutes of the half.

England won a big scrum penalty only for Farrell to miss the routine shot at goal, then Steward knocked on a high bomb to blow a try-scoring chance. Wales powered deep into England territory and punched the line time and again.

Lawrence and Dombrandt won one fine turnover penalty, then Lewis Ludlam topped that with an even better steal. England tiptoed to the break with an 8-3 lead, only to undo all that defensive work in a flash after the interval.

Malins’ stray pass gifted Rees-Zammit the intercept run-in, and Halfpenny’s conversion had Wales in front for the first time in the match. That two-point advantage was scrubbed out almost immediately though, as Sinckler bundled home after a driven lineout and the forwards going through the tight phases.


Farrell’s conversion had England leading 15-10 on the hour. England should have extended that lead by three points, only for Farrell to miss another very gettable goal.

Replacement Ben Curry pulled off another pivotal England turnover to stunt Wales’ new-found momentum, but only temporarily as the visitors had to endure another extended defensive sequence.

Lawrence scooped up a loose ball to set England back on the attack, before Halfpenny spilled Farrell’s horrid spiral bomb in his own 22. This time it was Wales who would cling on, winning a breakdown penalty to clear the danger.

England refused to relent however, and Lawrence raced in on the left flank to settle the argument. Two teams both alike in mediocrity, but England can at least be thankful not to endure Wales’ ruinous off-field malaise.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×