England beat Wales in WC warm-up

REUTERS - An experimental England Squad beat a strong Wales Team 33-19 at Twickenham yesterday, as the hosts followed a typically abrasive first half lead with a composed second half performance.

An England line-up featuring only a handful of regular first-choice starters overpowered Wales thanks to tries from Billy Vunipola, Joe Cokanasiga and Luke Cowan-Dickie, as well as flawless kicking from Captain and fly half George Ford.

The visiting Grand Slam winners struggled for attacking cohesion throughout, despite tries for Gareth Davies, George North and Wyn Jones, and compounded their woes with an injury to fly half Gareth Anscombe.

Debutant Willi Heinz was among a number of fringe England players that advanced their claims for inclusion in the World Cup Squad that Coach Eddie Jones will name today, with the New Zealand-born scrum half offering a mix of control and sharp running.

Flanker Lewis Ludlam and centre Jonathan Joseph were also prominent with the latter making his case for the competitive outside centre shirt with a number of trademark side-stepping breaks.

England’s only concerns from yesterday’s game will be the fitness of flanker Tom Curry, who impressed before limping off early, and their habit of conceding clusters of penalties.
Wales, meanwhile, will need to regroup ahead of the return fixture in Cardiff on Saturday, and work out how a defence that only conceded seven tries in the whole Six Nations and rarely left gaps was pierced so regularly by England.