England overcame a shaky start and some horribly wayward goalkicking by flyhalf George Ford to run in five tries in a 27-13 victory over Wales at Twickenham yesterday to send them on a three-Test tour of Australia in confident mood.
After trailing 10-0 early on, England fought back and eventually surged clear with tries for Luther Burrell, Anthony Watson, Ben Youngs, Jack Clifford and Marland Yarde.
It was a satisfying victory for England, beaten by the Welsh in the World Cup in September but who hit back with a Six Nations win en route to a grand slam, but a day to forget for Ford who missed six of his seven shots at goal.
Last time Joe Launchbury was voted man of the match at Twickenham it was, laughably, after England had been bundled out of the World Cup by Australia but the lock had every right to hold his head up this time after delivering a timely reminder to second-row regulars Maro Itoje and George Kruis.
“We didn’t get the best of starts but it was great to see everyone dig in,” he said. “We had a bit of control in the second half. Myself and all the squad wanted to put in a good performance.”
It was not exactly the confidence-building send-off Wales would have wanted for the toughest challenge in the sport—a three-Test away series against world champions New Zealand.
“We brought a tempo and intensity in the first half that we didn’t bring in the Six Nations,” said Welsh centre Jamie Roberts. “But the 12-point swing at the start of the second half killed us really and I think they deserved their victory.”
England were without any of the players involved in Saturday’s Premiership final when Saracens beat Exeter but, apart from back row debutant Teimana Harrison, still fielded an experienced side against a similarly familiar Welsh XV.
Wales got off to a flier when prop Rob Evans forced his way through some sleeping defenders after seven minutes with Dan Biggar converting and adding a penalty soon after to make it 10-0.
England hit back through centre Burrell, desperate to make an impact after being dumped from the World Cup squad last year, with winger Watson then showing great determination and awareness to get through two tackles then touch down with an overhead backwards stretch for his 11th try in his last 13 internationals.
Trailing 13-10 at the break, England took control within seven minutes of the restart as scrumhalf Youngs showed all his sharpness to cut through two defenders straight from a lineout before number eight Clifford put in a remarkable turn of speed to score from 50 metres despite Welsh complaints that the turnover had been forced by a knock-on by Dan Cole.
Yarde scored the fifth on his first appearance for almost two years to underline England’s eventual dominance.
Wales failed to add to the scoreboard after Biggar’s 27th-minute penalty and will need to deliver a much more sustained assault if they are to have the slightest chance of claiming a first victory over the All Blacks in more than 50 years and first-ever in New Zealand.

Lions, Crusaders press Super title claims
The Golden Lions won a vital away game to take charge of their South Africa conference as the Canterbury Crusaders edged clear in the New Zealand league with three rounds left in Super Rugby yesterday.
Two-time winners ACT Brumbies hold a slight advantage over the NSW Waratahs in the Australian conference, while the Western Stormers hold down the remaining automatic finals berth in Africa 1.
The Lions won a Super Rugby match in the Pretoria fortress of neighbours Northern Bulls for the first time with a seven-try 56-20 triumph to jump to a seven-point lead in Africa 2 heading into the June Test recess.
The Johannesburg-based team's destruction of the Bulls completed a clean sweep this season over other leading South African sides, having beaten the Stormers at home and Coastal Sharks away.
Winger Nemani Nadolo celebrated his return to the Crusaders with a crucial try as they regained control of the New Zealand conference with a 26-21 victory over the Auckland Blues.
With the competition taking a break for the international season, the seven-time champion Crusaders moved to 45 points, three more than the Waikato Chiefs, who were whipped 45-25 by the Waratahs in Sydney.