Arundell scores hat-trick as England heap misery on Wales

Men's Six Nations

England (29) 48

Tries: Arundell (3), Earl, Roebuck, penalty try, Freeman Cons: Ford (4) Pens: Ford

Wales (0) 7

Tries: Adams Cons: Edwards

A remorseless England piled pain and points on Wales as they began their hunt for the Six Nations title with a 48-7 victory at Allianz Stadium.

Wing Henry Arundell, making his first start for his country in more than two years, scored a first-half hat-trick as England put themselves out of sight before the break.

Josh Adams was picked out by Dan Edwards' precise punt for Wales's solitary try five minutes after the restart, but, for the most part, the one-way traffic continued to steamroll the visitors.

Tom Roebuck added to Ben Earl's first-half try, before the introduction of Marcus Smith, Henry Pollock and returning captain Maro Itoje energised England for the final quarter.

Earl, as he did in the 68-14 romp in Cardiff last year, switched to midfield late on as England used the remaining game time to try out new patterns for the campaign to come.

Tommy Freeman, who scored in all five of England's games in the tournament last year, powered his way over in the last play of the game to keep that scoring streak going.

Wales have now won only two of their past 24 Test matches, while the domestic game is racked with uncertainty and rancour as the Welsh Rugby Union attempt to restructure four regional sides.

Ominously they take on France, the defending champions who took apart Ireland on Thursday night, next weekend.

The contrast to England is stark. The hosts' 12th straight victory was roared to the rafters and belief is swelling that their run can carry them to a first title since 2020.

A far tougher test of those credentials awaits in the shape of a wounded Scotland in Edinburgh next weekend, but their mix of accurate attack and furious defence was hard to fault.

It was certainly too potent for Wales.

England coach Steve Borthwick had forecast a barrage of high kicks from Wales and, with the Twickenham surface slick after heavy morning rain, he was soon proved right.

Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams hoisted the first box-kick after 40 seconds and Ellis Mee's chase of another sky-scraping boot earned Wales some prime field position.

England were not averse to taking the same route, with George Ford testing Louis Rees-Zammit with a pair of spiral bombs early on.

It was soon clear though that only England had the urgency, intensity and power to capitalise from the chaos that followed.

After George Ford's third-minute penalty, a first England try followed as Guy Pepper led the heavy brigade into contact and Ford zipped the ball wide for Arundell to stroll in.

Shipping points at the rate of one a minute, Wales's faint hopes were then torpedoed by two yellow cards in the space of 60 seconds.

Nicky Smith and fellow front-rower Dewi Lake were dispatched to the sin bin in quick succession as they illegally went after England at a line-out close to their line.

Understaffed and underpowered, England picked Wales off.

Given the option of a penalty in the shadow of the posts to restart, captain Jamie George called for a scrum to the glee of the Allianz Stadium crowd.

The set-piece monstering duly followed, opening space for Ford to casually punt the ball wide for Arundell for his second. Ben Earl then bullocked over out wide as England made the most of their powerplay against 13 men.

Wales were restored to their full complement at 22-0 down, but they rarely managed to wrestle momentum their way.

England's fourth try – Arundell's third – was largely self-inflicted as Dan Edwards lobbed a pass behind Rees-Zammit, allowing Dingwall to scoop up and feed Arundell.

The Bath wing had touched the ball only three times, and scored on each occasion, recording the team's first Six Nations hat trick since Jonny May against France in 2019.

With the contest all but over at 29-0 at half-time, both coaches will have spent the second half taking notes for weeks to come.

The experiment of running Freeman in midfield was a partial success for England. The Northampton man made more metres than any other England player as he hunted the ball and found space, although at least one chance went begging as he failed to release a galloping Roebuck outside.

Richard Wigglesworth, now overseeing England's defence, will have relished how his side stubbornly shut out Wales, flying into tackles and defending their line as a source of pride.

Steve Tandy's side kept their chins up and the defeat was not on the scale of the Cardiff capitulation last year.

Rees-Zammit's switch to full-back worked well as he came through an aerial examination and sliced through open field with strength and speed on one 55th-minute break.

Tomos Williams showed his class at scrum-half, while the back-row axis of Alex Mann, Josh MacLeod and Aaron Wainwright scrapped hard at the breakdown.

But this is a team early in development and short in depth.

England unloaded their bench to loud acclaim from most of the 81,953 in attendance and, an almost immediate yellow card for Maro Itoje apart, their energy swamped Wales in the final quarter.

Wales have promise, but also much progress to make if they are to close the gap.

England: Steward; Roebuck, Freeman, Dingwall, Arundell; Ford, Mitchell; Genge, George, Heyes; Coles, Chessum; Pepper, Underhill, Earl.

Replacements: Rodd for Genge (43), Cowan-Dickie for George (51), Davison for Heyes (51), Itoje for Coles (51), T Curry for Underhill (51), M Smith for Steward (65), Pollock for Roebuck (65), Spencer for Mitchell (67).

Sin-bin: Itoje (52).

Wales: Rees-Zammit; Mee, James, B Thomas, Adams; Edwards, T Williams; Smith, Lake (capt), Griffin, D Jenkins, Beard, Mann, Macleod, Wainwright.

Replacements: Carre for Smith (51), Francis for Griffin (51), Plumtree for Mann (51), Grady for Mee (53), Deaves for Macleod (53), Carter for Beard (70), Hardy for T Williams (79).

Not Used: Belcher.

Sin-bin: Smith (17), Lake (18), B. Thomas (66).

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

Assistant referees: Nic Berry (Australia) and Morne Ferreira (South Africa)

Television match official (TMO): Tual Trainini (France)

Four play review official (FPRO): Brett Cronan (Australia)