England vs Wales LIVE: Rugby result and reaction after Owen Farrell red card in Rugby World Cup warm-up
Steve Borthwick’s side rallied late after going down to 12 men to edge Wales at Twickenham
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England fought back to edge Wales 19-17 in a World Cup warm up full of incident, injury and yellow cards - and notably a red card for captain Owen Farrell that could see him suspended for their opening game of the tournament in France next month.
A dull game burst into life in the second half amid a flurry of sin-binnings for both sides, with one for England‘s Freddie Steward leading to a penalty try for Wales. England were reduced to 12 men with further cards for Ellis Genge and Farrell - later upgraded to red - and Tomos Williams put them further ahead with a breakaway try. However, Maro Itoje hit back for battling England, replacement George Ford converted then kicked the decisive penalty four minutes from the end.
England‘s fans were left somewhat bewildered as they had spent a frustrating hour wondering just how their team were going to score a try and play some rugby but left delighted by the gutsy comeback. Relive all the action from Twickenham LIVE below:
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England 9-3 Wales, 47 minutes
England win back possession inside the Welsh 22 soon after the restart, but are forced immediately into touch. The hosts have it again after a lineout error...but not for long. Welsh hands spear it on the floor with Nika Amashukeli satisfied the ball was out. England are pinged.
Taine Plumtree has done himself a mischief - that’s the number eight’s evening done. He clutches at his back as Taine Basham comes on.
PENALTY! England 9-3 WALES (Owen Williams penalty, 45 minutes)
And Owen Williams gets his side on the board from right of centre, a friendly kiss on the top of the post as it squeezes through.
England 9-0 Wales, 44 minutes
A statement scrum from Wales, Gareth Thomas putting the pressure on Will Stuart and drawing the penalty. Wales point at the posts for the first time today.
England 9-0 Wales, 43 minutes
England enliven as Ollie Lawrence collects a Welsh fumble and tries to burst into space, hooking an offload towards a teammate but finding only a red shirt. Back for a scrum, 25 metres from England’s line.
PENALTY! ENGLAND 9-0 Wales (Owen Farrell penalty, 42 minutes)
Three more points for Owen Farrell.
YELLOW CARD! Tommy Reffell is sent to the sin bin! England 6-0 Wales, 41 minutes
Two phases and lump it for Wales, Joe Roberts doing the job with his left boot.
Tommy Reffell messes aroudn at the base of a ruck and out comes the yellow! Nika Amashukeli had warned Wales about their discipline just before halftime and the openside pays the price for the collective infringing.
Second half...
Owen Farrell took as long as he could over that penalty to end the first half, ensuring that Henry Arundell would be back amongst things immediately after the interval. The wing hugs the right touchline as Owen Farrell gets us back underway.
HT: England 6-0 Wales
It would be a real blow for Wales were Dewi Lake to now miss the tournament, particularly after the injury to Ken Owens earlier in the summer. Fingers crossed for both.
HT: England 6-0 Wales
England, remember, have only had three nines in camp for most of the summer - given Steve Borthwick has indicated his preference for having three specialists in France, someone will have to get back up to speed reasonably quickly if Van Poortvliet is ruled out. Alex Mitchell was probably fourth in the pecking order when Borthwick made his first squad cut down.
HALF TIME: England 6-0 Wales
Strewth. That wasn’t great. England went through eight phases in that last passage, the most in the match so far, reflecting a bitty game where both teams have been perfectly content to explore the Twickenham aerospace. It hasn’t clicked for either Wales or England, which is probably more of a concern for the hosts with this far closer to their likely World Cup line-up.
And then, of course, there are the injuries to Dewi Lake and Jack van Poortvliet, which we hope aren’t as bad as feared. Neither looked particularly promising, Van Poortvliet especially.
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