26 Feb 2012

Wales beat England at Twickenham, Ireland thump Italy

7:24 am on 26 February 2012

Wales has beaten England 19-12 at Twickenham to complete their 20th Six Nations Triple Crown and move to the top of the Six Nations table.

Replacement Scott Williams scored a breakaway try five minutes from time to give Wales the famous victory over an inexperienced England side.

England had looked set to upset the odds and secure their own third win of the championship as they led for most of the second half before Williams stripped the ball from Courtney Lawes and ran 50 metres to score the only try of the match.

Ireland recorded the first victory of their interrupted Six Nations campaign, finishing strongly to thrash Italy 42-10 at home in Dublin's Aviva Stadium.

At the beginning of a daunting run of four games in successive weekends the hosts, playing for the first time in almost three weeks after their last game against France was postponed, led 17-10 at half-time thanks to tries from Keith Earls and Tommy Bowe but were far from convincing as a Sergio Parisse try kept Italy in touch.

Ireland took much better control of the second half with two Jonathan Sexton penalties giving Declan Kidney's side some breathing space before wing Bowe's second try just after the hour put the contest beyond the Italians.

Replacement prop Tom Court scored his first Irish try three minutes from time and wing Andrew Trimble added a fifth to ensure Ireland won a first home game in four and kept their 15-year winning streak against the Italians intact.