Ellis Bevan and Ioan Davies touched down for the hosts, but England showed a clinical edge in attack to cross for six tries and secure a 42-14 victory.
Geraint Lewis’s side enjoyed the majority of territory and possession in the opening stages, but failed to make a breakthrough following a series of unforced errors with the ball in hand.
However, England would display their cutting edge in attack, opening the scoring against the run of play after 10 minutes. Prop Olly Adkins made a powerful charge in midfield, breaking past the Welsh defence, before popping the ball to the supporting Sam Dugdale, who had a clear path to the whitewash.
Tom de Glanville added the extras from the tee, but Wales showed plenty of intent as they looked to reply immediately from the restart. A penalty allowed Sam Costelow to kick for touch inside the visitors’ half, and the resulting lineout saw centre Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler make a clean break in midfield, but his attempted offload was picked out by English scrum-half Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti.
Wings Jacob Morris and Ollie Sleightholme were proving to be a handful for the Welsh defence, and possessed game-changing pace which put their side on the front foot. With England camped inside the Wales 5m, Sleightholme found himself in space on the blindside, but Ioan Rhys Davies recovered well to bundle the wing into touch.
A loose clearance kick allowed England to go back on the attack, with Jack Reeves escaping the clutches of three Welsh defenders to bring play back inside the 22. Kieran Wilkinson and Will Capon came close, but the Welsh defence remained stern, eventually forcing Ollie Lawrence to knock on with the try line at his mercy.
The hosts found it tough to find an exit route from their own 22, and the sustained pressure finally told as Lawrence stepped his way over the line. De Glanville once again succeeded with the conversion.
Lock Rouban Birch found space and galloped downfield, but fullback Ioan Davies was on hand to put in a try-saving tackle and force a penalty from the resulting breakdown. However, there was still enough time for England to cross for a third try before the interval.
A de Glanville pass freed Jack Reeves down the centre and a simple inside ball, returned to de Glanville, put the outside-half in plenty of space to touch down under the posts. The conversion gave the visitors a 21-point lead heading into half time.
Wales made a bright start to the second half, and it took them only 45 second to register on the scoreboard. The hosts worked through the phases inside the England 22, and space eventually opened up for scrum-half Ellis Bevan to snipe over from close range.
Lawrence was a threat every time he got his hands on the ball, and it was the centre who created space for England to touch down for a fourth try. A silky offload put his midfield partner Reeves into space, and the inside centre pulled off an equally outrageous offload of his own to put Sleightholme over in the corner.
Wales struck back with a fine individual effort by fullback Davies. A clearance kick by Lawrence was collected by the fullback, who countered. The Ysgol Gyfun Glantaf pupil beat four defenders, and while he was initially halted, he was not held and he sprung back to his feet to catch the defence napping and take a clear run for the line.Â
De Glanville cut through the Wales defence to add England’s fifth try, and his conversion racked up his personal tally for the afternoon to 20 points, before a devastating break by replacement prop Bevan Rodd set up Blake Boyland for a straightforward run-in towards the line.
Attentions now turn to the inaugural U18 Six Nations, a three-day festival which starts in Ystrad Mynach on Saturday. For more information on this tournament, click here.Â
