England ’stuck at it’ to get Six Nations job done against Wales

London - England maintained their Six Nations title bid and all but ended reigning champions Wales' hopes of a successful defence with a 23-19 win in an error-strewn contest at Twickenham on Saturday.

England, 17-0 up early in the second half, were still well ahead at 23-12 going into the last minute.

Wales replacement Kieran Hardy, however, then gave the visitors hope of a remarkable comeback with a converted try.

But England, who saw fly-half Marcus Smith kick 18 points, with his Harlequins team-mate Alex Dombrandt scoring a try, saw the game out to inflict Wales' second defeat in three matches this Championship and maintain their own title bid.

"We know how proud the Welsh team is and we knew they were going to come back," Smith told ITV.

"We stuck at it as a team but we got the job done in the end."

England, beaten in a Calcutta Cup clash by Scotland, now have two wins and one defeat this Six Nations.

By contrast Wales, defeated by Ireland in the first round, have now suffered two losses in a Championship where unbeaten leaders France are still eyeing a Grand Slam.

England will likely need to improve if they are to beat Ireland at Twickenham on March 12 before finishing the Championship against France in Paris.

A scrappy first half ended with England leading 12-0 through four Smith penalties.

England extended their advantage to 17-0 early in the second half when No 8 Dombrandt pounced on an over-thrown line-out from Wales hooker Ryan Elias.

Wales, however, hit back with two tries in seven minutes from wing Josh Adams and inside centre Nick Tompkins to leave England with a slender 17-12 advantage going into the last quarter.

Smith then put England two scores in front with a well-struck penalty from 45 metres before an