Farrell shown red as England edge out Wales

England's preparations for the World Cup continued to unravel after captain Owen Farrell was sent off in a 19-17 victory secured through a late George Ford penalty.

At one point during the final quarter Steve Borthwick's men were reduced to 12 men when Farrell - whose yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Taine Basham was upgraded to a red by the bunker - followed the sin-binned Freddie Steward and Ellis Genge into the stands.

England's brainless final quarter saw a 9-3 lead overtaken by a penalty try and swashbuckling Tomos Williams touch-down as an otherwise lifeless encounter exploded into life the moment Steward took Josh Adams out in the air in the 60th minute.

A fourth successive defeat and slump to ninth in the world rankings beckoned, but they rallied and even with three players off the pitch they claimed a maul try scored by Maro Itoje before Ford landed the winning penalty with three minutes left.

Farrell now faces a ban that could see him miss the World Cup opener against Argentina on 9 September, with his recent three-match suspension for the same offence in January sure to count against him.

Jack Van Poortvliet sustained an ankle injury to leave England sweating on his fitness, while Dewi Lake, Taine Plumtree and Basham emerged concerns for Wales, who ultimately ran out of steam.

There was little to signpost the action to come in a dull first half that saw Farrell reward England's solid start with a penalty.

The one-way traffic was eventually broken up by a 50-22 that gave the visitors a short-range line-out, but England defended the ensuing maul well and a rare chance was gone.

Two returning stars making their first appearances under Borthwick made pleasing starts, with Billy Vunipola barrelling into Wales up-front