Jittery England edge out Wales at Twickenham

England survived repeated second-half comebacks from Wales to keep their Guinness Six Nations title hopes alive with victory at Twickenham.

Marcus Smith landed six penalties to keep Eddie Jones' men out of reach, though there were shades of the 2015 World Cup group clash – Wales’ solitary victory at Twickenham in the last decade – as a comfortable lead crumbled.

On this occasion 17-0 became 17-12 as Josh Adams and Nick Tompkins crossed in the third quarter, capping a period of dominance from the champions, but Smith settled nerves with two timely penalties.

England finished a drab first half undermined by endless stop-start play 12-0 ahead but when Alex Dombrandt brilliantly finished an opportunist try, the game burst into life.

Wales finally found their mojo to rattle the home side, but they lacked the firepower to sustain the momentum while their opponents displayed resilience, with Dombrandt and Ellis Genge at the heart of an important period after Tompkins had scored.

A Kieran Hardy try added to the tension in the closing seconds as one last assault was staged without reward.

For a second successive match Smith was named man of the match and apart from his 18-point haul, his repeated attempts to ignite a laboured attack caught the eye.

England revealed their reshuffled backline shortly before kick-off and into the void created by Manu Tuilagi’s hamstring strain stepped Elliot Daly, with Henry Slade moving to inside centre.

But for most of the first half, play bypassed the midfield altogether as Smith’s two early penalties set the tone for the scoring until the interval.

Alex Cuthbert quickly emerged as Wales’ most potent threat as he bulldozed a path through several white shirts but his side were being whistled out of