Match Centre: England 23-19 Wales

England 23-19 Wales, Twickenham Stadium

Marcus Smith kicked six penalties as England managed to hold off Wales with a 23-19 win in the third round of Six Nations at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

This is second win for England in three games as they move to the second place with 10 points but with Ireland set to play Italy on Sunday, they could slip back to the third position while Wales have slipped to fifth place with five points.

The game also saw Ben Youngs came off the bench to win his 115th cap and in the process became the most capped player for the red rose team surpassing Jason Leonard.

An early infringement from Owen Watkin allowed Marcus Smith to kick a penalty goal in the third minute to get England off the mark. Another breakdown penalty conceded by Wales allowed England to double their tally as Smith kicked another three-pointer in the fifth minute.

Wales were reduced to 14 players temporarily by the end of the opening quarter as Liam Williams was sent to the sin-bin for illegally dislodging the ball from Charlie Ewels.

The 22nd minute saw Wales' Tomas Francis leave the field for a Head Injury Assessment but returned back seven minutes later. The scoreline became 9-0 following Smith's third penalty kick around the half-hour mark before he managed another three-pointer at the stroke of half-time as Eddie Jones' men scored 12 unanswered points in the opening half.

England extended their lead further early in the second half as Alex Dombrandt went past Alex Cuthbert to dive in the corner as the scoreline became 17-0.

The first response from Wales came in the 53rd minute as Tomos Williams fired a pass for Josh Adams to score. Dan Biggar missed the conversion but made amends in the 60th minute when Nick Tompkins dotted down with once again Tomos Williams playing a pivotal role making it 17-12.

A long-range penalty goal from Smith in the 68th minute provided England some cushion extending their lead to eight points and soon it became 23-12 after Rowlands was penalised and the Harlequins star slotted another three-pointer.

Kieran Hardy's late try provided England a scare but eventually Wales succumbed to a four-point defeat putting an end to their Six Nations hope.

Team line up:

England: Steward; Malins, Daly, Slade, Nowell; Smith, Randall; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Sinckler, Ewels, Itoje, Lawes, Curry, Dombrandt.

Reserves: George, Marler, Stuart, Isiekwe, Simmonds, Youngs, Ford, Marchant.

Wales: L Williams; Cuthbert, Watkin, Tompkins, Adams; Biggar, T Williams; W Jones, Elias, Francis, Rowlands, Beard, Moriarty, Basham, Faletau.

Reserves: Lake, G Thomas, Brown, S Davies, Morgan, Hardy, Anscombe, J Davies.