Wales 14-68 England: England score 10 tries in Cardiff rout

Buoyed by the belief inspired by narrower scorelines against Ireland and Scotland, Wales fans had dared to dream before kick-off, snarling and singing through England’s warm-up.

It took only three minutes for reality to intrude. England kicked a penalty to the corner, caught, drove and burrowed over though captain Maro Itoje.

England’s Under-20 side had taken a similarly early lead the previous night at the neighbouring Cardiff Arms Park, only to be overhauled by a committed Wales performance.

Blair Murray scooping up a loose ball and scampering in might have been the spark for a similar comeback, or at least longer-lasting resistance.

But referee Nic Berry chalked off the score, spotting Tomos Williams getting involved in play from an offside position after an Alex Mitchell box-kick had been spilled.

A minute later, Tom Roebuck – picked out by a fizzed Fin Smith miss pass – showed tremendous reach and strength to dot down with Murray hanging off him, which stretched England’s lead to 14 points inside 10 minutes.

The visitors kept winning the small battles.

Gareth Anscombe was held off the floor after running into a tag team of Will Stuart and Tommy Freeman. Ben Earl celebrated a scrum penalty. Luke Cowan-Dickie made a superb tap-tackle to deny Murray.

And by the end of the half England were making big dents in the scoreline.

Freeman cantered in on 34 minutes after quick hands from Northampton team-mates Fin Smith and Fraser Dingwall to become the first Englishman to score in every round of a Six Nations campaign.

On 38 minutes, Chandler Cunningham-South, on early for the injured Ollie Chessum, powered through Murray on his second surge in quick succession.

With the final play of the half, Stuart stepped and shunted over. Fin Smith only missed the final conversion and England went down the tunnel 33-7 ahead, with the bonus point already secured.