Three tries within the house of six minutes, simply earlier than the break, did the harm.
Tommy Freeman, Chandler Cunningham-South and Will Stuart crossed for 19 unanswered factors and England trotted down the tunnel 33-7 up.
The match was carried out. The desecration, although, had solely simply begun.
As England pounded Wales to a powder within the second half, the life seeped out of Cardiff’s sporting cathedral.
Daffodils wilted, dragons drooped and decibels dropped to the quiet hubbub of a cricket crowd.
England did not care about that.
After a run of slim defeats at Twickenham within the autumn, they’ve felt ache aplenty on their dwelling turf.
They exorcised these ghosts, pummelling away with gainline dominance and ambition out the again and out broad.
The numbers spelled it out.
This 68-14 win was probably the most factors England have ever scored towards Wales, surpassing the 62 they ran in in a 2007 Rugby World Cup warm-up.
The 54-point margin of victory was the largest any workforce has managed towards Wales in not simply the Six Nations, however the match in its 5 and House Nations guises too – a historical past going again to 1883.
A raft of novices set new benchmarks.
Tom Roebuck, bodily within the sort out, a menace within the air, sturdy involved, was very good on his first Check begin.
His Sale team-mate Ben Curry, profitable his eleventh cap, was a dervish, profitable turnovers and collisions alike.
Fin Smith is making the ten shirt his personal. Henry Pollock lived as much as the hype, zipping previous deflated Welsh defenders for 2 late scores.
Established names additionally buffed up their Lions credentials.
Tommy Freeman thundered round in midfield to nice impact, having been shifted in off the wing. Ellis Genge confirmed the heavy-duty carrying that some feared had gone out of his sport.
Maro Itoje’s captaincy chops are in proof, making a persuasive case to the referee for Murray’s disallowed attempt. George Ford’s passing picked extra holes in a gaping Welsh defence in direction of the tip.
