An experimental England squad beat a strong Wales team 33-19 at Twickenham on Sunday, as the hosts followed a typically abrasive first-half lead with a composed second-half performance.
An England line-up featuring only a handful of regular first-choice starters overpowered Wales thanks to tries from Billy Vunipola, Joe Cokanasiga and Luke Cowan-Dickie, as well as flawless kicking from captain and flyhalf George Ford.
The visiting Grand Slam winners struggled for attacking cohesion throughout, despite tries for Gareth Davies, George North and Alun Wyn Jones, and compounded their woes with an injury to flyhalf Gareth Anscombe.
Wales have not won at Twickenham since the last World Cup and never looked like ending that run to spoil the occasion of skipper Alun Wyn Jones becoming his nation’s most capped player.
Wales captain Jones told Sky TV: “We probably came out of the blocks a bit slow. You’re always wary of that first 20 minutes, whether international or domestic. We feel we probably let in two soft ones.
“We’re professionals. You can’t say you’re rusty coming off the break. We’re well aware where we let ourselves down in that first half.
“We’ve got another opportunity next week. This is the first one on the journey this season and obviously there’s going to be lots to work on.”
Debutant scrumhalf Willi Heinz was among a number of fringe England players that advanced their claims for inclusion in the World Cup squad that Australioan coach Eddie Jones will name on Monday.