England (20) 29

Try: Care, Burrell

Pens: Farrell 5

Conversions: Farrell 2

Wales (15) 18

Pens: Halfpenny 6

England win triple crown
England claimed the triple crown for the first time for 11 years.

England ended Wales' Six Nations reign with a ruthless display to win the Triple Crown for the first time since 2003 and keep alive their title hopes going into the final weekend of the 2014 championship at Twickenham.

Danny Care and Luther Burrell's trys, coupled with five penalties from Owen Farrell avenged defeat to Warren Gatland's men 12 months ago in Cardiff and ended Welsh hopes of ending a record third year as the northern hemisphere's dominant international side.

Leigh Halfpenny was imperious with the boot with six penalties but British and Irish Lions pair George North and Alex Cuthbert were nullified for long periods as England laid down a marker ahead of the World Cup pool match in 18 months time and set up a final weekend shake-up for the title with Ireland and France, both of whom meet in Paris.

With Ireland holding a substancial points difference advantage of +81, England require a favour from France in order to add a second piece of silverware in as many weeks should they beat Italy in Rome.

Following a week of verbal blows in the media, Wales coach Gatland landed a physiological blow in naming 12 Lions in his team looking to repeat the crushing win at Cardiff 12 months ago and derail England's triple crown hopes.

Stuart Lancaster had resisted in landing a telling blow of his own with fit again duo Manu Tuilagi and Marland Yarde left out of the match day 23, with the only change from the win over Ireland coming in the back row as Ben Morgan replaced the injured Billy Vunipola.

After Ireland had marked Brian O'Driscoll's Dublin farewell with a thumping win over Italy on Saturday to open up an overwhelming points difference advantage, England and Wales both knew only a health victory at a sun-decked Twickenham would leave their championship hopes in their own hands heading into the final round.

Though Wales were seeking a fourth successive win over England, it was the hosts who began immeasurably the better and after David Wilson had put Chris Robshaw within meters of the line, an infringement allowed Care to score his second try in as many tests with a quickly taken restart as the holders retreated.

Halfpenny was gifted the opportunity to reduce the arrears with a penalty which he duly converted and the Six Nations holders could have gone ahead but for once North's finishing evaded him after more missed England tackles.

Luther Burrell
Burrell claimed his third international try.

Amid Farrell and Halfpenny exchanging two penalties each to keep England's lead to four, the game was quickly reaching the frenetic-pace the pre-match build-up had promised but the errors were more prone from the visitors with Rhys Webb failing to match opposite number Care's panache.

And when another error came from Wales before the break it almost undid their hopes of retaining the Six Nations as Richard Hibbard's overthrown line-out inside his own defensive third went the way of Care and when Billy Twelvetrees kicked through, Burrell went over in the corner.

The score might have marked England's substantial improvement in attack but it did nothing to ease the tension inside Twickenham as Halfpenny added a fourth penalty, before referee Romain Poite penalised the home side again, as the Lions full-back reduced the deficit to just five at the end of an absorbing first 40 minutes.

But despite being within touching distance at the interval, Wales' uphill tack was made all the more tougher six minutes into the second half as Farrell punished further indiscipline at the scrum.

If Wales' possession was improving in the second 40 minutes, their cutting edge was still lacking as first Jamie Roberts kicked on needlessly before Webb was disposed allowing Jack Nowell to scamper clear for the line before being hauled back.

As the pressure the continued to be ratcheted up on Wales they folded mid-way through the second half as Gethin Jenkins – winning a record-equalling 104th cap – was sin-binned, allowing Farrell to extend England's lead.

Poite's officiating was now bordering on the ruthless as the contest degenerated into a bitty affair, with Halfpenny's penalty being followed by another success for Farrell after Jonathan Davies' hand in the ruck.

Halfpenny's last-ditch tackle prevented England's lead becoming greater as Burrell closed in but by the end a run-ragged Wales were forced to consolidate as Lancaster's side claimed the triple crown for the first time for 11 years – a potential precursor to the Six Nations title in a weeks' time.

Teams

England: 15- Brown, 14- Nowell, 13- Burrell, 12- Twelvetrees, 11- May, 10- Farrell, 9- Care; 1- Marler, 2- Hartley, 3- Wilson, 4- Launchbury, 5- Lawes, 6- Wood, 7- Robshaw, 8- Morgan.

Replacements: 16- T Youngs, 17- M Vunipola, 18- Thomas, 19- Attwood, 20- Johnson, 21- Dickson, 22- Ford, 23- Goode.

Wales:15- Leigh Halfpenny; 14- Alex Cuthbert, 13- Jonathan Davies, 12- Jamie Roberts, 11- George North; 10- Rhys Priestland, 9- Rhys Webb; 1- Gethin Jenkins, 2- Richard Hibbard, 3- Adam Jones, 4- Jake Ball, 5- Alun Wyn Jones, 6- Dan Lydiate, 7- Sam Warburton, 8- Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: 16- Ken Owens, 17- Paul James, 18- Rhodri Jones, 19- Andrew Coombs, 20- Justin Tipuric, 21- Mike Phillips, 22- Dan Biggar,23- Liam Williams.