England earn dramatic late win against Wales in World Cup warm-up encounter after Owen Farrell sees red

England avenged last week’s loss to Wales as Steve Borthwick’s side earned a hard-fought 19-17 victory at Twickenham in a game that was marred by poor discipline and a second-half red card for Owen Farrell.

There were four yellows and a red in a match that came to life in the second half after a lacklustre opening 40 minutes that featured only two penalties.

But it was Borthwick’s men that prevailed, recovering from eight points down with 15 minutes to play to claim the spoils.

However, of greater concern for the England manager will be the red card for Farrell and the prospective repercussions with the World Cup fast approaching.

The fly-half charged shoulder first into a challenge with Taine Basham, making contact with the Welshman’s head and receiving a yellow that was then upgraded to red following a review.

Farrell has been cited before for similar clashes so it remains to be seen what punishment World Rugby will deem fit and whether it will rule him out of England’s World Cup opener against Argentina on September 9.

Scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet could also be a doubt after picking up what appeared to be an ankle injury in the first half.

"We saw a game that was tight through the first half - England having lots of possession in the final third and unable to convert them," Borthwick said.

"And after half-time Wales became the dominant team. They dominated the set piece and the kicking game, and ultimately we lost the game.

"What I see is a team that learned, because we went through a tough period early in that second half, and then we came through.

"These players don’t stop, they just keep going. And when you’ve got that character you can go a long way."

Ironically, it was Farrell’s three penalties that put England 9-0 ahead early in the second half after Tommy Reffell was shown the first yellow less of the contest.

Owen Williams then finally got Wales on the board with a penalty in the 46th minute to make it 9-3 before the game was turned on its head on the hour mark.

England had looked the likelier of the two sides to get over the try line but were reduced to 14 men when Ellis Genge was sin binned before Wales moved ahead for the first time in dramatic circumstances.

After a series of phases, Dan Biggar aimed a crossfield kick towards Josh Adams, who was wide open on the wing and taken out in the air by Freddie Steward with the try line at his mercy.

The full-back was given the third yellow of the game for the challenge and conceded a costly penalty try for his offence, but worse was to come four minutes later when Farrell was given his yellow pending review for his dangerous tackle.

That put England briefly down to 12 men and Wales capitalised through Tomos Williams as the visitors made their advantage count to move 17-9 clear.

But back came England, roared on by the home crowd, to set up a grandstand finish. Maro Itoje got over the line after a brilliant maul before George Ford added the conversion and then sent the winning penalty over the posts to seal the comeback win.

In the other World Cup warm-up game of the day, France edged out Scotland 30-27 in a thrilling encounter in Saint-Etienne.

Scotland were rapid out of the blocks and opened the scoring in the fifth minute when some quick passing from Huw Jones and Blair Kinghorn exploited an overlap on the right wing and put Kyle Steyn over the line. Finn Russell slotted the conversion from the touchline to make the most of the Scottish supremacy at 7-0.

The lead was immediately trimmed when the visitors conceded a penalty from the restart, with France full-back Thomas Ramos knocking it through to posts to make it 7-3.

Russell restored Scotland’s seven-point cushion off the tee two minutes later before the French piled on the pressure and earned a raft of penalties.

Ramos kicked another three in the 23rd minute to make it 10-6 and the hosts thought they’d moved clear when Antoine Dupont finished off a lightning move, but referee Nic Berry had already incorrectly blown for a foot in touch.

That setback was softened when Ali Price was sin binned for not retreating 10 yards, and France were rewarded for their dominance in the 32nd minute when Dupont timed his pass to perfection off the back of a scrum to send fly-half Romain Ntamack over the line, with the converted try giving the home side a 13-10 lead at the break.

France were at their brilliant best when the game restarted, scoring two converted tries in the space of three minutes to surge 27-10 ahead. Dupont was once again the provider as he set up Damian Penaud for the first before Charles Ollivon evaded a Russell tackle to go in under the posts in the 44th minute.

There was some cause for concern for the French, however, with both Cyril Baille and Ntamack picking up knocks in what was a hugely physical encounter. Fabien Galthie will be hoping the news is positive ahead of their home World Cup next month.

There was more bad news in the 62nd minute when Jones burst through a hole in the France defence, which led to a Duhan van der Merwe try to make it 27-15, before Scotland made it a one-score game in the 68th minute.

George Horne’s introduction sparked some pace into the Scotland attack and a quick tap from Russell caught France napping, allowing Rory Darge to dive over the line as Scotland came on strong in the closing stages.

Horne then nudged a brilliant grubber down the line for Steyn, who finished in the corner to tie the game at 27-27 and set up a thrilling climax with seven minutes left on the clock.

But France wouldn’t be denied, as Ramos kicked the winning penalty after Rory Sutherland brought a scrum down in front of the posts.

France welcome Fiji next Saturday, while Scotland are back in action against Georgia on August 26.

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