WALES 14 ENGLAND 24
IAN GOLDEN, The Gnoll, Neath, Saturday

ENGLAND claimed the title for a ninth successive occasion after battling back from eight points behind on 16 minutes.

Wales, who were fully aware that the winners would top the final table, put in perhaps their best performance since they last beat England 14 years ago.

Llewellyn Hawkes led the charge from the off, firing a penalty-goal in the second minute and converting his own score 14 minutes later. 

That, though, merely heralded England’s recovery as Leon Stewart bustled over on 24 minutes, with parity quickly restored when Deusjes Nzage nipped over. 

Harry Lowery then crashed in, Jake Dickinson converting to give England a 14-8 half-time lead. 

Quick tries by Henry Lenthall and Ben Grindley-Roberts, the first improved by Dickinson, gave the visitors a healthy cushion, although Wales’ Mason Phillips scored wide out on 66 minutes and converted his own try to reduce the deficit to ten points.

Wales, helped by the sin-binning of England’s James Leach on 70 minutes for holding down, were applying pressure, and Lewis Ingram and Jacob Purcell were both held up, while Kian Lloyd was denied by strong tackling and Iestyn Scott also missed out.

But the championship is, again, England’s, to ease their disappointment in missing out to Great Britain Teachers in the President’s Cup.

WALES: Lewis Ingram, Leo Jones, Mason Phillips, Kian Lloyd, Dylan Morgan, Llewellyn Hawkes, Thomas Moore, Jacob Purcell, George Groves, Alex Green, Finlay Northrop, Scott Simons, Kavan Phillips. Subs: Iestyn Scott, Luke Davies, Alex Naylor, Olly Darlington, Jarrad Hughes, Alex Thorpe, Rhys Nicholls

ENGLAND: Jake Dickinson, Deusjes Nzage, Ben Bell-Thorn, Leon Stewart, Brogan Turner, Ben Grindley-Roberts, Jamie O’Keeffe, Harry Lowery, Noah Tyson, Fin Hay, Henry Lenthall, Josh Shackleton, Hayden Todd. Subs: Will Lintin, George Moffitt, Tega Rume-Tabiowo, Alex Edun, Max Nissinen-Le, James Leach, Ollie Paterson

Referee: James Jones

Ireland were unable to raise a team for their final fixture against Scotland at Hawick.