Francis has his eyes on Grand Slam

By Mark Stevens
28/2/21

Triple Crown secured, now the Grand Slam is in sight for Wales prop Tomas Francis after he helped his side to a 40-24 victory over England at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

Wales followed up wins over Ireland and Scotland by scoring a record amount of points against England to move within two matches of a potential clean sweep in this season’s Guinness Six Nations Championship.

Controversy surrounded first-half tries from Josh Adams and Liam Williams, before Wales pulled clear late on after England rallied to level at 24-24.

"It was a special day," said Pivac. "We talked about it being a special day for a lot of reasons - George North's 100th Test match, some silverware on the line and the opportunity to go deeper into the competition and push on.

"The weather was good and we went out there and got a bonus-point win. You have to be proud of the performance. It feels great, the players are feeling good about the performance.

"To get the bonus point at the end, we're happy. We're happy for the players because they've put in so much work and worked hard."

Pivac refused to be drawn into the controversy surrounding the tries scored by Adams and Williams, instead praising his players' contributions.

Adams' score was allowed after a quickly taken tap penalty kick from Dan Biggar, while Williams crossed despite suggestions of a Louis Rees-Zammit knock-on in the build-up.

Whilst Francis was able to celebrate, it was a second defeat of the campaign for England club-mates Jonny Hill, Henry Slade and Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Head coach Eddie Jones said "it is what it is" of the two controversial first-half calls.

"We can't argue with the referee. The result's there and we've got to accept it," he said. "They're huge decisions. We can't debate it, we are not allowed to debate it. All I will end up with is a fine and that won't help anyone.

"The dog won't be able to eat its food, wife won't be able to eat, so I can't say anything."