England boss Steve Borthwick has told his players they must "accelerate" their progress after a 20-10 victory over Wales in Cardiff.
In Borthwick's third game as head coach, his team followed up victory over Italy last time out by getting the better of a Wales side who endured a disrupted build-up to their week three Six Nations challenge.
A contract dispute with the Welsh Rugby Union meant there was doubt until midweek that Saturday's game would even go ahead, amid talk of possible strike action.
Borthwick was hugely impressed by how Wales contributed so much, but it was his England who triumphed thanks to tries from Anthony Watson, Kyle Sinckler and Ollie Lawrence.
Captain Owen Farrell struggled with his kicking again, but England did enough.
They have won eight of their last 10 meetings with Wales in the Six Nations, but this result ended a run of two consecutive losses on the road against the Welsh.
England's last six victories over Wales had come by margins of six points or fewer, so by those standards this was a relative drubbing. In reality, it was nip and tuck until the final minutes.
Borthwick told BBC One he was "really proud of the team and what they did".
"That was a tough Test match. There wasn't much in it really," he said. "I think you've got to give those Welsh players such enormous credit and incredible respect.
"We've got quite a number of young men in there. There were a number of guys who played well. Now we've got to push on. There were bits in that performance that we can really push on with in this rebuilding.
"We need to accelerate. We've got two big games to finish the championship. For now, we've got to make sure we enjoy that win."
England have France at home on March 11, followed by Ireland away seven days later, taking on the teams ranked second and first in the world rankings.
It will be a lot clearer after those games where England stand, as they continue to build towards the Rugby World Cup under their new coach, who replaced the sacked Eddie Jones in December.
Farrell described England's showing as "a step forward", accepting his repeatedly wayward kicking was to blame for the visitors not pulling away.
"But it was a good test for us," he added. "We stuck in there, and we fought to the end and took control of the last 20 minutes I thought.
"There's bits starting to show, but we're laying some foundations at the minute and we want to keep building on it all."
Lawrence's try in the 75th minute put the game out of Wales' reach, with it having been on a knife edge to that point.
It meant England scored three tries away to Wales in Cardiff for just the second time in 12 Six Nations matches and for the first time since 2001.
Wales coach Warren Gatland saw good reason to be positive about his team's performance, even though they suffered a third successive loss in the championship.
Gatland said: "I can't be critical of the effort. We spoke in the changing room about being tough on ourselves, about some of the errors we made, things we can fix up and be better at.
"If we look at the mistakes we made that shifted the momentum back to England, they were at pretty critical moments.
"The message at half-time was to just stay in this arm wrestle and we'll get opportunities. The unfortunate thing is we turned the ball back over on too many occasions, dropped a couple of high balls and that was pretty frustrating, and a couple of penalties as well.
"Still for us there's work to do, but I thought there was improvement in some areas."
Top seed Hubert Hurkacz saw off a spirited Alexander Bublik in straight sets to seal his place in the final of the Open 13 Provence with a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win.
The world number 11 wrapped up victory in his semi-final in Marseille without being taken to a deciding third set for the first time during his tournament run.
But he was still forced to fight for the result, after unseeded Kazakhstani Bublik pushed him hard in their encounter.
Hurkacz only broke serve once during the first set and had to hold his nerve in a second-set tie-break to finish the job.
He will face a homegrown opponent in Benjamin Bonzi in the final, after the latter won an all-French last-four encounter with wild card Arthur Fils.
The former saw off his fellow countryman 6-4 6-4 in a straight-sets triumph of his own.
Teenage forward Alvaro Rodriguez came off the bench to rescue Real Madrid in a dramatic 1-1 derby draw with 10-man Atletico Madrid, heading a late equaliser to cancel out Jose Gimenez's goal.
Despite half-time substitute Angel Correa controversially seeing red for a push on Antonio Rudiger, Atleti looked set for a famous win at Santiago Bernabeu when Gimenez headed them into the lead with 12 minutes left.
However, 18-year-old Rodriguez rose to nod Luka Modric's corner beyond Jan Oblak with five minutes remaining, scoring his first senior goal for Los Blancos in dramatic fashion.
While Madrid will be relieved to have avoided a surprise defeat, they are now seven points adrift of LaLiga leaders Barcelona, who could extend that gap to 10 points when they visit Almeria on Sunday.
Manchester City bounced back as they returned to winning ways with an emphatic 4-1 win at Bournemouth on Saturday.
After their disappointing 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest last week was followed by another in the Champions League at RB Leipzig on Wednesday, City responded with a ruthless performance at the Vitality Stadium.
Goals from Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and a Chris Mepham own goal took Pep Guardiola's men back to within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal, after the Gunners had beaten Leicester City earlier in the day.
Bournemouth pulled a late goal back through Jefferson Lerma but slip to 19th in the table after West Ham and Leeds United both won against Nottingham Forest and Southampton respectively.
City took the lead in the 15th minute after Rico Lewis won the ball back on the right, with a swift attack leading to Haaland hitting the crossbar with a deflected effort, and Alvarez tapping in the rebound from close range when it fell kindly for him.
It was two just before the half-hour mark when Ilkay Gundogan's cross from the left found Foden, who was put off by a last-ditch tackle by Jordan Zemura, only for the ball to roll to Haaland who slammed home.
The third came just before half-time courtesy of a sloppy square pass from Philip Billing, which presented the ball on a plate for Foden to finish with ease past Neto on his 200th City appearance.
City continued attacking in the second half and had a fourth after a Foden ball in from the right was cleared by Marcos Senesi, but only as far as Alvarez, who fired in via the unfortunate Mepham.
Lerma struck a consolation high into the net in the 83rd minute after a pull-back from the left by Zemura, but City ultimately eased to a handsome win.
What does it mean? City remind people what they can do
It has been a strangely inconsistent season for City by their usual standards, though they seemed to have finally taken charge in the Premier League title race when they won 3-1 at Arsenal earlier this month.
A sloppy draw at Forest handed the initiative back to their rivals, but the nature of this demolition of Bournemouth felt ominous.
They looked more like the City that has been posting 90+ points every season, and if they can get back to this kind of showing regularly, Arsenal and Manchester United will certainly have their work cut out.
Another landmark for Haaland
If you can believe it, some people were questioning Haaland after his failure to score against Forest or Leipzig, though his manager blamed his team-mates for not finding him often enough.
He was on the scoresheet again here, and his 27 Premier League goals this season is the most by a City player in a single top-flight campaign since Francis Lee's 33 in 1971-72.
Cherries picked and could drop
Bournemouth earned a much-needed win at Wolves last time out, and while they were never likely to get another against the champions, defeat does mean they fall back into the relegation zone.
That win at Molineux is their only success in their last 11 games in all competitions (D2 L8), and they remain without a win at home since a 3-0 victory against Everton on November 12.
What's next?
It does not get much easier for Bournemouth, who travel to Premier League leaders Arsenal next Saturday, while Man City have a trip to Championship side Bristol City in the FA Cup fifth round on Tuesday before a crunch league clash with Newcastle United.
Victor Osimhen hit his 10th Serie A goal since the turn of the year as leaders Napoli stretched their advantage to 18 points by winning 2-0 at Empoli.
The Nigerian has scored in his last eight domestic league games, with his efforts bringing a long-awaited Scudetto ever closer.
An early own goal from Ardian Ismajli gave Napoli a strong start, and Osimhen soon doubled the lead with an easy finish.
The victory on the road was tarnished by Mario Rui petulantly kicking out at Francesco Caputo and receiving a red card following a VAR check, but with games running out the Naples giants are looking unstoppable.
A 17th-minute breakthrough arrived when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's ball from left to right was volleyed across goal by Piotr Zielinski, and Ismajli bundled the ball into his own net from close range.
It was 2-0 in the 28th minute and again Kvaratskhelia was involved, with his skidding shot parried by Guglielmo Vicario to the lurking Osimhen, who had a simple task of tucking past the floored goalkeeper.
Napoli moved in for the kill, and Kim Min-jae hit the underside of the bar from close range with an attempted header that turned into an effort off his shoulder.
Empoli won the corresponding game 3-2 last season after being 2-0 down, sealing a league double, so Napoli knew they had to be wary of a fightback from the mid-table hosts.
Osimhen thought he had scored again just before the hour when he ran in behind the Empoli defence and tucked home while stumbling under pressure, but he was narrowly offside when the pass was played.
The task was complicated for Napoli when their former Empoli left-back Rui was red-carded for his cheap shot at Caputo, catching the striker in a tender spot.
With a quarter of the game remaining, Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti responded by bringing off forwards Kvaratskhelia and Hirving Lozano, replacing them with midfielder Eljif Elmas and defender Mathias Olivera. In truth, Empoli never looked like taking advantage of their extra man and repeating last season's comeback heroics, having been firmly put in their place this time.
England made it back-to-back Six Nations wins as they overcame a beleaguered Wales 20-10 at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
Wales, whose preparations for the game were hampered after a dispute with the Professional Rugby Board and Welsh Rugby Union, have now suffered three straight defeats in this year's competition.
Captain Owen Farrell got England up and running with an early penalty from 45 metres, before winger Anthony Watson – making his first international start in almost two years – went over to cap a wonderful team move.
Farrell was unable to add the conversion from the touchline, which helped Wales reduce the deficit to five through Leigh Halfpenny's penalty.
Farrell squandered the chance to extend England's lead as he struck a penalty just wide of the posts, before Wales stunned the visitors within a minute of the second half when Louis Rees-Zammit intercepted a pass 40 metres out and raced over.
That try was converted by Halfpenny to put Wales ahead, yet England responded almost immediately as Kyle Sinckler powered over from close range, with Farrell adding the extra points.
Wales pushed hard to claw their way back into the game, but England's victory was sealed with five minutes remaining when Ollie Lawrence went over in the corner.
Wales fail to end tough week on a high
Wales boss Warren Gatland said the threat of strike action by his players had taken the team "to the brink of disaster" this week.
The worst case scenario was avoided, however, after an agreement was reached with the Welsh Rugby Players' Association on several key issues, including wages and changes to the 60-cap rule that governed international selection.
The saga evidently took a toll on Wales' players, who fought hard but just lacked the quality and energy required to overcome Steve Borthwick's side.
England maintain fine run over Wales
England have now won eight of their past 10 Six Nations meetings with Wales. Their six previous victories before this all came by margins of six points or fewer.
This latest win moves them onto 10 points in the Six Nations table, five adrift of leaders Ireland.
Key Opta Facts:
- Watson scored his first try for England since March 2021 (v France) - he has now scored five tries in his last five Six Nations starts and five in six matches against Wales.
- Sinckler has scored just his second ever Six Nations try in what is his 28th appearance in the competition - both of his tries have come away from home (also v Italy in Rome in 2022).
- Alun Wyn Jones played in his 16th Six Nations match against England; no other player has featured more than 13 times against England in the Championship.
- England have won a Six Nations game against Wales in Cardiff for the first time since 2017 (21-16), with their tally of just 10 points conceded being their lowest in the Welsh capital since 2003 (26-9).
What's next?
Wales face Italy in Rome's Stadio Olimpico in a fortnight – the same day England take on France at Twickenham.
Mikel Arteta believes managing the minutes of Gabriel Martinelli gave the Brazilian the energy to score the winner for Arsenal at Leicester City on Saturday.
In Arsenal's previous four games, Martinelli had either been substituted for new arrival Leandro Trossard, or in the case of the 4-2 win at Aston Villa, came off the bench for the Belgian.
Both started the 1-0 victory at King Power Stadium though, and it was Martinelli who scored the only goal of the game in the first minute of the second half to cement the Gunners' place at the top of the Premier League.
"Sometimes you have to give someone a breather to come back with even more energy and enthusiasm," Arteta said, adding he was "delighted" that Martinelli had recently signed a new deal until 2027.
Arsenal otherwise struggled to get going in the game in an attacking sense, but impressively restricted the hosts to just one shot overall and none on target.
Arteta was pleased with the performance and the win, which increased his team's lead at the top of the league to five points prior to Manchester City's visit to Bournemouth.
He added: "We dominated the game almost from start to finish. In general, I think our play and understanding of spaces was excellent.
"We just lacked that final pass to score more. We had the decision with [Bukayo Saka's] disallowed goal, which was frustrating to take, but to restrict Leicester to one shot at home is great."
Leaders Arsenal have two home games next week against Everton and Bournemouth as they bid for a first league title since 2004.
Barbora Krejcikova stunned Iga Swiatek to win the Dubai Tennis Championships, cruising past the world number one in straight sets to clinch her first WTA 1000 title.
By following up victories over Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula with a ruthless 6-4 6-2 dismantling of Swiatek, Krejcikova became just the fifth woman to beat each of the world's top three players at a single tournament in the last 40 years.
Krejcikova entered Saturday's meeting as the only player to have beaten Swiatek in her eight hard-court finals at tour level, having done so at the Ostrava Open last October.
The Czech looked to be drawing on that experience as she made a flying start, breaking in the opening game through a well-struck backhand.
Though Swiatek responded with a break of her own in the sixth game, a rare double fault from the Pole saw the momentum swing Krejcikova's way.
Another excellent backhand return gave Krejcikova the opening set's decisive break, after which a visibly frustrated Swiatek was handed a time violation by the umpire.
Things did not get much better from there for the three-time grand slam winner, with a series of masterful returns helping Krejcikova seal two dominant breaks before wrapping things up.
Having clinched a highly impressive win within 91 minutes, Krejcikova told Amazon Prime Video: "It means a lot.
"It was a great week for me, I was improving with every single game and today, I think I showed my best.
"I really have to admire Iga for what she is doing. To me, she is a big inspiration and she motivates me every day. It was a great final and I'm definitely happy with the result."
Daniil Medvedev defied Andy Murray in the Qatar Open final to clinch a second title in seven days as the resurgent Russian won the battle of former world number ones.
In-form Medvedev scored a 6-4 6-4 victory on Saturday as he followed up last Sunday's title in Rotterdam with another trophy success.
Three-time grand slam winner Murray, set to jump 18 places to 52nd in the new rankings, had saved eight match points en route to the Doha final.
He pushed Medvedev hard but could not get the better of a player who will nudge up one spot to seventh in the rankings on Monday.
Murray came back from 0-40 in the opening game to force deuce, but he could not hold serve, and Medvedev soon broke again to lead 4-1.
But back came Murray, and the Briton had a break point to square up the opener at 4-4, only for Medvedev to cling on.
The second set also began with Murray dropping serve, but the 35-year-old levelled up at 3-3 with a backhand winner at the end of a terrific rally.
That raised his hopes of a full-scale fightback and a third title success at this event, plus a first tournament victory since 2019 in Antwerp, but Murray was broken from 40-0 in the ninth game, and that looked to end his hopes.
Murray saved a ninth match point of the week, albeit thanks to a double fault from his opponent, but the Scot could not do so for a 10th time, with a lob from Medvedev giving him a big win and the 17th tour-level title of his career.
Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, told Amazon Prime Video in a courtside interview: "It was a very tough match. I'm happy to win, today was a big fight.
"Both of us sometimes were playing bad, then suddenly both of us were playing amazing, and I'm happy to win.
"It was tough for Andy to put the ball through me many times. Now it has to continue, so I'm going to try for as long as I can."
Andy Farrell was relieved Ireland "found a way" to overcome an impressive Italy side as his team stayed on course for a Grand Slam by winning 34-20 in Rome.
Mack Hansen crossed for two tries, including a late clincher to end Italian hopes, with James Ryan, Hugo Keenan and Bundee Aki also going over as the visitors picked up a bonus point.
It means Ireland are three-fifths of the way to a clean sweep in this season's Six Nations, with Scotland away in a fortnight's time followed by England coming to Dublin.
Head coach Farrell could not be sure his team would survive unscathed against Italy until the closing stages, and he gave the hosts plenty of credit for that.
Farrell said: "I suppose the positive is the chances we did create, but the negative is we didn't take them all.
"What was it, four or five tries we left out there? But all credit must go to Italy, that was a proper Test match, that was tough, they're a proper side.
"Everyone can see the progression, but when you're here and you're facing it... they were tough, they were resilient, and the forwards gave us absolutely nothing.
"Defending their own line they were very physical, and in attack they were cutting us open from time to time, so congratulations to them, I thought they were great.
"We let them into the game through lack of discipline at times and didn't control the game as well as we should do in that regard.
"But Test match rugby doesn't go your way the whole time, and we found a way, even though we threw away four or five tries. It's nice the bonus-point win away from home."
Scotland, who tackle France on Sunday in Paris, have also begun this championship with successive wins.
It could, depending on Scotland's performance this weekend, be a clash between two unbeaten sides in Edinburgh on March 12.
"Going to Murrayfield is a really tough place to go," said Farrell, "as is here in Rome."
Stefano Pioli has confirmed Mike Maignan will make his first appearance since September when Milan host Atalanta on Sunday, saying the goalkeeper has resembled a "lion in a cage" while out injured.
Maignan has been out since suffering a calf injury in France's 2-0 Nations League win over Austria on September 22, missing Les Bleus' run to the World Cup final in Qatar as well as a large portion of Milan's campaign.
Ciprian Tatarusanu has made 16 league starts as Milan's stand-in goalkeeper this season, and the Romanian made several key saves in last week's hard-fought 1-0 win at Monza.
However, Pioli is excited by the return of a goalkeeper he believes was Serie A's finest last season, with Maignan set to start against fellow top-four contenders Atalanta at San Siro.
"Mike will play," Pioli said at Saturday's pre-match press conference.
"Tata did his duty fully. He struggled in the beginning because he hadn't played for a long time, then he found rhythm and made a good contribution. He hasn't been very well lately.
"Mike has been a lion in a cage, he's doing well and is very motivated, he will certainly give us a great contribution. He was the best goalkeeper last season and he gives us a lot.
"However, he is a player who hasn't played for five months. He will need some time, but we are expecting a lot and I am very happy with his return."
Maignan kept 17 clean sheets in 32 league games as Milan won the Scudetto last season – more than any other Serie A goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, the 27-year-old's save percentage of 79.41 was only bettered by one goalkeeper to make at least 10 appearances in Serie A last term – Torino's Etrit Berisha with 80.49 per cent.
Maignan is not the only Milan star returning from a lengthy period on the sidelines, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic being an unused substitute on two occasions this month as he awaits his first outing since undergoing anterior cruciate ligament surgery.
Asked whether the 41-year-old's long-awaited comeback could arrive on Sunday, Pioli said: "It could, the first call I made with him was to get him back with the group against Torino.
"Ibra is getting better and better. He knows how much he worked and suffered to be available again. Now he's available, he's ready to play."
Milan have won their last three matches across all competitions, with each victory coming via a 1-0 scoreline.
The Rossoneri are yet to win four consecutive games at any point this season, while they have not posted four successive victories without conceding since February 2018 (a run of five).
Arsenal moved five points clear at the Premier League summit as Gabriel Martinelli's strike secured a 1-0 win over Leicester City on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta's side ended a three-game winless run in the league with a 4-2 victory over Aston Villa last weekend and they picked up where they left off with a convincing win at the King Power Stadium.
Martinelli scored the deciding goal less than a minute into second half, and the Brazilian was lucky to escape serious injury after being caught on the knee by Wilfred Ndidi as he slotted past Danny Ward.
The win stretched Arsenal's lead at the top of the table, although champions Manchester City can cut that back to just two points with victory over Bournemouth later on Saturday.
Arsenal thought they had taken the lead shortly before the half-hour mark when Leandro Trossard whipped into the top corner from 18 yards.
Their joy was short-lived, however, as referee Craig Pawson ruled the goal out for a foul on Ward by Ben White following a pitch-side review.
Leicester had the ball in the back of the net through Kelechi Iheanacho soon after, but that was also chalked off after the Nigerian had strayed offside.
Arsenal started the second half in electric fashion and were ahead within 51 seconds of the restart, Martinelli sliding past Ward after being played in by Trossard.
Leicester threw on Jamie Vardy and Youri Tielemans after that, yet Arsenal's grasp on the three points never looked in danger in the closing stages as they cantered to another important victory.
What does it mean? Patience pays off for Gunners
Arsenal were frustrated by Leicester in the opening half, but it did not take long for Arteta's men to make their dominance count after half-time.
The Gunners have now won three consecutive away league games against the Foxes for just the second time, previously doing so between December 1913 and September 1925.
Magical Martinelli
Martinelli was chosen ahead of Eddie Nketiah in the Arsenal attack and the 21-year-old did not disappoint. He scored the decisive goal to add to his strike off the bench against Villa last week and finished the game with a higher pass completion rate than anyone else on the pitch (92.5 per cent).
Tete sums up Foxes woes
Tete endured a torrid outing for the hosts, failing to take a single shot or play any key passes before he was replaced by Tielemans shortly after the hour mark. The Brazilian also attempted just eight passes – the lowest of any starter.
What's next?
The Gunners host Everton at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, with Leicester at home to Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup fifth round a day earlier.
Ireland kept their Six Nations Grand Slam charge on track after a 34-20 victory over a spirited Italy in Rome.
Mack Hansen crossed twice while stand-in captain James Ryan, Hugo Keenan and Bundee Aki also went over at Stadio Olimpico for Andy Farrell's side, who recorded their third straight bonus-point win in this year’s tournament.
Although without the injured Johnny Sexton, the visitors registered their 23rd Six Nations win over Italy in 24 attempts – and 10th on the bounce.
Despite a determined display, the hosts continued their dismal record on home soil, where they have now suffered 24 successive defeats since beating Ireland 10 years ago.
Ireland came flying out the blocks, and although TMO denied James Lowe the opening try after just 90 seconds, the Leinster wing soon turned provider for Ryan to cross.
Having pushed reigning champions France all the way in their Six Nations opener, Italy responded with Stephen Varney going over after a rapid burst from Lorenzo Cannone.
But the visitors soon established control. Keenan broke through and rode challenges to regain the lead, while a series of sharp offloads enabled Aki and Hansen to cross in the corners.
Italy gave themselves hope before the break as Pierre Bruno intercepted Aki's offload on halfway to dash for the line.
A tight second half ensued with the hosts drawing on all their defensive resolve to prevent Ireland from extending their advantage as Paolo Garbisi and Ross Byrne exchanged kicks.
But the visitors finally put the result beyond doubt nine minutes from time when a neat offload released Hansen, who made no mistake in claiming his second try.
Sampdoria have expressed their "deep indignation" at a "serious act of intimidation" after a severed pig's head was reportedly left outside the headquarters of the Serie A strugglers.
Tensions between Sampdoria's supporters and owner Massimo Ferrero – who was forced to step down as club president amid an investigation into financial crimes in 2021 – have repeatedly boiled over this season.
Sampdoria sit 19th in Serie A, eight points adrift of safety, and the club's players have seen the payment of wages owed in late 2022 delayed.
Ferrero has reportedly been sent bullets in the past, and the latest threatening message received by the club has provoked a strong reaction.
Calciomercato reported the presence of the grisly gift on Saturday, with the head apparently accompanied by a message which read: "The next heads will be yours".
In a statement issued in response, the club said: "UC Sampdoria expresses deep indignation in the face of the umpteenth serious act of intimidation that took place this morning at the company headquarters in Piazza Borgo Pila.
"The company underlines that any type of attack on a member of the board of directors represents an attack on all its members, on their work and on the seriousness with which they have approached this important position.
"Since its appointment, the board has operated with cohesion, unity of purpose and independence, with the sole purpose of ensuring the continuation of Sampdoria's corporate and sporting activity pending the transition to new ownership."
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