Player of the Match Sam Underhill believes England can be satisfied with a job well done after 24-13 victory over Wales at Parc y Scarlets to top Group A of the Autumn Nations Cup.
The Red Rose made it three wins out of three in the group stage with victory in Llanelli, with tries from Henry Slade and Mako Vunipola sealing the win, after Johnny Williams had crossed for the hosts.
England’s 100% record sees them in with a chance of adding more silverware to their collection next weekend, with a showdown against the first-placed team in Group B to look forward to.
And Underhill was satisfied with the victory over Wayne Pivac’s side, who looked a rejuvenated outfit after ending their six-game losing streak against Georgia last time out.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge, it always is against Wales,” Underhill said.
“We knew we had to be at our best and probably be better than we were last week and I think ultimately we can be happy with our performance.
“It’s massive, especially against a team like Wales, we know they can play and they’ve got a lot of talented players and a lot of very fast players as well as physical ball carriers.”
It was anything but plain sailing for England at Parc y Scarlets as the hosts got off to a flying start after some inspirational play from Dan Biggar, as the fly-half blocked Slade’s attempted grubber, before hacking forward for Williams to touch down.
Jones’ side soon recovered from that early scare, with Slade going over in the corner after an overlap on the left-hand side, before a couple of Owen Farrell penalties made it 11-7 at the interval.
Vunipola then got England’s second, and what turned out to be final try, ten minutes after the break, as the Saracens man bundled over after a period of pressure on the hosts’ try line.
Farrell and Biggar added a couple of penalties each as the half went on, as the visitors’ resolute defence stood firm once again to see out the victory, with a performance that Underhill believes will set them up for next weekend’s final fixture.
“We knew we would have to be on it and not expect anything – just react to what we were presented with,” added the flanker.
“Ultimately this was a semi-final, but we can be happy with that and look forward to next week.”
