7 Talking Points: England 19-17 Wales - 2023 Summer Nations Series

Here are the seven biggest talking points following England's 19-17 victory over Wales, at Twickenham Stadium.

The match was heavily disrupted by penalties, as the referee, TMO and separate 'Off-Field Review' TMO all had busy days at the office. A total of six yellow cards were brandished, with Owen Farrell's yellow being upgraded to a red following the aforementioned 'bunker' review system. Call it an 'Orange Card' but this 'off-field-review' worked relatively seamlessly admist the chaos at Twickenham.

However, you could only imagine the impact that this delayed review system would have on the England players. They would be under the impression that their captain is set to return to the pitch after a 10-minute cooling off-period in the sin bin, before the speaker system confirms his removal for the remainder of the match. This certainly has the capabilities to hinder a side's mentality, however England were able to bounce back for the comeback win.

Racing 92's latest acquisition Henry Arundell was awarded the first yellow card of the night. In a bizarre, and uncharacteristic act of hot-headedness, Arundell made a tackle on Liam Williams after the Wales fullback called for the mark. Arundell promptly saw yellow, and was given a few shoves on his way to the side-line. Tommy Reffell was awarded Wales' first yellow card, after illegal action in the break-down send him packing early in the second half.

Ellis Genge soon followed, just four minutes after the test match half-centurion made his milestone 50th appearance off the bench. Then Freddie Steward departed after a moment of madness, as he tackled Josh Adams in mid-air to concede a penalty try. Farrell departed soon after that, and could well be on his way back to the RFU's school of tackle technique. The Saracen has once again taken the headlines for a high tackle, as he led with his shoulder in a collision to the head of Wales' Taine Basham.

Adam Beard departed six minutes from full time for the final card of the match, as the sides ended the fixture with a rarely seen level playing field, at 14-a-piece.

2. Ford Is England's Man With Farrell Set For World Cup Ban

The fly half selection saga was the pre-match focus, with Owen Farrell the preferred man to start at 10. George Ford bolstered Borthwick's reinforcements on the bench, yet eagle-eyed England fans would have spotted Harlequins talisman Marcus Smith warming up with the squad, as drum and bass DJ Sigma excited the Twickenham crowd. However Smith played no part in this return fixture against Wales, as Borthwick re-shuffled his halfbacks from last weekend's the defeat in Cardiff.

OWEN FARRELL'S PERFORMANCE:

Farrell's overall outing at Twickenham has understandably been overshadowed in his second half sending off. The Saracen looks set to miss the opening match of England's Rugby World Cup campaign against Argentina, if he is handed a three match ban for his shoulder-charge to the head of Taine Basham.

Farrell started off his game with a neat grubber through to Henry Arundell, with the Racing 92 man coming close to scoring in the match's opening minutes. Farrell's opening kick to touch did not go as far as hoped, giving possession back to Wales just beyond the 10m.

After two kicks to the corner reaped no rewards from the early rolling mauls, Farrell changed his approach after just nine minutes with a kick to the posts. In a goal-kicking performance resembling Marcus Smith's outing in Cardiff, Farrell's made no mistake in his efforts off the tee. Farrell struggled to get his classic hold on the match's flow, due to the stop-starting structure of this penalty ridden fixture.

However, he did excite the crowd with some line-breaks, as he backed his pace against the back-peddling Wales defenders for some exciting sparks in the first half. The Twickenham faithful disagreed with Farrell's pass back in field on the 40th minute, with Freddie Steward screaming for the ball on the unmarked right touchline. What looked like a move from the training park, this effort didn't break the Welsh line, with Farrell instead taking the three points from close range to see out the half.

Farrell kick-started the points scoring after the half-time break, as he made no mistake from the tee following Tommy Reffell's trip to the sin bin. Behind his sending off, Farrell's second biggest blunder of the match saw him fumble a pass in a try-scoring opportunity. After 49 minutes, England looked like they were in to score, with Marchant and Arundell providing a two-on-one overlap. However, Farrell knocked the ball forward whilst trying to ship a pass out wide.

Owen Farrell - once again at the centre of a high tackle controversy. Given a yellow card and an 'off-field review' for the head contact, which was subsequently upgraded to a red card following the off-field review. Even after taking the tackle school, Farrell faces a ban at a pivotal time for England.

Sale Sharks fly half George Ford replaced Henry Arundell after 57 minutes, and forced the England back-line to all push out one spot to the right. Borthwick gave the Ford-Farrell partnership a run-out, in an attempt to spark the magic which took England to the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final, and the 2020 Six Nations title.

Ford was given a similar amount of game-time, to his replacement appearance in Cardiff las weekend. However, this was a world's apart performance for Ford, who presented his versatility to cover multiple positions when England's backline was depleted to the sin bin. All eyes turned to Ford once Farrell saw red, with England's early Rugby World Cup campaign now looking to be carried forward by the 30-year-old.

Ford carried this pressure with great aplomb, and slotted the conversion to Maro Itoje's try, to narrow the deficit against Wales. A well timed cross field kick looked to have won the game, however Joe Marchant was unable to ground the albeit impressive diving catch attempt. Ford's crowing moment of the match saw him slot the winning penalty with just five minutes left on the clock, in what presented great leadership to battle for victory against the odds.

The worst case scenario for Rugby World Cup warm-up matches are untimely injuries ahead of the showcase competition. Both England and Wales suffered with injuries, with Borthwick's recent 'go-to' scrum half Jack van Poortvliet substituted off in the first half for a problematic ankle injury.

Van Poortvliet was replaced just after the half hour mark, with his Leicester Tigers mentor Ben Youngs replacing him sooner than expected heading into the match. Wales also suffered two injury blows, as matchday captain Dewi Lake hobbled off the pitch after 26 minutes, with Sam Parry coming on in his place. Lake was later shown on the Twickenham screen with an ice pack on his thigh area, in what has thrown another spanner into the works with Wales' number two jersey.

2023 Six Nations captain Ken Owens pulled out of the Wales squad, after the hooker failed to recover from a back injury. Then last weekend, fresh from recovering from Achille's tendon surgery, Wales hooker Ryan Elias suffered a reported hamstring injury. Dewi Lake is the latest hooker to join the injury list, with Wales' options narrowed down to Elliot Dee and Sam Parry in the front row.

Wales' second injury from this physical encounter at Twickenham, was dealt to back-rower Taine Plumtree. On just his second test match for Wales, the New Zealand born loose forward walked off the pitch holding his shoulder, and swore in pain as he walked down the tunnel.

Despite last weekend's star making performance of Jac Morgan, the Wales back-rower was not included in the squad after his first time as captain of his country. Warren Gatland named hooker Dewi Lake to lead his side out at Twickenham, however the 24-year-old sustained an unfortunate injury which curtailed his night.

Lake struggled in the early set-pieces, with the first scrum of the match seeing multiple re-sets. England were eventually awarded an early free kick, as Tomas Francis reacted early to Marler's textbook anticks and Dewi Lake tried to keep his tight-head under control. Lake threatened England's try-line with a rolling maul after 17 mins, with a well thrown and regathered line-out, yet the England pack held strong.

Lake then struggled at following line-outs, with Courtney Lawes and Maro Itoje causing a great deal of disruption. However, the matchday captain's fortunes improved in later scrums, as Wales won a key scrum turnover, with Lake and his loosehead Gareth Thomas battling well to one-up Jamie George and Will Stuart.

Roberts was soon introduced to the physicality of international test match rugby, as he had to deal with the powerful running lines of Ollie Lawrence. Roberts saved Wales from conceding the opening try of the match, as Ben Earl charged down a loose ball that was bouncing in-goal. Roberts knocked the ball out of his reach, with centre partner Nick Tompkins grounding the threat.

The Scarlet gave Arundell a shove for good measure, after the England winger was given a yellow card for his hit on Liam Williams, after the fullback called for the mark.

Roberts linked up and carried well off of Nick Tompkins, and it did not look like the Saracen was carrying the debutant. Roberts showcased his footwork with a nice goose step, before running into an unforgiving duo of Will Stuart and Maro Itoje.

The Ospreys centre came off the bench on the 58 minute mark, replacing Saracen centre Nick Tompkins. He formed a debutant centre partnership in the Wales midfield, as he linked up inside Joe Roberts for the final 20 minutes of the match at Twickenham. Not exactly a stand-out performance from the inside centre, yet he will be happy to get the debut under his belt and push on for a Rugby World Cup place.

Kemsley Mathias made his Wales debut nine minutes into the second half, as he replaced Tomas Francis with Gatland shaking up the front row. Mathias started off his Wales test debut with an instant impact, forcing England to hand over possession with a scrum penalty. The Welsh fire would have been burning hot for Mathias on the side-line, and you could see his fight early after his arrival.

Mathias then struggled against Will Stuart, who is becoming a man who enjoys taking Welsh debutants to the cleaners after having a field day against Corey Domachowksi in Cardiff. Dan Cole gave Mathias a baptism of fire, as the veteran was subbed on at after 56 mins.

5. Ben Earl Shines On Maiden England Start

Despite having made 15 previous England test match appearances, this match marked Ben Earl's first start for England. The Saracen lined-up on the openside flank for Steve Borthwick's side, who looks to be giving Earl the opportunities he missed out on in the Eddie Jones' era.

After 11 minutes, Earl disrupted a breakdown and forced a Wales player back-peddling into his scrum half. The ball was knocked forward in a great demonstration of aggression from the back-rower. Earl then Got the crowd on their feet, with many thinking he scored a tap-down try in the Wales in-goal area. However, Joe Roberts and Nick Tompkins combined to save the try.

Earl played a key role in England halting a dangerous looking rolling maul, and came up with the plaudits and pats on the back just before the half-time break. Earl followed this up by further breakdown disruption, as he stopped another Wales threat close to the try line - a great effort from the flanker. Stepped up again in the scrum, worked with Billy Vunipola to spin a scrum on its wheels for the penalty.

A well deserved Player of the Match performance from Earl, who shone on his opportunity on the England openside flank. It's clear to see that Earl is in Borthwick's plans, and with the injury to Tom Curry, the Saracen may well be called upon in the early Rugby World Cup matches.

The fixture featured high-profile returns to the England squad, with Daly back in England duty and Billy Vunipola and Ollie Lawrence returning to match fitness in time for the Rugby World Cup. The trio all performed to their usual high standards, and put their hands up to again feature in Borthwick's starting XV for the trip to France.

BILLY VUNIPOLA: The number eight had an instant impact, with his first big carry coming immediately from kick off. Wanting to get involved early, Vunipola providing a go-forward attacking option at almost every ruck. Added another big carry following the first re-start, after Farrell slotted the match's first points.

The Saracen was turned over on the deck, yet the phase was playing penalty advantage to England, so he managed to escape unscathed. Billy was Instrumental in a 35th min scrum penalty, as he and Ben Earl worked well to spin the scrum on its counter-Wales axis. Halted from close range, as the Wales defenders were well equipped in the chop tackle.

ELLIOT DALY: Despite being a regular fullback, Daly slotted out on the left wing as he could not surpass Freddie Steward to the 15 jersey. Daly was good under the high ball early in the match, and made some characteristically strong clearances from the boot.

He presented a great running line option, made a darting run which resulted in an England penalty after six mins. Needed to wind-back the power in his kicks, as he overhit a handful of chips that Liam Williams could comfortably gather. Took over on occasion to kick to touch, in place of his Saracens teammate Farrell.

Had a chat with a physio that rang some England alarm bells, but carried on. Great cover tackle on a Liam Williams line break, as he emptied the tank with England down to 13 men in Genge and Steward's absence. Tackled well to the very end, with excellent game line speed.

OLLIE LAWRENCE: Provided good running options and imposed a physical presence from the off. Lawrence supported Farrell's line break after 14 minutes, and shrugged off a handful of tackle attempts. Lawrence didnt have the best hands, as he knocked the ball on in contact, albeit after Farrell fizzed the ball to him from close range (20 mins).

Big carry on the crash ball, as England pinned Wales back late in the first half. Lawrence invited the challenges, exciting the England fans like he did as Tuilagi's stand-in for the 2023 Six Nations. However, this time, Lawrence looks almost viable to supersede his teammate, if he keeps up this up. Swapped across from the centres on occasion, with Marchant sometimes coming inside play the quick hands, with Lawrence running heavy lines from the outside.

Battled well in the midfield and made some good hits on his opposite centres. Made sure that Joe Roberts would wake up in the morning feeling the effects of his Wales test match debut. Some hard-hitting collisions from the Bath man. Left the field once the bad boys returned to the back-line. from the sin bin. Lawrence departed after 71 minutes, with Max Malins coming on to re-shuffle the backs.

England and Wales were led out by two test match half-centurions, as Ellis Genge and Josh Awards each achieved their 50th caps at Twickenham Stadium. Genge had to bide his time as England's replacement prop, whilst Adam's match action got started from the off, as he lined-up on the wing.

Showcased his threat early yet only briefly. A nice break along the wing saw him hit into touch. Muscled into touch once again by Arundell, with the play coming back for a scrum. Lost the high ball contest, and didn't have the greatest occasion to mark his half century.

Defended well, with his back-three versatility seeing him cross along the wings. Adams was key in Wales gaining the penalty try, as he provided Dan Biggar with a good option in the far corner, and he was hit in the air by Freddie Steward.

Running on after 53 minutes, the vice captain got a resounding ovation from the Twickenham crowd. His first carry saw him explode onto the ball, with Billy Vunipola duping out the defence with a neat pop pass. The Baby Rhino battered through the Welsh defenders, yet spilled the ball in contact.

Genge was sent to the sin bin for 'over-leaning in the scrum', just four minutes after he came off the bench for his milestone appearance. Returning to the pitch for an equally loud reaction, the Twickenham fans know the talents that Genge brings to the pack. The stop-start nature of the match hindered the impact of the Bristol Bears man, yet his leadership presence helped instil belief for the England comeback win.