LONDON -- England secured its place in a three-way fight for the Six Nations title next weekend by blowing away Wales in a 29-18 win at Twickenham on Sunday, delivering a potent mix of clinical finishing, flawless place-kicking and non-stop intensity to capture the Triple Crown.
John Taylor Jersey . Welsh hopes of landing an unprecedented third straight championship outright were ended thanks to first-half tries by Danny Care and Luther Burrell and seven successful kicks - five penalties and two conversions from flyhalf Owen Farrell. England banished the painful memories of a 30-3 loss to Wales in last seasons Six Nations title decider by dominating almost every facet of a game played at a searing pace. The visitors scrum was demolished, their tackling and handling was sloppy and they only stayed in contention because of fullback Leigh Halfpennys own blemish-free record of six penalties. "Weve tried to remove the fear of playing, and when youve got the courage of your convictions, it generally pays off," England coach Stuart Lancaster said. "Its nice to put last years result in Cardiff to bed. We lost fair and square on that day, but today was our day." England joined France and Ireland on six points from four matches, setting up a thrilling last round of matches. Owning a far superior points difference of +81, Ireland will win the title - and seal a perfect international sendoff for retiring centre Brian ODriscoll with a victory over the French in Paris in the last of the three games. England simply has to beat Italy in Rome, which should be a given on this performance, and hope Ireland lose. If that happens, Lancasters side should lift the trophy for only the second time since winning the World Cup in 2003. The English just keep raising the bar under Lancaster, who has changed the teams mentality and approach in his two years in charge. He claimed that the toughed-out 13-10 win over Ireland two weeks ago was the highlight of a reign that includes a record victory over New Zealand, but this success will take some beating. It clinched the Triple Crown - a sweep of wins over the home unions for the first time since 2003 and was the perfect answer to a midweek taunt from Wales coach Warren Gatland - who challenged whether the English had turned from boys to men in the last 12 months. This Wales side contained 12 players that featured in the British Lions series-clinching win in the third test against Australia last July. Wales had more than double the amount of caps as England here. "We didnt keep the ball well enough today, there were too many turnovers and we were hammered at the scrum very disappointing," Gatland said. A bad day for the Welsh became even worse with the news that Halfpenny will miss the rest of this season after dislocating his right shoulder toward the end of the match. On a red-hot day in southwest London, England brought a scorching intensity that the Welsh couldnt live with. At scrumhalf, Care was the conductor-in-chief and from one of his trademark quick taps, England went in front after just five minutes. Care noticed Wales defenders had turned their backs after referee Romain Poite awarded a penalty following a long advantage, and Care darted past Poite and into a gap to dive over the line. It was Englands first try against Wales in 282 minutes. Wales often had no answer to its opponents line breaks and hard running, but with the adrenalin flowing England gave away some soft penalties at the fiercely contested breakdown that Halfpenny punished in the ninth, 23rd and 31st minutes. Two of those came from near halfway. With Farrell booting two penalties of his own, England held a 13-9 lead just after the half hour but that lead turned to 11 points when Wales over-threw a lineout and the ball was recycled out to the English left wing, where Jonny May cut inside. Play was set up for Billy Twelvetrees to slither a grubber kick into the left corner where Burrell collected on the dive for a try, converted from out wide. England was much the better side yet two more well-struck penalties by Halfpenny in the final three minutes saw Wales somehow jog back to the dressing rooms just five points behind. However, Welsh errors - both handling and tactical, continued after halftime and Farrell was unforgiving from the kicking tee. England was never in danger of blowing its lead. "We grew a lot as a team over the last year," England lock Courtney Lawes said, "and a performance like that has been a long time coming."
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Bob Hayes Jersey . Mohamed Diame put West Ham ahead in the 47th minute before goals by substitutes Carlton Cole and Joe Cole condemned Fulham to a fifth straight defeat, keeping the visitors in the bottom three.MINNEAPOLIS - The Carolina Panthers came out of their bye, still carrying a legitimate chance of repeating as NFC South champions despite persistent problems on offence and defence.Better put special teams on that list, too, thanks to the Minnesota Vikings.Adam Thielen and Everson Griffen each returned blocked punts for touchdowns, the first time in 24 years one team had two in the same NFL game, and the Vikings handed the Panthers their sixth straight loss with a 31-13 victory on Sunday.Its really disappointing. Its frustrating. Every adjective you can come up with, its that, Panthers tight end Greg Olsen said. Right now were not very good.The Panthers (3-8-1) entered the stadium just a half-game out of first place, but they again stumbled out of their annual in-season week off. They fell to 0-4 after the bye under coach Ron Rivera, and they havent won since Oct. 5 against Chicago.Just as damaging were wins by division co-leaders Atlanta and New Orleans on Sunday, bringing both teams to 5-7, but as Olsen tersely put it after the game, the playoff talk is essentially irrelevant with the way the contenders-in-name-only Panthers have been playing after going 12-4 last year.I told the guys weve got four games left to go. Were going to play all four games, expect to win all four games, and keep going from there, Rivera said.The Vikings (5-7) are well behind in the NFC North, but they had plenty to smile about on this frigid afternoon. Griffen had two of the four sacks of Cam Newton, and Teddy Bridgewater threw for scores to Kyle Rudolph and Greg Jennings without a turnover.The rookie led the Vikings on just their third opening-drive touchdown of the season and their first since his debut on Sept. 28 and guided an 11-play, 80-yard drive to push the lead to 28-6 with 16 seconds left before halftime.I think Im better at just making quicker decisions, said Bridgewater, who went 15 for 21 for 138 yards.Newton, on the other side, turned in another unremarkable performance. He was intercepted for the eighth straight game and finished 18 for 35 for 194 yards and one touchdown, plus 49 yards on nine rushes.I have to come in each and every day with a clear mind to try to get better, because I have yet to play a great game in my opinion, Newton said.Here are some key points to know about the game:BRRRR!This was the seventh-coldest game in Vikings history, with a kickoff temperature of 12 degrees and a wind chill well below zero. They are playing outside this year for the first timme since 1981.
Ted Kwalick Jersey. This was only the second under-25-degrees game the Panthers had played since the franchise began in 1995. They played in the NFC championship game after the 1996 season at Green Bay with a kickoff temperature of 3 degrees.BLOCK PARTYGriffen picked up the ball after Jasper Brinkleys block in the second quarter and ran 43 yards for the touchdown, but he was more impressed by Thielens all-in-one play in the first quarter. He burst through the middle unblocked and was so deep in the backfield he had to be careful to avoid a penalty for running into punter Brad Nortman.I got so far in on him that I had to move my hands down. It probably wouldve hit me in the face, but I blocked it with my hands, Thielen said.His dive landed him on the ball, and he leaped to his feet to pick it up and race 30 yards into the end zone.Thats unbelievable. He blocked the kick, he picked up the kick and he scored, so he got like 10 points on one play, Griffen said, using a generous scoring formula. Thats awesome for him.The last time a team scored on two blocked punts in an NFL game was on Sept. 30, 1990, when Kansas City did it against Cleveland. This was also the first blocked punt return touchdown by the Vikings since Oct. 12, 1986, against San Francisco, the longest active NFL streak without one.BREAKING UPXavier Rhodes had three passes defended for the Vikings and helped limit Panthers star rookie Kelvin Benjamin to five receptions for 56 yards. Newton targeted Benjamin 12 times.TRAINING ROOMThe Panthers reported injuries to free safety Tre Boston (ankle) and running back DeAngelo Williams (hand), but Rivera said he didnt know the severity of either. Vikings defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd had a sack in the first quarter before aggravating a knee injury that kept him out the week before. Linebacker Anthony Barr also hurt his knee that has given him some discomfort this season. Coach Mike Zimmer said neither of them were serious.PATTERSON LIMITEDCordarrelle Patterson had his usual spot as kickoff returner for the Vikings, but he was barely used as a wide receiver. Zimmer said the absence from the offence was not disciplinary but rather because of knee trouble that kept Patterson out of practice on Wednesday and Thursday.Feel like Im 100 per cent. I feel like the coaches didnt feel I was 100 per cent, so they decided to hold me out. I respect them for that, Patterson said.___AP NFL websites:
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