WALES Deaf retained the Broadstreet Cup after overcoming a hugely-spirited England 23-12 at Pontypridd's Sardis Road.

Dunvant fly-half Richard Lewis booted the hosts into the lead at Sardis Road with a penalty inside the opening quarter and doubled the advantage to 6-0 just after the half hour.

Aron Humphreys thought he had scored the game's first try before the break only for the Nelson winger's effort to be chalked off for a knock-on.

However, Wales were not to be denied and made the most of an overlap for full-back Gareth John to go over down the right for an 11-0 lead at half-time.

England started the second half strongly and capitalised on a Humphreys yellow card to make it 11-5 when lock Barney Reid crashed over.

It took desperate defence to prevent the visitors from going over again and the second half was fiercely contested.

However, the turning point came with six minutes left when Wales were awarded a penalty 26 metres out and decided to kick to the corner.

The Wales forwards combined well to drive hooker Dan Vella over in the right hand corner. Lewis kicked the conversion to extend Wales' lead to 18-5.

Two minutes later, Humphreys latched onto a loose ball and sprinted in from around 25 metres to give Wales an unassailable lead.

With time in the red zone, England continued to play positive rugby and were duly rewarded as Max Thorne dived over in the corner. Scrum half Jack Haddock kicked the conversion.