england began the tournament in the same vein as they finished it, winning the opening match 5–1 against wales at the alexandra recreation ground in crewe. wales responded to this, and to their shock defeat by ireland the year previously with an 11–0 thrashing of the visiting irish, a welsh record scoreline which remains standing after nearly 120 years. any hopes of a recovery for the welsh were however dashed in their final game when scotland administered a 5–1 beating in edinburgh.