SCRUM-HALF Kieran Hardy, from Pontyberem, has won the Guinness Six Nations Try of the Round award for his fine individual score in Wales’ victory against England at the Principality Stadium.

The 25 year-old was handed his first Six Nations start for Wales, ahead of his Scarlets’ regional team-mate Gareth Davies, as Wayne Pivac’s side emphatically secured the Triple Crown in Cardiff.

Hardy - who just over two years ago was playing for Jersey Reds in the second tier of English rugby after failing to earn a contract with any of the Welsh regions - helped set up a stunning 40-24 win.

Tries by Josh Adams and Liam Williams had given Wales a 17-14 half-time lead, but Hardy provided a moment of magic in the 47th minute of the game in what proved a turning point in the game.

Wearing the Wales number nine shirt from the start in only his fourth cap, Hardy caught England completely off guard, after Jonny Hill was penalised for an infringement at the breakdown.

Spotting that England had been slow in organising their defence, the scrum-half took a quick tap penalty, and used his pace to dart through a gap in a wall of white shirts to dive over the line.

Hardy received almost half of the votes for his score to take the Guinness Six Nations Try of the Round, ahead of Ireland’s Hugo Keenan, England’s Anthony Watson and Johan Meyer of Italy.

His award means that Wales have won the Try of the Round in all three rounds, with Hardy following in the footsteps of back-to-back winner Louis Rees-Zammit, against both Ireland and Scotland.

“Hardy’s effort received 48.3 percent of the votes, more than 2,500 clear of nearest rival Keenan, whose score for Ireland received 25.2 per cent of the votes,” revealed the Six Nations website.

“Watson’s powerful try against Wales in the first half took third place with 16.9 percent of the votes, while Meyer’s score against Ireland received 9.5 percent of the fans’ vote.”

Triple Crown winners Wales have won all three of their games so far in the 2021 Guinness Six Nations, and remain on course to complete the clean sweep, with Italy and France still to play.