Wales thrashed England by a record-breaking 30-3 in Cardiff on Saturday to retain the Six Nations title and deny the visitors the grand slam.

As the tournament enjoyed a frenetic finale, Italy handed Ireland a 22-15 defeat in Rome while France recorded their first win with a 23-16 victory over Scotland in Paris.

However, it was not enough to prevent the rock-bottom French landing the dreaded wooden spoon for the first time since 1999.

Welsh winger Alex Cuthbert’s two second-half tries at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium proved decisive in a match they had to win by seven points to retain the title for the first time since 1979, provided they maintained their superior try count.

As it was, the defending grand glam champions beat a 108-year-old record to clinch their biggest win over England, surpassing a 25-0 win back in 1905.

“We were outstanding. This is better than the grand slam last year. We outclassed them,” said Welsh interim coach Rob Howley.

“This is a unique place in world rugby. With the crowd behind us, we needed to start well.”

English coach Stuart Lancaster admitted Wales had been the better side.

“We are gutted. We didn’t get the execution right and didn’t turn up,” he said.

“We just weren’t good enough. We have no complaints – we couldn’t match their physicality.”

After building a 12-3 lead early in the second half, through four penalties by fullback Leigh Halfpenny to one from England five-eighth Owen Farrell, Wales surged ahead through a try by Cuthbert.

That put them 17-3 in front and, minutes later, Farrell missed his second penalty in three attempts.

Dan Biggar added a drop goal before Cuthbert stormed in for another try, and completed the rout with a penalty.

At Rome’s Olympic Stadium, superstar Brian O’Driscoll, in his 125th and possibly final appearance for Ireland, saw his team slump to a 22-15 loss to Italy.

It was the Italians’ first Six Nations win over Ireland, who had started the tournament with a 30-22 victory over Wales in Cardiff.

Winger Giovanbattista Venditti scored the only try in the 49th minute while O’Driscoll’s afternoon was further clouded when he was sin-binned in the first half for stomping on the stomach of Simone Favaro.

Ireland captain Jamie Heaslip insisted his team would learn from their three defeats.

“Going forward, the experience will be good for the squad,” he said.

“It’s been a very frustrating tournament – just one or two scores in it.”

While France still ended up with the wooden spoon, Scotland finished third on the table.