Wales rally to stun England

Wales gave new coach Warren Gatland a perfect start with a stunning 26-19 victory over England in the RBS Six Nations - their first win at Twickenham in 20 years.

The New Zealander saw his side produce a sensational comeback after England appeared to be cantering to an opening weekend win in the competition.

Jonny Wilkinson scored 14 points, including the conversion of Toby Flood's first-half try, to put the World Cup finalists 19-6 to the good early in the second half.

However, Wales remained in touch thanks to the reliable boot of James Hook before climbing off the canvas to hit their opponents with two sucker punches.

Late tries through Lee Byrne and Mike Phillips completed an amazing fightback just when they had appeared to be out for the count.

The final whistle sparked wild celebrations from the visitors while England were left to wonder quite how they had managed to lose a game from a position of such strength.

Bad start

Things started in the worst possible way for Wales when Martyn Williams gave away a penalty from the opening kick-off, allowing Wilkinson to open the scores with mere seconds on the clock.

Hook levelled the scores shortly after but England were the side in control, even if the pace and physicality of the opening exchanges saw them lose Lewis Moody.

David Strettle was also taken off in the opening quarter, allowing the Twickenham faithful a first glimpse of Lesley Vainikolo in a white shirt.

It did not take long for The Volcano to explode onto the international scene, England's switch from searing pace to sheer strength out wide proving crucial in their opening score.

Wilkinson spotted the sizeable presence of the winger one-on-one with opposite number Mark Jones on the left flank and floated out a kick that the rugby league convert soared highest to claim before offloading for Flood to canter over.

England's fly-half was on target with the conversion to follow up a second penalty and a drop goal that meant the home side were 16-3 up and in cruise control.

But, to their immense credit, Wales managed to stand firm under heavy pressure until half time, even managing to cut the gap to 10 with a Hook penalty.

They were given a helping hand by television official Simon McDowell, who ruled Paul Sackey was held up over the line as he tried to get the ball down in the right corner.

New defence coach Shaun Edwards, who could well have been wearing a kit with a red rose on it rather than that with the three feathers of Wales, would have been particularly pleased to see his forwards hold out on their own line just before the break.

That passage of stoic defence proved crucial as the second half saw a dramatic shift in the balance of power.

Imploded

An early Wilkinson penalty after the re-start made it 19-6, but from then on England became so desperate for a second try that they imploded from a position of complete superiority.

Their desire to kick away possession allowed Wales to stay alive and launch the kind of recovery that a Hollywood director would have dismissed as pure fantasy.

Even the normally calm Wilkinson seemed to be feeling the pressure, throwing an errant pass over the head of sub Danny Cipriani that led to the first of two tries in an amazing three-minute spell.

Hook - who had kicked two easy penalties to bring his side within seven - mesmerised three defenders before sending the ball onto full-back Byrne to finish off for the first.

The tough conversion was successful to level the scores and the comeback was complete when Phillips forged his way over on the left.

The scrum-half scored the go-ahead try after he had charged down Ian Balshaw's delayed clearing kick, accepting Gethin Jenkins' pass to slide over.

Hook added the extras to seal a memorable result for Wales and Gatland, a man who will already be a hero to such a proud rugby-playing nation that have suffered plenty of bad times since their Grand Slam season.