Six Nations: Ben Youngs remains calm after England win in Wales

Ben Youngs insists England will not get carried away by their 21-16 victory over Wales in the Six Nations opener in Cardiff on Friday evening.

Italy at Twickenham on Saturday are the next assignment for Stuart Lancaster’s side, followed by a pivotal trip to Ireland two weekends later, so scrum-half Youngs is keeping his feet on the ground.

"This is round one. It's a great result and we are really pleased, but we will be straight back on it on Monday. We can't get ahead of ourselves," Youngs said.

"In 2013 we took a pasting in Cardiff when we probably got ahead of ourselves, so we have got to make sure that we learn from that and focus on one game at a time.

"To come here and get the result we have been working hard for is really pleasing, so it's a great start.

"But Championships aren't won in the first round, it's about what you do afterwards that counts, so we have got to build on this."

England trailed 10-0 inside the opening 10 minutes after an early Welsh onslaught, but they hit back strongly and dominated the second half.

Great game

"Both teams were going at it and I thought it was a great game. To get back in the way we did was really pleasing. Ant Watson scored his try and we began to get belief and stick to our game-plan," Youngs said.

"We went 10-0 down and although we had a lot of time, it wasn't the ideal situation. At the same time, it was a test of character and I thought the boys showed that in abundance."

England had been decimated by injury heading into the match and Youngs added: "This win shows the strength in depth we have at the moment.

"The most pleasing thing is that we are building experience ahead of the World Cup and that is probably the big picture, but obviously we want to do as well as we can in this tournament."

The tone for England's defiance was set in the tunnel when captain Chris Robshaw ordered his players to stand firm as officials asked them to make their entrance on to the pitch.

Mind games

Wales were still in their changing room and Robshaw sensed his team would be kept waiting on a bitterly cold night if they succumbed to the hosts' mind games.

"We knew Wales would make us wait, we were fully aware of that. They would have made us wait for five minutes," Youngs said.

"We just knew we were going to be standing in the middle for a long time, with lights out and all that, because they have done it before.

"It's always a great game between England and Wales. You can either crumble in that atmosphere, or thrive, and I thought the guys thrived."