Wales snatch shock victory
Wales pulled the carpet from under England's feet at Twickenham on Saturday, reversing two decades of hurt by conjuring up a famous 26-19 victory in one of the greatest comebacks in rugby history.
If that sounds like hyperbole, you were not there, you did not see.
England had complete control of the game in the first half as Wales, looking like virtual strangers, allowed them every opportunity to attack.
Those roles were reversed early in the second period as the men in red found their feet and the hosts collapsed into a comedy of nervous errors.
It's hard to know where to start the autopsy on this crazy lump of a game. Should we stick the knife into Wales for a woeful start or into the English for their pathetic demise?
Both sides deserve some needle - there was precious little quality in this game - but how the hosts managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory so emphatically will remain one of the great unsolved crimes of our times.
Wales coach Warren Gatland, now well on his way to being the next 'Great Redeemer', revealed that he kept his half-time talk simple: "Just respect the ball," he told his troop.
It's a shame the walls of Twickenham are so thick - England would have done well to have heeded the same advice.
But in Brian Ashton's defence, there was no need for him to raise that point during the break. England's dominance of the first 40 minutes was overwhelming - almost embarrassing. Wales offered up more ball than England knew what to do with, and they duly squandered at least three clean breaks.
Quite how England did not take full advantage of the charity is a complete mystery - Wales were worse than awful. Their set-piece buckled at every opportunity, re-starts were gifted away and their defence had more sign-posted gaps than the London Underground.
Worse still, communication and empathy between the massed ranks of Ospreys was virtually nonexistent. Bizarrely, it seemed as if they had just met at the Cabbage Patch pub prior to the game - and had a few drinks.
Perhaps it was all a clever rope-a-dope ruse. Despite leading by only ten points at the break, England would have felt quietly confident of romping home in the second half.
Did the canny Welsh lull their hosts into a false sense of security? Surely not. But when Wales began to click in the second half, England simply went to pieces.
The great Jonny Wilkinson, England's most capped player on the field and normally the personification of cool, flapped about like a fish out of water. Iain Balshaw proved his detractors right. Andy Gomarsall wound himself up into an over-excited mess. The lillywhite forwards, so majestic in the first half, simply imploded.
This might be doing Wales's resurgence a grave injustice. They did step it up after the break, but only back to 'ordinary' - a move that, somehow, sent England tumbling down the stairs.
Admittedly, England's cause was not helped by a rash of injuries in what turned out, as promised, to be a highly physical encounter.
Wales flank Jonathan Thomas was the first to go, left dazed by a robust Wilkinson tackle that could draw the attentions of the citing commissioner.
The home side then lost wing David Strettle, flank Lewis Moody, centre Mike Tindall and Moody's replacement, Tom Rees.
Strettle, who missed the World Cup campaign after breaking a bone in his foot during pre-tournament training, suffered an ankle problem, Moody picked up Achilles' tendon injury and his replacement Rees is said to have damaged knee ligaments.
The setbacks led to Ben Kay starting the second half as a loose forward, and there he remained.
Strettle's exit meant a debut for ex-Bradford Bulls star Lesley Vainikolo, the Tonga-born New Zealand RL international who qualifies for England on residency.
And Vainikolo provided a highlight of the game, with his delicate offload that led to centre Toby Flood touching down after 22 minutes.
Tindall's exit at around the hour mark paved the way for Danny Cipriani's Test debut, yet England's sheer lack of numbers and inexperience in key positions meant they spent the last 15 minutes desperately trying to hang on.
Inevitably, they failed.
And Ashton now faces an immediate post-mortem barely three months after the highs of reaching a second successive World Cup final.
England had no answers when Wales asked searching questions in the second half, with Wales's coaching dream team of Gatland, Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley putting a proud rugby nation on cloud nine.
Wales fell behind after conceding a penalty after 15 seconds when Martyn Williams was punished for not releasing possession.
Wilkinson slotted the resulting kick and although his opposite number Hook quickly landed an equaliser, both sides soon suffered major injury setbacks.
Wales flanker Jonathan Thomas was the first to go, left dazed by a Wilkinson tackle when the England star's right arm caught Thomas flush in the face.
England though, were also in the wars as wing Strettle and flanker Moody limped off in rapid succession.
Strettle was replaced by Vainikolo, while Wasps openside Rees took over from Moody, but the unsettling nature on both sides could not be over-emphasised enough.
Wilkinson stayed calm amid the mayhem, slotting another penalty and then dropping a goal to put England 9-3 ahead following a punctuated opening quarter.
Vainikolo's arrival had been eagerly anticipated - and he did not disappoint.
He had not been on the pitch for more than 10 minutes when he gathered Wilkinson's kick and then offloaded possession in the same movement.
Flood was the grateful recipient, receiving the pass and sprinting over unopposed as England underlined their dominance.
Wilkinson effortlessly added the extras, and although a second Hook penalty gave Wales a glimmer of hope, England almost added a second try before the break.
Balshaw's searing break was taken on at pace by flank James Haskell, and wing Paul Sackey was only denied the touchdown by superb last-ditch defence from Wales hooker Huw Bennett.
England were good value for their interval advantage but it could have been a lot more than ten points, such was their control at the breakdown and in terms of snaffling turnover possession.
England, despite the injury setbacks, continued to dominate, and another Wilkinson penalty hoisted them 19-6 clear, leaving Wales still way off the pace.
Gatland made a double substitution, sending on prop Gethin Jenkins and centre Tom Shanklin, but it made little difference as England looked to close the game out.
Spurred on by an industrious cameo from Alix Popham, Wales then went into overdrive, smashing England ruthlessly onto the back foot.
England's rapid demise was then hastened by a dreadful pass from Wilkinson that handed Wales a perfect attacking opportunity.
Hook danced around three tacklers and offloaded for Lee Byrne to score and the fly-half then curled in a beautiful conversion to level the scores.
But worse was to follow for England.
Balshaw took an age to clear for touch and was duly charged down by Phillips.
Gethin Jenkins claimed the loose ball, and two passes later Phillips dived in at the corner - going through Balshaw's last-ditch tackle - to put his side ahead for the first time.
Another superb Hook conversion put Wales seven points clear and the bloody ambush was complete.
Man of the match: This is a hard one! Those England players that shone in the first half - the likes of James Haskell, Steve Borthwick, Mike Tindall and Toby Flood - disappeared in the latter stages. It was the reverse for Wales: James Hook, Mike Phillips and Martyn Williams only turned it up late in the game. We'll give a special mention to Alix Popham who is innocent of the crimes of the first-half and injected some much-needed grunt when he came on. We'll also doff a special cap to Hook for his perfect kicking and cool head, but we'd like to break from tradition and hand this gong to Warren Gatland and his cohorts. Welsh teams of the past would have rolled over at 19-3 down at Twickenham, but these guys didn't. It's early days, but the New Zealander's winning mentality seems to be rubbing off on his new charges.
Moment of the match: David Strettle's run deserves a mention, but we'll go for the drama of Mike Phillips's late try. Not even Hollywood would have got away with such an outlandish script.
Villian of the match: Jonny Wilkinson might need admonishing for what look like a swinging arm, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt ... for now! No award this time, why ruin such a heady day of rugby?
The scorers:
For England:
Try: Flood
Con: Wilkinson
Pens: Wilkinson 3
Drops: Wilkinson
For Wales:
Tries: Byrne, Phillips
Cons: Hook 2
Pens: Hook 4
England: 15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Toby Flood, 11 David Strettle, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 James Haskell, 5 Steve Borthwick, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery (captain), 2 Mark Regan, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Ben Kay, 19 Tom Rees, 20 Richard Wigglesworth, 21 Danny Cipriani, 22 Lesley Vainikolo.
Wales: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Shane Williams, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Mark Jones, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones (captain), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Ian Gough, 4 Alun Wyn-Jones, 3 Duncan Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Adam Jones.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Ian Evans, 19 Alix Popham, 20 Gareth Cooper, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Tom Shanklin.
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Touch judges: Alan Lewis (Ireland), Romain Poite (France)
Television match official: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Assessor: Douglas Kerr (Scotland)
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