England put Wales to the sword

Will Greenwood crosses for his second try

Wales 15-44 England

England set out their stall for the Six Nations campaign with a measured and highly professional performance at the Millennium Stadium.

Wales started by taking the game to their visitors, but after weathering some early pressure, England clinically slayed the Welsh dragon.

Tries from Rob Howley and Scott Quinnell were but small consolation for the home crowd in the face of an ominous six-try England performance

  Wales v England

Tries
Wales - Howley, Quinnell
England - Greenwood (3), Dawson (2), Cohen

Coversions
Wales - Jenkins
England - Wilkinson (4)

Penalties
Wales - Jenkins
England - Wilkinson (2)

Clive Woodward's backs have often been criticised for not finishing off the work of their forwards, but they stole the show.

Will Greenwood justified his inclusion with a hat-trick which was completed soon after the interval.

And Iain Balshaw added an extra dimension with his pace from full back which exploited any gaps in the Welsh defence.

As the game petered out as a contest in the second half, Ben Cohen breezed beyond two isolated Welsh props to round off an exhibition of back play.

The difference in pace between Cohen and his front-row pursuers was just the last of many examples in the match when Englishmen left their opponents grasping at thin air.

The home crowd came in good voice to celebrate a 50th cap for Scott Gibbs and the anticiapated 1,000th point of Neil Jenkins' career.

However they left reflecting on the gulf in class between the two sides.

Opening salvo

The deadlock was broken on 10 minutes in England's first attack.

French referee Joel Dume missed Jonny Wilkinson's inside pass to Greenwood who scored under the posts.

Within minutes the Harlequins centre was celebrating a second try which silenced the passionate home crowd still voicing their discontent with his first score.

Two tries from two attacks and after looking slightly timid in the opening exchanges England were transformed and looked more than comfortable in their hostile surroundings.

Rob Howley eludes Iain Balshaw to cross for Wales

Jenkins and Wilkinson exhanged penalties before Howley gave the home crowd hope with a piece of individual magic.

Wales won a turnover which, after a slight of hand on the blindside, the former Welsh captain ran in at the corner - due reward for a quality display in a losing side.

But the score only concentrated English minds.

The visitors patiently probed before Matt Dawson took centre stage with a brace of tries.

The scrum half's first came from a quick tap-and-go from five metres which caught the Welsh defence napping.

Dawson's second ended the match as a competition five minutes before half-time.

Breaking from halfway he skipped beyond an attempted tap-tackle before bewitching Stephen Jones with a series of side-steps and racing past him to the posts.

All that was left for the Welsh crowd was to salute Jenkins who reached his personal landmark when he converted Quinnell's try.

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Wales: S Jones, G Thomas, M Taylor, S Gibbs, D James, N Jenkins, R Howley, D Morris, R McBryde, D Young (capt), I Gough, C Wyatt, C Charvis, M Williams, S Quinnell. Replacements: G Jenkins, S John, A Moore, G Lewis, R Moon, A Bateman, M Jones.

England: I Balshaw, B Cohen, W Greenwood, M Catt, D Luger, J Wilkinson, M Dawson, J Leonard, D West, P Vickery, M Johnson (capt), D Grewcock, R Hill, N Back, L Dallaglio. Replacements: M Regan, J White, T Woodman, M Corry, A Healey, M Tindall, M Perry.