Wales snatch victory in Cardiff

Wales took revenge for last week's loss to England with a 19-9 victory at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

It was less a case of Wales winning than England losing as the visitors failed to capitalise on their complete dominance in terms of both territory and possession.

Was this one step forward, two steps back?  Martin Johnson will be wondering just how his team managed to lose a game they totally controlled for an hour.

Wales full-back James Hook scored the only try of the encounter but it was the home side's defence that will have Warren Gatland smiling more than anything else.

Three Toby Flood penalties underpinned a bash-and-smash England display that saw them waste numerous attacking opportunities, exposing their chronic lack of flair and imagination.

Both sides will be concerned with the pedestrian pace with which the ball was being recycled at the breakdown.

Much of England's problems lay with a backline that failed to make the most of the swathes of possession that came their way, with the centre pairing of Mike Tindall and Shontayne Hape proving particularly ineffectual.

Wales started well but would have been happy with the 6-all scoreline at half-time having soaked up huge pressure.  Indeed the Welsh defensive display was the highlight of the first 40 minutes.

The World Cup hopes of Wales centre Gavin Henson and England scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth were done no good when they were forced off through injury around the half-hour mark.

Rhys Priestland and Toby Flood traded first-quarter penalties but Matt Banahan should have had his name on the scoreboard after being given a golden opportunity in the corner, only for Shane Williams to deny his much bigger opponent with a brave tackle.

Priestland was also forced off and Hook took over at fly-half.

The second half started in the worst possible fashion for the hosts as Jamie Roberts saw yellow (as a result of his team's numerous indiscretions at the breakdown).

Flood put England ahead for the first time at 9-6 but those would be the only points scored in Roberts' absence.

It took Wales almost an hour to put a decent period of possession together, but they made their first real opportunity to attack count when Hook jinked into a gap and stretched out an arm to score.  Even with the little possession they enjoyed, the home side looked the more dangerous team on attack in the last half-hour.

The hosts had finally found their feet and Hook extended the lead to seven points from long range (after another poor display at the breakdown by England).

England continued to bang away with their one-dimensional approach but without success against fourteen men as Mike Phillips was also sent to the sin bin.  Hook rubbed salt into the wounds with one more three-pointer late on.

Man of the match:  Wales were thrashed up front but the men in Red must be given credit for their tireless tackling, especially Sam Warburton.  But you need points to win a game, so we'll go for James Hook for his contribution to the scoreboard.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  Hook
Con:  Hook
Pens:  Priestland 2, Hook 2

For England:
Pens:  Flood 3

Yellow card:  Roberts (Wales -- 41st min -- not releasing);  Phillips (Wales -- 70th min -- over the top at ruck)

Wales:  15 James Hook, 14 George North, 13 Jamie Roberts, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Lloyd Burns, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Huw Bennett, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Josh Turnbull, 19 Justin Tipuric, 20 Tavis Knoyle, 21 Scott Williams, 22 Aled Brew.

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Mike Tindall (c), 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Hendre Fourie, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 James Haskell, 20 Danny Care, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Delon Armitage.

Venue:  Millennium Stadium
Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)