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)
The Wallabies scored all their points in the second half as they came back from being 6-0 down at half-time, scoring the only try of the game through centre Pat McCabe.
Eddie O'Sullivan's side hit back immediately though and scored fifteen points in a good spell. Takudzwa Ngwenya was continually a threat.
Wales did outscore their hosts by three tries to two but a couple of drops from Jonny Wilkinson saw England win the first of this two-legged affair.
Ireland looked to be heading to a 6-3 win until London Irish centre Ansbro scorched over the whitewash with four minutes remaining following good running from replacement Nick de Luca.
Any hopes Australia had of ending their 25-year Auckland drought were ripped to pieces by their dominant hosts, who charged to a 17-0 lead at the break and never looked like losing.
No surprises then. Few pundits gave the make-shift South African side much of a chance and they were comprehensively beaten.
The clinical Wallabies completely destroyed the bumbling Boks with a five-tries-to-two victory that will leave the world champions plenty to ponder ahead of next week's clash with New Zealand.
As expected, the world's top-ranked team outclassed their visitors in almost every aspect, running in seven tries to two.
World rugby's second-ranked team were well beaten by the islanders just a week away from their Tri-Nations opener against South Africa.
The talking point in Suva was the turnaround by the Fijians. With pressure on boss Sam Domoni, his side stepped up from the first whistle.
Japan crossed for three tries in 17 minutes either side of the break to seal a come-from-behind win.
Tuilagi scored his first try in the third minute and gave Samoa a commanding 15-0 lead midway through the first half with his second after some poor one-on-one tackling from the hosts.
The visitors' hero was their fly-half Kurt Morath, who contributed 20 points, via four penalties and four conversions.
Saracens prop Matt Stevens was a standout performer as the Saxons scrum power produced three penalty tries with England boss Martin Johnson an interested onlooker.
The Brumbies Academy winger showed plenty of class, going over for two tries in each half as Tonga turned a 13-10 half-time lead into a canter.
A hat-trick from winger Miles Benjamin, as well as a brace from full-back Mike Brown, helped the Saxons put 13 tries plus a penalty try past the hapless Eagles.
Lock and man-of-the-match Lionel Nallett scored a try either side of half-time to kill off any chances the Welsh had of winning this match, while wing Vincet Clerc effectively ended the contest after touching down under the posts whilst James Hook was serving 10 minutes in the bin.
Declan Kidney's side were arguably three gears up from their showings in earlier rounds and consequently stunned the Grand Slam chasers, with tries from Tommy Bowe and Brian O'Driscoll sealing a much-needed win to lift team morale.
Line-out accuracy and goal-kicking had let down Italy early on as Leonardo Ghiraldini and Mirco Bergamasco struggled to find their range.
It was by no means a performance to savour, but the result will be a relief for the home side. It was another tight contest that could so easily have gone the way of the Scots, but England held on.
Controversy will forever be attached with this March 12 fixture as a Mike Phillips score that should never have been awarded will leave the whole of Ireland fuming on Saturday evening.