Will Greenwood helped himself to a hat-trick of tries in half an hour on Saturday as England empahtically put Wales to the sword in the Six Nations clash at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, running out 44-15 winners.
Had it not been for Scott Quinnell's second-half try then it would have been a record, but even so, the manner of this defeat must send shudders through the Welsh Rugby Union, as a clinical, organised, and more importantly attacking England seemed to back up Wales coach Graham Henry's claims that they are now truly among the elite of world rugby.
It took England only 11 minutes to register their first score of the day, when man of the match Greenwood touched down in what was to be the start of an avalanche of tries in the first half, which saw England 29-8 up at half time, after Greenwood's first two, and a pair for scrum-half Matt Dawson, who was a constant threat in the No.9 shirt.
The only cheer of the day from the Welsh fans was when Neil Jenkins reached the 1000 point mark in Test rugby (including his 41 for the Lions), but by then the result was well beyond their reach.
Clive Woodward's men proved that their autumn wins over Australia and South Africa were no flukes, with the other try on the day coming from Northampton wing Ben Cohen, whose pre-match build up had been dominated by the repercussions from that "Shane who?" quote about Shane Williams -- who did not earn a place in the squad this time round.
Wales themselves salvaged two tries from the game, both as a result of scrum-half Rob Howley's acceleration at the base of the ruck, with one try for the man himself, and one created by him for Scott Quinnell in the second half.
England manager Clive Woodward denied after the game that it had been a completely one sided affair, saying: "We expected Wales to come out hard, and they did.
"Will Greenwood and Mike Catt were outstanding for us, and it's refreshing to talk about the England back line for a change.
"We gave full respect to Wales, and it was a brilliant start for England, although we could have got a couple more in the second-half."
Hat-trick hero Will Greenwood said after his afternoon to remember: "We knew the kitchen sink would come at us right from the start, and we had to take the crowd out of the equation.
"Jonny Wilkinson got right in their faces, and made a lot of space out wide. All of my tries were team tries, and it was a lot of fun out there. We're building a good squad at the moment, but we're not going to go around saying how good we are."
Despite the end result, Wales nearly got the ideal start when after two minutes of solid pressure in the England 22, Scott Gibbs floated over a delicately weighted chip which caught the England defence on the back foot.
The ball took a vicious backspin when it landed in the try area, and as Balshaw scurried back he appeared to fail to ground it properly, and with Dafydd James for Wales and Ben Cohen for England both going down on the ball in a heap, it was down to the video referee to adjudicate that Cohen had got the first downward pressure, saving his side from conceding an early score.
Neil Jenkins tried to break the deadlock on his home patch with a 52 metre penalty, but unfortunately for the Welshman it dropped just short.
England had just the answer to silence the Millennium Stadium crowd, and when Jonny Wilkinson broke from halfway, the Welsh defence magnetically drew to him as he streaked away down the left wing.
Wilkinson had the composure to look round and assess the support, and it was the timely inside run of Will Greenwood which caught Wilkinson's eye as he lobbed an inside pass over the head of the retreating Welsh in to the arms of the Harlequins centre to breeze under the posts for the converted try.
Before Wales had even had chance to draw breath the misery was compounded even further, as a run from England fullback Iain Balshaw down the right wing saw him beat his opposite number for pace, before being hauled back five metres short of the line.
Once again it was the superb support play of Will Greenwood which saved the day, as it was he who had started the move in midfield with a long loop pass. Balshaw presented the ball for Greenwood on a plate, and with shouts of "double movement" from the crowd, Greenwood legally grounded the ball just over the line, with Wilkinson missing the conversion, and hitting a penalty soon after. But Wales had a trick up their sleeve as the game restarted.
Scrum-half Rob Howley picked up from the base of a ruck on the England 22 and shaped to pass out wide on the right. Both Phil Vickery and Richard Hill took the bait, and as Howley held on himself, he accelerated through the gap at a speed the critics doubted that he still had, with a diagonal burst in to the right corner sealing the try, which Jenkins failed to convert for his 1000 points in Test rugby (including British Lions).
It was Howley's opposite number Matt Dawson who touched down the next try of the game on the half hour, in what was shaping in to a more expansive England game.
Wilkinson changed the direction of play ten metres out with a long pass to Mike Catt, but with the Wales defence offside the penalty was given just right of the posts. Dawson turned down the kickable three points and tapped quickly to go himself from five metres. Chris Wyatt on the Welsh line went in too high for the tackle as Dawson slid under him for the try, which Wilkinson had no problems in converting.
Neil Jenkins then once again missed the 1000 point mark as his long penalty struck the left upright, and England cleared with the midfield ruck seeming to bring play to a halt. Not so as Dawson picked up from the base, and like Howley ten minutes before sucked in the Wales forwards with a calculated dummy.
From fully 50 metres he raced away, and with only new fullback Stephen Jones to beat stepped first off the right foot, then the left, leaving Jones in a hypnotic daze as the Llanelli man fell backwards, with Dawson jogging in to place the ball for his second try of the half, and England's fourth as Wilkinson converted for a 29-8 half-time lead.
Wales weren't given any breathing room as the second-half started, when only two minutes in a charged down clearance by Wales was snapped up by Ben Cohen, who found Greenwood in space for the centre to complete his hat-trick and go over for the try in the right corner, with Wilkinson missing the conversion.
England were flying, with passes finding men out wide, and a renewed imagination from Clive Woodward's side, demonstrated perfectly when Austin Healey dropped two sidesteps on halfway before the ball found its way to Iain Balshaw on halfway down the right wing.
The Bath star chipped ahead and made a mockery of opposite number Stephen Jones in a footrace to the ball under the posts. With the attentions of Colin Charvis the only obstacle between Balshaw and that dream try, the England man hacked in to the try area but made a hash of the touchdown as he dived, palming the ball, but unfortunately for England not in to the ground.
Another penalty from Wilkinson nudged England further ahead with 24 minutes to go, before Ben Cohen steamed through the Wales back line on a diagonal run to power over for another try.
With Wales well and truly on the rack, they produced a spark of inspiration to earn one of the truly great milestones in Rugby history.
With a seemingly innocuous scrum just inside their own half, Howley broke from the base and sped through the dawdling England line. With the defence flocking round him Howley threw a superb reverse scissors pass for Scott Quinnell on the burst from 30 metres out to run the try in.
With the scoreline irrelevant, Neil Jenkins finally kicked over his 1000th point in Test rugby, a monumental landmark for a player whose consistency has never wavered, but a brief aside from this otherwise dour afternoon for the Welsh game.
Man of the match: Will Greenwood (England)
The Teams:
Wales: 1 Darren Morris, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Dai Young (c), 4 Ian Gough, 5 Chris Wyatt, 6 Colin Charvis, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Scott Quinnell, 9 Rob Howley, 10 Neil Jenkins, 11 Dafydd James, 12 Scott Gibbs, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Gareth Thomas, 15 Stephen Jones
Reserves: Mark Jones, Allan Bateman, Spencer John, Rupert Moon, Andrew Moore
Unused: Geraint Lewis, Garin Jenkins
England: 1 Jason Leonard, 2 Dorian West, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Danny Grewcock, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Dan Luger, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Will Greenwood, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Iain Balshaw
Reserves: Martin Corry, Austin Healey, Matt Perry, Mike Tindall, Trevor Woodman
Unused: Mark Regan, Julian White
Referee: Dume j.
Points Scorers:
Wales
Tries: Howley R. 1, Quinnell L.S. 1
Conv: Jenkins N.R. 1
Pen K.: Jenkins N.R. 1
England
Tries: Dawson M.J.S. 2, Greenwood W.J.H. 3, Cohen B.C. 1
Conv: Wilkinson J.P. 4
Pen K.: Wilkinson J.P. 2
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