England won their first Triple Crown since 1998 as two tries from Dan Luger, and 30 points from stand-off Jonny Wilkinson, helped them to a record 50-10 win over Wales in the Six Nations at Twickenham.
Scoring five tries, England surpassed their 34-point winning margin of 1998 and 2000 against a Wales side, who aside from the first three minutes of the game, were never really at the races.
Whilst this game put England in a no-win situation with such expectation of a big victory over a struggling Welsh side, it will go a small way to making up for the defeat to France three weeks earlier, and more importantly kept England's chances of a Six Nations title alive.
England certainly had a battle on their hands early on, intense Welsh pressure was only kept at bay by equally intense English defence as the visitors laid siege to the home try-line in the opening minutes.
However, it was England who opened the scoring as Jonny Wilkinson coolly slotted a drop-goal to give the home side a lead they would not relinquish.
After that England began to assert themselves, Austin Healey testing the Welsh defence with some Robinson-esque footwork and after a good period of possession England soon had the opening they needed.
A deft chip from Wilkinson was collected by centre Will Greenwood who rolled over the line, referee Andrew Cole adjudging the Quins centre touched the ball down without consulting the video ref.
Despite a fair share of possession and territory, England only had a second Wilkinson penalty to show for their efforts as they led 13-0 mid-way through the first-half.
Iestyn Harris pulled a penalty back for Wales just before the half-hour mark but Wilkinson notched two further penalties, taking him over 500 Test points for England, as they had to be content with a 19-3 lead at half-time.
If Wales thought they may have weathered the worst of the England storm, right from the kick-off, the home side surged up to the Welsh line after good work from Neil Back and Ben Kay.
With Wales penalised, England underlined their second-half game-plan and opted for the line-out which created an opening for Wilkinson to dance through untouched for try. No doubt about this one and he added the extras as England stretched their lead to 26-3.
Wilkinson hit his fourth penalty before Wales began to exert their Wales first real bit of pressure since the opening minutes, Andy Marinos spurning an overlap on two separate occasions in quick succession as England held firm.
England made Wales pay for their profligacy, Harris failing to control the pass inside his 22 and Dan Luger eventually stepping inside for his 18th Test try and Wilkinson impeccable with the conversion.
With England in full flow, and Wales flagging, Luger got his 19th just three minutes later as Will Greenwood's burst opened saw his club colleague stroll over untouched, Wilkinson again adding the extras.
For Welsh fans there was the smallest ray of sunshine as Harris, on whose shoulders so much hope and unfair expectation was placed towards the end of the Henry era, found an opening to score a consolation try.
And yet any Welsh hopes that score would prevent a half-century of points for England, and a record margin of victory, were dashed when substitute Tim Stimpson crashed over for the home side's fifth try, Wilkinson notching his ninth successful kick of the day.
Man of the match:
This game was a classic team performance from England. The pack, led by skipper Neil Back, was an impressively dominant unit both at the set-piece and in the loose -- whilst the three-quarters, marshalled by Wilkinson and the lively Healey, were enjoying their day in the sun. On balance, Will Greenwood takes the award, scoring a try and setting up two others.
Moment of the match:
After good early pressure from their side, Wales fans will point to Will Greenwood's opening try after just ten minutes as a crucial moment in the game. The referee awarded it without going to the video ref, and after that England never looked back.
Villain of the match:
In a good-tempered match there were no real villains, although Wales centre Andy Marinos gets our nomination for his reluctance on several occasions to share what rare quality ball the Welsh backs received.
The teams:
England: 1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Julian White, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Neil Back (c), 7 Lewis Moody, 8 Richard Hill, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Dan Luger, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Austin Healey
Reserves: Martin Corry, Matt Dawson, Tim Stimpson, Dorian West, Joe Worsley,
Unused: Jason Leonard, Iain Balshaw
Wales: 1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Chris Anthony, 4 Andrew Moore, 5 Chris Wyatt, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Scott Quinnell (c), 9 Rob Howley, 10 Iestyn Harris, 11 Craig Morgan, 12 Andy Marinos, 13 Gareth Thomas, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves: Dwayne Peel, Rhys Williams, Colin Charvis, Gareth Llewellyn, Barry Williams
Unused: Nicky Robinson, Spencer John
Referee: Cole a.
Points Scorers
England
Tries: Greenwood W.J.H. 1, Luger D.D. 2, Stimpson T.R.G. 1, Wilkinson J.P. 1
Conv: Wilkinson J.P. 5
Pen K.: Wilkinson J.P. 4
Drop G.: Wilkinson J.P. 1
Wales
Tries: Harris I. 1
Conv: Harris I. 1
Pen K.: Harris I. 1
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