England 30 Wales 17: Carefree England turn back clock for fine win

Leeds-born scrum-half Danny Care was the orchestrator, scoring one try and encapsulating a more expressive England with his nimble footwork, creativity and eye for an opening.

The 23-year-old has had a stop-start career in the England jersey – last year's Six Nations in particular was one to forget with a twisted ankle suffered on the eve of the campaign and a crucial sin-binning for a hot-headed charge in a moment to forget in Dublin.

But just across the A316 from where he plays his club rugby, Care's 15th cap was perhaps his best as he guided England to victory in a see-saw second half.

England – wearing a retro jersey to celebrate 100 years of Twickenham – had not beaten Wales in the Six Nations since 2006 and came into this tournament off a sobering November when the southern hemisphere sides ran rough-shod over their muddled and nervous offence.

But Martin Johnson and his coaches heeded the calls from the public and their players to release the shackles and the team repaid them with a performance that was as much about steely defiance as it was about offensive expression.

Having taken a 20-3 lead courtesy of Care's second international try, England fell asleep as Wales roared back into the contest with a try from prop Adam Jones and a superb individual effort from James Hook.

The momentum had shifted, and in past guises, Johnson's side would have wilted, but instead they dug deep and sealed the win when Delon Armitage intercepted Stephen Jones's pass and set Mathew Tait scampering away. His offload found James Haskell, who scored his second try of the game.

"There was always going to be a lot of nerves coming out of the autumn, but we were full of confidence and knew if we played to our highest potential we could win the game," said Care, who began life as a footballer with Sheffield Wednesday, only to concentrate on rugby after being told he was too small by the decision-makers at Hillsborough.

"We let them back in it with a couple of silly mistakes but it's great to see the boys backing themselves in those crucial situations."

As it is with Care, who was at last able to transfer his club form for Harlequins into the England No 9 shirt.

This performance should now seal his place as England's starting scrum-half after a three-way battle with Harry Ellis and Paul Hodgson that has lasted the duration of his two-year England career.

The confidence imparted in him by Johnson and his coaches was seconded by a former England No 9 who provided the former Otley and Leeds player with words of encouragement in the build-up to the game. "Matt Dawson texted me before the game telling me to be myself. Matt is great to have as a mentor figure. " said Care.

"That's the way I like to play and I enjoyed myself out there.

"It's always nice to score, especially with it being my first at Twickenham.

"My way of playing is any time you get an opportunity to go for it, you go. The only concern is you don't want to be doing so at the wrong time.

"It was great to have Nick Easter in front of me, he's a big old boy and he and rest of the back row were fantastic today and gave me some quality ball."

Easter was a close second to Care in terms of the game's outstanding player, with Haskell not much further behind.

The Stade Francais flanker scored his first international try on the stroke of half-time after England showed patience before seizing their chance.

That gave them a 13-3 interval lead after two penalties and a conversion from the reliable Jonny Wilkinson. Stephen Jones kicked Wales' only score after Hook had missed two long-range penalties, but the momentum in a tight game was handed to England by Wales lock Alun-Wyn Jones, who needlessly tripped Dylan Hartley and was sent to the sin-bin.

Alun Wyn-Jones was still off the field when Care scored England's second try on 43 minutes.

Lewis Moody and Easter carried England into the 22 but it was Care who finished the move by using three players outside him as a decoy before changing direction and outpacing a flat defence.

England, whose lineout had given them a platform, suddenly switched off and allowed Adam Jones to trundle over.

When Hook beat four players on his way over with nine minutes left, the momentum was clearly with Wales until Armitage and Haskell snatched the impetus back England's way.

So an expressive England are off and running, but whether this game has seen a corner turned depends on how Johnson's men build on this win.

"That's just one game," said Care.

"We've still got four massive games to come."

England: D Armitage, Cueto, Tait, Flood (Hipkiss 77), Monye, Wilkinson, Care (Hodgson 75); Payne, Hartley (Thompson 60), Wilson (Cole 60), Shaw (Deacon 70), Borthwick, Haskell, Moody (S Armitage 77, Easter. Unused replacement: Foden.

Wales: Byrne, James (Halfpenny 65), Hook, Roberts, S Williams, S Jones, Cooper (Rees 68); James, Williams (Bennett 54), A Jones, Charteris (Davies 54), AW Jones, Powell (Thomas 68), Williams, R Jones. Unused replacements: Gill, Bishop.

Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).

Scorers

England: Tries, Haskell 2, Care; cons, Wilkinson 3; pens, Wilkinson 3.

Wales: Try, Adam Jones, Hook; cons, S Jones 2; pens S Jones.

MATCH FOCUS

Hero: Danny Care

Care, centre, gave England the attacking impetus with his nifty footwork and quick-tap penalties, and at last gave the side a quickball platform on which to build. Scored a fine try, the Leeds-born scrum-half's second in international rugby.

Villain: Alun-Wyn Jones

His foolish trip on Dylan Hartley came when the game was delicately poised at 3-3. In his 10 minutes in the sin-bin, England scored a penalty and two converted tries to take a 17-point lead.

Key moment

75th minute: With Wales buoyant after James Hook's brilliant try, Armitage intercepts Stephen Jones's pass and sets up Haskell's second and decisive try. Alun-Wyn Jones's sin-binning was also a key moment, but Armitage's interception helped to stem the flow of red shirts in what was a situation England would have lost from in the past.

And finally...

Riki Flutey's enforced absence opened a door for former Bradford rugby league player Shontayne Hape to gain a bench place, only for illness to rule him out.

Next game

Italy v England, Six Nations Championship, Rome, Sunday, 3.30pm.

Quote of the day

The lads will probably edit it and make me look foolish, but it was my first England try.

– James Haskell laughs off his showboating following his try on the stroke of half-time.