Wales dramatically overcame a 13-point deficit to beat England 26-19 in their Six Nations opener as they won at Twickenham for the first time in 20 years onSaturday.
Victory gave New Zealander Warren Gatland a victory in his first game as Wales coach and ultimately provided justification for his decision to field 13 players from the Neath-Swansea Ospreys in his starting line-up.
Wales, 19-6 down just short of the hour mark, took the game away from England in bold fashion as the previously in-control hosts were panicked into a succession of errors.
James Hook, who landed all six of his goalkicks, got Wales in range with a penalty.
But the fightback took off when the 22-year-old outside-half was missed by England wing Paul Sackey and his pass sent in full-back Lee Byrne for the try.
From the re-start, Mike Phillips charged down full-back Iain Balshaw's clearance kick.
Gethin Jenkins recovered, found Martyn Willams and the Cardiff flanker released scrum-half Phillips who stretched for the line and touched down for the try.
Hook added the extras and England, whose only points in the second-half came from a Jonny Willkinson penalty, were in a state of disbelief as Wales triumphed at Twickenham for the first time since an 11-3 win in 1988.
"It's the most fantastic day of my career," said Wales skipper Ryan Jones.
"It was a fantastic effort and the win was thoroughly deserved. Even when we were 10 points down we had belief in ourselves. We have worked really hard and we knew we were good enough.
"It would be easy for me to hide behind those injuries but I thought we had enough experienced players on the field to direct operations in the second-half.
"Wales came back extremely well. One of our messages was not to feed them but in the second-half we took all our food out of the cupboard." At half-time England, showing seven changes from the side that lost the World Cup final to South Africa, were 16-6 ahead.
But they could have been further in front had they made the most of their openings inside Wales's 22 having repeatedly turned over their opponents' ball.
It took England just 12 seconds to go into the lead.
From Wilkinson's kick-off, which saw Wales penalised for holding onto the ball, the outside-half made no mistake from 40 metres.
Hook responded in kind in the third minute.
Strettle then beat six Welsh players with a fine break before his punt ahead saw the chance of a try disappear although Wilkinson's second penalty made it 6-3.
Sadly for Strettle, who missed the World Cup with a broken foot, it was his last meaningful act of the game before he hobbled off in the 13th minute.
But his departure saw Tonga-born former New Zealand rugby league international wing Lesley Vainikolo come off the bench for his England debut.
After a Wilkinson drop-goal made it 9-3, England scored the only try of the opening period. Wilkinson's expertly weighted cross-kick was caught by Vainikolo, the man nicknamed the 'Volcano' overpowering Mark Jones, and his pass released centre Toby Flood for a try. Wilkinson converted and England were 16-3 ahead.
It was a worrying situation for Wales but Hook kept them in touch with his second penalty.
Shortly before half-time, England nearly had a second try when Sackey burst clear.
But, with Wales hooker Huw Bennett getting his arm under the ball and, after several minutes of study, Irish video referee Simon McDowell ruled 'no-try'.
Wilkinson's early second-half penalty stretched England's lead to 19-6.
Wales though got back into the game and Gavin Henson set up a try-chance before lock Ian Gough's pass was intercepted by England No 8 Luke Narraway.
A measure of England's panic was when scrum-half Andy Gomarsall, running backwards, saw his intended pass to Balshaw go to ground in an incident that ultimately led to Wales's first try.
Wales's Six Nations campaign continues at home to Scotland a week Saturday while England are next in action 24 hours later away to Italy
Final score England 19 Wales 26
England (15-1) Iain Balshaw; Paul Sackey, Mike Tindall, Toby Flood, David Strettle; Jonny Wilkinson, Andy Gomarsall; Luke Narraway, Lewis Moody, James Haskell; Steve Borthwick, Simon Shaw; Phil Vickery (capt), Mark Regan, Andrew Sheridan Replacements: Lee Mears, Matt Stevens, Ben Kay, Tom Rees, Richard Wigglesworth, Danny Cipriani, Lesley Vainikolo
Wales (15-1) Lee Byrne; Mark Jones, Sonny Parker, Gavin Henson, Shane Williams; James Hook, Michael Phillips; Ryan Jones (capt), Martyn Williams, Jonathan Thomas; Ian Gough, Alun-Wyn Jones; Duncan Jones, Huw Bennett, Adam Jones Replacements: Matthew Rees, Gethin Jenkins, Ian Evans, Alix Popham, Gareth Cooper, Stephen Jones, Tom Shanklin
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