England 31 Wales 21
World Cup holders England survived a huge scare as they battled back from the brink of a second successive Twickenham defeat to beat Wales 31-21 in the Six Nations on Saturday.
The win, however, courtesy of two late tries, failed to fully convince yet again after the side's defeat to Ireland two weeks earlier.
The result gave Clive Woodward's side three wins out of four and took them to the top of the table on points difference ahead of France and Ireland, who beat Italy 19-3 in Dublin earlier on Saturday.
France, however, are expected to regain the lead with victory in Scotland on Sunday, setting up a mouth-watering winner-takes-all clash with the English in Paris in the championship finale.
Winger Ben Cohen saved England with two tries while fly-half Olly Barkley, a late stand-in and making his first start, kicked 16 points.
It was a nail-biting finish, however, with Woodward fretting in the stands after Wales turned the game round in the second half.
The home side, dominating possession after a much-improved lineout display, had led 16-9 at the break having scored a try after six minutes.
Capitalising on a fumbled Welsh lineout, they worked the ball left where Cohen powered over past two defenders.
But Wales, who gave England a similar scare in the World Cup, came out again full of fire and scored two quick tries to go 21-16 up.
First Gareth Thomas crashed over in the right corner at the end of two cut-out passes and winger Shane Williams then brilliantly drew the defence to give centre Mark Taylor the scoring pass on the left.
A first Welsh victory at Twickenham since 1988 -- as well as a second successive England defeat at the ground for the first time since 1984 -- seemed on the cards.
But England, urged on by captain Lawrence Dallaglio, roused themselves just in time, exploiting their power up front to unleash a series of attacks on the Welsh line.
Fullback Jason Robinson, with men to the left and right and only one man to beat, contrived to waste the chance after a scintillating run through midfield.
But with less than a quarter of an hour to go, Cohen picked up at a ruck on the Welsh line after a series of England raids and stretched over despite two tacklers lifting him off the ground.
Barkley's conversion put England in front and the 22-year-old flyhalf, who replaced Paul Grayson (calf injury) a day before the game, soon added another penalty.
Substitute flanker Joe Worsley touched down in the final moments to make sure of the result, Barkley tugging the resulting kick wide in his only miss of the day.