England 19 Wales 26: They were singing hymns and arias alright, the familiar Welsh rugby anthem reverberating around a stunned Twickenham, an apposite backing track to the onfield climax.

The Ospreys-Plus-Two gave England a 13-point start at home yet in the space of 35 minutes rattled off 20 unanswered points, winning on the bridle. The new coach, Warren Gatland, and his assistant, Shaun Edwards, had presided over a stunning triumph.

It had been 20 years since Wales won in London, and at half-time during this game not even the most myopically loyal visitor would have argued against the likely extension of that unwelcome statistic.

It was a remarkable contest in which the teams produced halves of rugby - separated by the interval - that were polar opposites in quality: Wales were abject in the first half, England imploded in the second.

Although this single encounter was pockmarked with enough errors to span a championship campaign, it was riveting because amid the dross were gems of artistry and flair in a physically brutal contest that occasionally skirted the laws.

The players appeared to relish the ferocious collisions - certainly on the evidence of the verbal exchanges - with the possible exception of the Welsh flanker Jonathan Thomas, knocked unconscious by the swinging forearm of England's outhalf Jonny Wilkinson.

It looked misplaced rather than malicious, but that may not satisfy the citing commissioner.

The game produced a ridiculous number of injuries, England losing wing David Strettle (foot), flanker Lewis Moody (calf), Moody's replacement Tom Rees (medial knee ligament), centre Mike Tindall (bruised liver) - those four all ruled out of next Sunday's game in Italy - and hooker Mark Regan.

England, having built irresistible momentum in the first half could not assimilate that many alterations and maintain their rhythm.

A graphic illustration was the replacement secondrow Ben Kay having to operate in the back row. He embraced his new role with gusto but when Wales were in their second-half pomp, their loose trio of captain Ryan Jones, Martyn Williams and replacement Alix Popham bossed the breakdowns, securing the possession that fuelled their stunning resuscitation.

If it was the Welsh back row that provided the bullets, it was the halfbacks, Mike Phillips and James Hook, that riddled English hopes in two defining moments.

Hook had nudged Wales from the periphery of the contest to a 19-12 deficit with four beautifully struck penalties when on 69 minutes he showed his vision and balance.

Gliding to the short side of a ruck in the English 22, he evaded Paul Sackey and then Simon Shaw before providing fullback Lee Byrne with a try-scoring pass, his touchline conversion then maintaining his unblemished record with the boot.

England had long since ceased to be a team. Rudderless and devoid of composure, they were in freefall and would hit rock bottom minutes later when fullback Iain Balshaw had his attempted clearance charged down by Phillips. The outstanding Gethin Jenkins, a second-half replacement, regathered and Martyn Williams demonstrated speed of thought and hand to send Phillips racing for the corner. He stretched his 6ft 3in frame to touch down on the line despite Balshaw's despairing tackle.

Hook's nerveless conversion, once again from axis of touchline and 22, meant England needed a converted try. Instead it was Wales who threatened. They could have closed out the game by giving Hook a close-range drop-goal chance, but their forwards were having too much fun running down the clock in the shadow of the English posts.

This conclusion was light years removed from the opening throes of the contest, right up to the interval, when Wales turned over possession six times.

England threatened to cut loose - Strettle's wonderful 60-metre run on six minutes petered out because the support was in a different post code - but managed only one try for all their dominance (two-thirds of possession and territory). It came from a Wilkinson cross-kick caught and cleverly offloaded by Strettle's replacement, Lesley Vainikolo, to the supporting Toby Flood.

Wilkinson converted, having earlier kicked two penalties and a drop-goal. Sackey was denied a try by the arm of the Welsh hooker, Huw Bennett, and the Welsh remained obdurate despite being outplayed.

Gatland offered a few suggestions in the vernacular at half-time, demanding his charges go out and play rugby, trust themselves and each other, keep the ball and abandon what had been an abject kicking game.

A few metres down the corridor, England's Brian Ashton asked his team for more of the same.

Wilkinson should have been a key man figure for England in the second half but his game fell apart. It was his wayward pass that led to the first Welsh try. He also failed to impose a structured, boot-led approach on skittish colleagues. Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery toiled on but the unit skills of the first half evaporated. A final count of 16 unforced errors highlights the scale of the implosion.

The changes Gatland made had a massive effect, especially the introduction of Jenkins, Popham (enforced) and Tom Shanklin all of whom contributed handsomely.

The Welsh renaissance started here and with Scotland and Italy at home next they could be in exceptionally rude health by the time they arrive in Croke Park on the penultimate week of the Six Nations.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 1 min: Wilkinson pen, 3-0; 3: Hook pen, 3-3; 9: Wilkinson pen, 6-3; 16: Wilkinson drop-goal, 9-3; 22: Flood try, Wilkinson con, 16-3; 35: Hook pen, 16-6 (half-time 16-6); 45: Wilkinson pen, 19-6; 57: Hook pen, 19-9; 64: Hook pen, 19-12; 69: Byrne try, Hook con, 19-19; 72: Phillips try, Hook con, 19-26.

ENGLAND: I Balshaw (Gloucester); P Sackey (Wasps), M Tindall (Gloucester), T Flood (Newcastle), D Strettle (Harlequins); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), A Gomarsall (Harlequins); A Sheridan (Sale), M Regan (Bristol), P Vickery (Wasps, capt); S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Bath); J Haskell (Wasps), L Moody (Leicester), L Narraway (Gloucester). Replacements: L Vainikolo (Gloucester) for Strettle (12 mins); T Rees (Wasps) for Moody (13 mins); B Kay (Leicester) for Rees (half-time); L Mears (Bath) for Regan (58 mins); D Cipriani (Wasps) for Tindall (65 mins); M Stevens (Bath) for Vickery (71 mins).

WALES: L Byrne (Ospreys); S Williams (Ospreys), S Parker (Ospreys), G Henson (Ospreys), M Jones (Llanelli); J Hook (Ospreys), M Phillips (Ospreys); A Jones (Ospreys), H Bennett (Ospreys), D Jones (Ospreys); A Wyn-Jones (Ospreys), I Gough (Ospreys); J Thomas (Ospreys), M Williams (Cardiff), R Jones (Ospreys, capt). Replacements: A Popham (Llanelli) for Thomas (12 mins); G Jenkins (Cardiff) for A Jones (46 mins); T Shanklin (Cardiff) for Parker (47 mins); M Rees (Llanelli) for Bennett (58 mins); I Evans (Ospreys) for Wyn Jones (83 mins).

Referee: C Joubert(South Africa).