Wales 16 England 21
England kicked-off the Six Nations in style as they battered Wales into submission at the Millennium Stadium.
In a fast and furious encounter England's set-piece dominance and ferocious physicality around the park proved the difference.
The hosts had stormed into a 10-point lead thanks to Rhys Webb's early try and the boot of Leigh Halfpenny but England fought back superbly.
Anthony Watson and Jonathan Joseph crossed either side of the break as Stuart Lancaster's men made a major statement of intent in both the Championship and ahead of their group stage showdown at the World Cup.
Wales, with a clean bill of health, were outright favourites with the bookmakers against injury-ravaged England but Lancaster's men upset the odds in emphatic fashion.
They were physical, tenacious and unrelenting, deserved winners against a one-dimensional Wales short of ideas.
The Cardiff cathedral of rugby was simmering ahead of kick-off and tensions rose amid a tunnel stand-off as England refused to budge before submitting.
However, they then made the worst possible start at the vociferous Millennium Stadium, losing the kick off and giving away a penalty after Jonny May failed to roll away at the breakdown.
Halfpenny stepped up to slot the points and Wales continued to cause England problems.
A bizarrely flat cross-kick to the full-back created an opening, with Halfpenny hacking on. England raced back to hold out but they knocked on at the breakdown to hand Wales a five-metre scrum.
The visitors had the upper hand at the set-piece and had Wales back-tracking but Taulupe Faletau did amazingly well to dig the ball out. He broke off the back and handed off James Haskell before sucking in both Ford and May and offloading to Webb for a try beneath the sticks.
England, who were steadily increasing their dominance at the set-piece, hit back shortly before the 15-minute mark.
After spreading the ball wide Mike Brown threaded a delicate grubber through Wales' rush defence and Watson scooped the ball from his shoelaces to crash over.
Ford struck the right post with his conversion and both teams enjoyed bright spells in the frantic encounter.
Halfpenny edged the hosts further in front with a sublime long-range penalty after Dan Cole was penalised for hands in the ruck.
Ford kept England in touch with a simple penalty after Jamie Roberts tackled May without the ball, while the usually ever-reliable Halfpenny lost his sights.
But Biggar restored the hosts' eight-point advantage with a drop goal on the stroke of half-time.
Unlike the first-half, England made a roaring start to the second. They pummelled Wales with wave after wave of attack and a breakthrough was inevitable.
It eventually came to Bath centre Joseph who displayed great footwork to beat both George North and Dan Biggar and race under the sticks.
Ford added the simple conversion but was off-target moments later with a penalty, which would have given England the lead for the first time.
But they were firmly in the ascendancy and piled the pressure on Wales who appeared out on their feet.
James Haskell burst clear for what appeared to be a certain try but Alex Cuthbert and Halfpenny saved the day as the Wasps skipper ran into the post.
Gloucester-born Cuthbert was however sent to the sin-bin for a professional foul and Ford nailed the simple penalty as England took the lead for the first time.
It looked as though they had secured victory following another multi-phase period of pressure which saw former Gloucester man Attwood crash over in the corner but following television replays, referee Jerome Garces brought play back for an earlier crossing offence.
Wales had one final roll of the dice but they were unable to muster up any real opportunity as the Red Rose blanket engulfed them.
And man-of-the-match Ford put the final nail in their coffin with a minute to spare after they were caught hanging on.
Wales: L Halfpenny; A Cuthbert, J Davies, J Roberts, G North; D Biggar, R Webb (M Phillips 69); G Jenkins (P James 59), R Hibbard, S Lee (A Jarvis 71), J Ball (L Charteris 69), AW Jones, D Lydiate, S Warburton, T Faletau
Scores: Try – R Webb; Con – L Halfpenny; Pens – L Halfpenny (3)
England: M Brown; A Watson, J Joseph, L Burrell(B Twelvetrees 76), J May; G Ford, B Youngs (R Wigglesworth 68); J Marler (M Vunipola 54), D Hartley (T Youngs 54), D Cole, D Attwood, G Kruis (N Easter 71), J Haskell, C Robshaw, B Vunipola.
Scores: Tries – A Watson, J Joseph; Con – G Ford; Pens – G Ford
Referee: J Garces
Attendance: 73,815
