Wales stun England at Twickenham

Wales stunned England 26-19 for their first victory at Twickenham in 20 years yesterday as the World Cup finalists threw away a 13-point second-half lead and fell to a shock defeat in their opening Six Nations match.

England led 16-6 at halftime after a Toby Flood try and looked comfortable, if not exactly in control, and stretched that lead with a Jonny Wilkinson penalty early in the second half.

However, a series of injuries seemed to destroy their concentration and Wales charged back after the break with tries by fullback Lee Byrne and scrumhalf Mike Phillips within two minutes and excellent goalkicking by man of the match James Hook.

Wales, guided by new coach Warren Gatland and his English assistant Shaun Edwards and with a record 13 Ospreys in their starting team, were then able to control the last 10 minutes as England, rudderless and confused, never looked capable of pulling it back.

Ireland struggle

Ireland struggled to beat Italy 16-11 in their opening Six Nations match at Croke Park yesterday.

Flyhalf Ronan O'Gara got Ireland on their way with a penalty in the 12th minute. Six minutes later his through kick found Andrew Trimble, who put fullback Girvan Dempsey through for the first try of the tournament.

Ireland dominated the first half but wasted several try-scoring opportunities, instead allowing Italy to grab points with a David Bortolussi penalty for a 10-3 halftime scoreline.

O'Gara added another three points in the 57th before Italy sprang to life, new captain Sergio Parisse bundling over a try three minutes later.

Bortolussi missed the conversion and O'Gara kicked another penalty to give Ireland some breathing space, but a Bortolussi penalty 10 minutes from time narrowed the gap to five points to set up an exciting finish. O'Gara missed the chance to wrap up the game with four minutes to go when his penalty went wide.

Today: 4 p.m. Scotland vs France.