Wales 17 England 28

T0 Wales the glory, to England the victory on a night of World Cup quarter-final drama in Brisbane.

For the second week in a row, Wales went desperately close to knocking out one of the leading two nations in world rugby only to fall at the final hurdle.

Last week, Wales rocked the All Blacks by leading in the second-half and scoring four tries against them in their final group match.

What everyone wanted to know was whether Wales could do it again and whether it was a one-off performance against a New Zealand team which may have underestimated them.

This time it was England, arguably the most powerful team in the world with a proven track record and fully aware of what Wales had achieved the week before.

But it all counted for little as Wales, indeed, did prove it was no fluke against the All Blacks, that they could produce some magic all over again and that they would not be phased by opponents who had the Indian sign over them.

As last week, Wales were ahead, leading 10-3 at the interval with more glorious rugby, and we started to believe we could be heading for Sydney and the semi-finals of the World Cup, not back home.

Against the All Blacks, Wales scored four magnificent tries, and against England they rammed home another three, one an absolutely magnificent effort.

They rocked England to their very foundations, so much so that they had to rely almost entirely on Jonny Wilkinson's boot for their victory, plus the crucial entry of Mike Catt in the second-half to change the course of the game.

While Wales scored three tries through Stephen Jones, skipper Colin Charvis and replacement Martyn Williams, England could manage only a paltry one, Will Greenood scoring his eighth against Wales before leaving the field with a neck injury.

But England had the matchwinner in Wilkinson. After missing a sitter early on, the ball striking an upright, he landed six penalties, a dropped goal and conversion for a 23-point haul.

If Jones had converted the first two tries, it might have been a psychological blow against England, but, in any case, Wales could easily have scored at least another two tries as they shocked England with the quality of their play.

England were made to play second fiddle for much of the first-half, and they looked anything but potential world champions as Wales ran them all over the field.

The ability of Wales to spread the ball, to attack with a razor edge through Gareth Thomas, Shane Williams and Jones in particular was almost an embarrassment to England.

At times, they resembled a boxer hanging on, but they were the ones who delivered the knock-out blow as Catt kicked them downfield and Wilkinson broke their hearts.

But it was Wales who took all the honours as they were hailed by everyone in the stadium for the quality of their performance. They can return home with heads held high after a World Cup which has rekindled enthusiasm and caused an explosion of interest in the game once more.

Fans turned up in Australia this week encouraged after the New Zealand game.

They will want even more after decades of misery. Seven tries against New Zealand and England, leading in both games - no-one would have believed it possible little over a week ago.

English supporters way outnumbered Welsh in the impressive stadium, with the pitch in magnificent condition.

Bank after bank of English fans greeted the teams in the oppressive heat despite the 8pm kick-off, Aussie time, though the start was its customary ten minutes late by the time the formalities were completed.

Stephen Jones immediately settled Welsh nerves with a long touchfinder, but Matt Dawson exposed the Welsh defence with a darting run which ended with Jonny Wilkinson hitting an upright with a penalty he would normally have put over blindfolded.

It at least silenced the chants of Swing Low, which were breaking out all over the ground.

And Wales silenced them even further when Mark Taylor and Stephen Jones combined superbly down the left before Dafydd Jones thrust deep into the England 22.

From there, Wales moved the ball right and Gareth Thomas and Adam Jones handled only for Robert Sidoli to lose the ball in the act of diving for the line.

But Wales came again in an opening which showed last week against the All Blacks was no flash in the pan. More lovely handling, Taylor again prominent, ended with Shane Williams kicking too far ahead, but England were rattled.

Jones should have put Wales ahead, but he suffered the same jitters as Wilkinson and struck an upright with a kickable penalty.

Brent Cockbain was warned for foul play, but fellow lock Sidoli took an England lineout ball only for Taylor to knock on in midfield.

Wilkinson found his kicking boots to put England ahead with a 50 yard penalty after 17 minutes.

Wales continued to play above themselves, only for skipper Colin Charvis to spoil a promising position by knocking on, but Wilkinson was wide with a dropped goal attempt.

England put heavy pressure on the Welsh line, though the referee missed a Wilkinon knock-on, then the fly-half kicked high to the corner but Mark Jones was alive to the situation and denied Neil Back.

England tried again, relentlessly moving forward until Will Greenwood knocked on badly, though the Welsh defence was standing up to the task nobly so far.

Wales prop Adam Jones was replaced after only 28 minutes, embarrassingly for him.

But Wales stung England with an absolutely stunning try to take the lead after half an hour.

Shane Williams gathered a stray clearance, turned Ben Kay inside out, then Gareth Cooper took up the running brilliantly, rocketing into the heart of the English defence. Gareth Thomas took over, and Williams again, juggling this time, regathered before Steffen Jones romped over for a wonderful try.

Four minutes later, and glory be! Wales scored another try. Sidoli won a lineout and the Welsh pack drove in behind him, scattering England, and Charvis emerged from under a pile of bodies, credited with the try.

Jones missed the conversion again, but England were so hounded that Wilkinson knocked on and Dan Luger kicked to nowhere. No-one in the ground could believe it, England were floundering and Wales were leading the world's number-one team at half-time 10-3.

England replaced Luger with Mike Catt, and immediately Williams threatened their defence before hadning on to Cooper, who knocked on with the line beckoning.

They were punished by England full-back Jason Robinson, who ran mesmerisingly through the Welsh defence before putting Will Greenwood over for his eighth try against Wales.

Wilkinson put the sides level by converting from the touchline.

England, who replaced Jason Leonard with Trevor Woodman, had their tails up, and Tindall made more inroads before Wilkinson kicked a penalty to put England back in front for the first time on 47 minutes.

Wales replaced Cockbain with Gareth Llewellyn, but Wilkinson stretched the lead after 51 minutes with his third penalty.

But Wales weren't finished and Gareth Thomas and Mark Jones both went for the line, forcing England to defend grimly, though Jones should have passed outside to Shane Williams, who had an overlap.

England replaced the groggy Greenwood with Stuart Abbot but there was no stopping Wilkinson and he fired over yet another penalty when Gareth Thomas was harshly penalised.

Wales brought on Martyn Williams for Jonathan Thomas and Steven Jones had to leave the field with a cut head, replaced by Ceri Sweeney.

England remained in charge, with their constant driving, and despite stout defence by Gareth Thomas and Llewellyn, Wilkinson kickd his fifth penalty when Robin McBryde was caught offside in front of his own posts.

England had scored 19 points in 21 minutes, 14 by Wilkinson, to turn the game on its head and leave Wales heading for home instead of for Sydney, which at half-time looked a possibility.

Wales surprisingly replaced McBryde and Cooper with Mefin Davies and Dwayne Peel, but they continued to give penalties away, Llewellyn guilty this time, and Wilkinson made it number six.

But, with ten minutes left, Wales struck back at last with their third try, compared with England's one.

Peel, Williams, Llewellyn, Thomas and Taylor all handled delightfully, and then Sweeney kicked high to his left, where Williams barged into Lawrence Dallaglio, and when the ball went loose, Martyn Williams pounced for the touchdown.

Harris converted to narrow the gap to eight points, but then missed a penalty.

In the final minute, that man Wilkinson struck again with a dropped goal to clinch victory, but England knew they had been involved in a fight to the finish.

They waited while the Welsh team gathered in a group, took all the plaudits and then clapped them off the field.

But Wales still returned to the field for a lap of honour, with even England supporters applauding them for a truly magnificent effort.

Teams. Wales: G Thomas, M Jones, M Taylor, I Harris, S Williams, S Jones, (C Sweeney 58-72) G Cooper, (D Peel 64), I Thomas, R McBryde, (M Davies 64) A Jones (G Jenkins 28) B Cockbain (G Llewellyn 47), R Sidoli, J Thomas, (M Williams 57) D Jones, C Charvis (captain).

Scorers: tries - S Jones, C Charvis, M Williams, conversion I Harris.

England: J Robinson, D Luger ( M Catt 40) W Greenwood (S Abbott 52) M Tindall, B Cohen, J Wilkinson, H Dawson, (K Bracken 67) J Leonard, (T Woodman 43) S Thompson, P Vickery, M Johnson (capt) B Kay, L Moody, L Dallaglio, N Back.

Scorers: try - W Greenwood; penalties, Wilkinson (6) dropped goal Wilkinson, conversion, Wilkinson.