Wales vs. England: Score, Report and Reaction from 2015 Six Nations Clash

England came back from a half-time deficit to beat Wales 21-16 at the Millennium Stadium on Friday, kicking off their Six Nations tournament in ideal fashion.

The official England Rugby Twitter account confirmed the triumph, which sees Stuart Lancaster's men move to the top of the table, earning sweet revenge over Warren Gatland's side, who won this fixture 30-3 two years ago:

Wales couldn't have asked for a brighter start in Cardiff, and after a rousing rendition of their national anthem, it was clear from the beginning what motivation their stars were bringing to the table.

It took the hosts little more than a minute to establish their lead after Jonny May was pulled up for failing to roll away in the tackle. Just as he's been doing for Toulon of late, Leigh Halfpenny stepped up to slot a touchline kick which, while far from simple, was made to look as such thanks to his boot.

From there, Gatland's men only grew in confidence, and the probing boot of Dan Biggar put England on the back foot, eventually resulting in a five-metre scrum with their put-in.

And at the first time of asking, Taulupe Faletau showed tremendous handling to pick and go from the base, peeling off the right and superbly offloading for Rhys Webb to ghost over the line. It may have been the scrum-half who scored, but Andy Howell of Wales Online ensured the No. 8 got his credit:

Halfpenny maintained a 100 percent kicking record to add the extras and give Wales a 10-0 lead, but England responded well to the pressure of seeing their rivals slip out of sight.

Some lax defending from the home team meant Mike Brown could drive at the Welsh, drawing his man and putting a useful grubber through for Anthony Watson to pounce upon and mark his maiden Test try.

Again, the touchdown was impressive, but OptaJonny illustrates this score as being all about the assist:

It's inevitable that after such a fast, furious start, both teams could be expected to step back in terms of intensity, and it was here that place-kicking took precedence as the battle of wits ensued.

Halfpenny and George Ford exchanged penalties, both on and off target. Some excellent ball retention saw Wales enjoy the better possession, but they were restricted to a Dan Biggar drop goal on the stroke of half-time to go in at the break 16-8 leaders, per BBC ScrumV:

Recently retired Welsh prop Adam Jones had nothing but praise for the Ospreys fly-half, who despite being bloodied and bandaged at that point, showed his head was as clear as ever to put Wales in control:

However, some stern words at half-time appeared to take effect with the visitors, who came out with a far more fervent look in the second period and took no time to enforce it.

Applying pressure high inside the Welsh half, England started to turn ball over and some terrific control of tempo from No. 9 Ben Youngs led Jonathan Joseph to a maiden Test try of his own, via the official Six Nations YouTube account:

Shrugging off the challenge of George North is no small accomplishment, but Bath's battler did just that, bulldozing his way over the line. Ford again converted to make it a one-point game at 16-15.

England's ascendancy could have been capitalised upon with a try, too, in the 60th minute, had it not been for a freak bit of misfortune leading James Haskell to run directly into the upright rather than under it.

Jon Super/Associated Press

The Wasps' captain thudded into the padding in what could have easily been the play that put Lancaster and Co. in the driving seat, but they were left to settle for an 18-16 lead following Ford's penalty, with Wales wing Alex Cuthbert being sin-binned in the melee.

The home team did well to withstand England's assault while down to 14 men, but it was following Cuthbert's return that lock Dave Attwood dotted down after a barrage of pressure from those in the white jerseys.

However, it wouldn't stand and the travelling fans' jubilant singing quickly fell silent again, with substitute Nick Easter penalised for crossing in an earlier phase.

Paul Williams of Rugby World felt the call was harsh:

It would matter little, though, as an England team seemingly growing in confidence strengthened their borders and the power of their bench began to show.

Luke Charteris was pulled up near halfway for holding on at the ruck and that was all the opportunity Ford needed to sweep home the fixture's decisive kick.

Trailing 21-16 with just a few minutes remaining, one might have expected a fierce Welsh resurgence at this point, but it never came as England tightened their borders further and finished as deserving victors.

For his kicking exploits and graft in restricting Wales' back-line weapons, Ford was handed man of the match honours, capping off a terrific day for him and all those under the English banner.