Rugby Union: Twickenham revisited: Four great England-Wales encounters of the past

1933: England 3 Wales 7

THIS was Wales' 10th visit to HQ and it provided them with their first win there. Two years earlier a 45-yard penalty from Brian Black had robbed Wales of what looked like being a winning 11-8 lead. So when Watcyn Thomas's men returned they were ready to end the 23-year wait for victory. Fittingly, the Prince of Wales was among the championship record 64,000 crowd for the great occasion. The Cardiff wing Ronnie Boon achieved rugby immortality as he ran in a try and dropped a goal on a day that saw three great Welshmen launch their international careers. Vivian Jenkins went on to become one of the game's greatest full-backs, Wilf Wooller excelled at both rugby and cricket and the scrum-half Maurice Turnbull also played cricket for England.

1970: England 13 Wales 17

JPR WILLIAMS played 11 times against England and never lost. Yet in 1970 even he had his conviction tested as England raced into a 13-3 lead. "We went 13-0 down, lost Gareth Edwards and were under tremendous pressure," he recalled. "Yet, in a strange way, the fact we lost Gareth helped us to win the game. England relaxed, Mervyn Davies and Barry John scored tries, Ray Hopkins put me in for another on the blindside and then crossed for one himself. I also sneaked over a rare conversion and Barry topped it off with a dropped goal to steal a 17-13 victory - some fightback and a great achievement." David Duckham and Mike Novak scored early tries for England, but Chico Hopkins did the trick in the final 20 minutes when he replaced Edwards.

1980: England 9 Wales 8

ENGLAND had beaten Wales at home only once in nine matches, but were seeking the third leg of a possible Grand Slam. Wales, Triple Crown holders, had opened with an uncompromising home win over France. The game was built up into the championship showdown - something had to give. The sight of the Cardiff team-mates Terry Holmes and John Scott lashing out at each other early on proved this was going to be a bitter battle. The game was only 13 minutes old when the referee, David Burnett, had had enough and Paul Ringer, the Welsh open-side, was sent off for a late tackle on John Horton. Dusty Hare kicked England to victory and Bill Beaumont became a Grand Slam skipper following the victory over Scotland.

1990: England 34 Wales 6

THIS was the day England re-wrote the record books and made Wales pay for dominating the post-war encounters - 28 wins to Wales, 10 to England and six draws. It was Wales' nadir as they crashed to their first Five Nations' whitewash and crumbled against Will Carling's side. Rory Underwood ran in two tries, one an 80-metre interception, and the four tries equalled the record for an England team against Wales at Twickenham, set in 1916. Simon Hodgkinson chipped in with 18 points and all that was left for Wales and their fans to do was slip away - a far cry from their crowing style of earlier visits. The Welsh coach John Ryan resigned the following day, yet it was the many uncommitted Welsh players who should have shouldered the blame.