Jonny Wilkinson scored 27 points to lead England to a 42-20 win over Scotland on Saturday, the opening day of the Six Nations Championship.
Playing his first rugby Test since kicking the winning drop goal in the 2003 World Cup final, Wilkinson scored a try, a drop goal, five penalties and two conversions at Twickenham.
The 27-year-old flyhalf, whose run of injuries to various parts of his body made him miss England's previous 30 Tests, also linked well with former Britain rugby league captain Andy Farrell.
PHOTO: AP
Farrell and Mike Tindall in the centers and scrumhalf Harry Ellis excelled, setting up winger Jason Robinson for two tries and open-side flanker Magnus Lund for another.
Wilkinson's 59th-minute try was contentious, but the 82,000-strong crowd roared its approval when the TV referee judged that Wilkinson avoided stepping into touch when he leapt to touch down one-handed.
"I felt like it was going to be literally touch and go with my foot down and the ball down, but that's what the video ref is for," Wilkinson said. "It's been a long time and it's just good to get back on the field. The whole atmosphere -- it's what I live a lot of my life for."
Scotland coach Frank Hadden was less enamored of the decision to award the try.
"Credit to England, they played extremely well," he said. "The Jonny Wilkinson try was just a farce. It's hugely irritating, but there were areas of the game where we didn't play quite as well as we'd hoped."
Scotland's 18-12 win at Murrayfield last season launched England's run of eight losses in nine Tests and resulted in Andy Robinson being replaced by Brian Ashton as coach.
But England scored 25 straight points in the second half to regain the Calcutta Cup and extend Scotland's winless streak at Twickenham to 23 years in Ashton's first Test as coach.
Scotland captain Chris Paterson, who converted tries by Simon Taylor and Rob Dewey in his 10 points, was disappointed his team fell away after only trailing 17-10 at halftime.
"England had to play well to get ahead of us," he said. "We felt we were in the game for 50 minutes."
France 39, Italy 3
In Rome, flanker Sebastien Chabal scored two tries at the Stadio Flaminio as France began its attempt to win back-to-back titles before hosting the World Cup in September and October.
France also had tries from Christophe Dominici, Cedric Heymans and Yannick Jauzion, while flyhalf David Skrela's form was impressive in place of the injured Frederic Michalak.
Coming off a two-Test defeat to New Zealand and a one-point win over Argentina last year, France's credibility was on the line. But a length-of-the-field try to Dominici took France to a 22-3 halftime lead before it eventually won the inaugural Garibaldi Trophy.
"It's our best debut in the tournament in my eight years," France coach Bernard Laporte said. "I've seen a lot of initiative from players and they are the reason for the great result."
"Chabal, Mignoni, Skrela -- everyone played well," he said. "It's very difficult to choose one player. Bravo to my team, to all my players. Our message is clear, and we sent it out today."
Chabal, returning after an 18-month absence, had an impressive game. The long-haired backrower was a marauding presence around the field, tackling fiercely and leading France in attack.
"It's a really good start to the tournament for us," he said. "We knew the Italy forwards were quite strong so we had to work hard and we did that."
"That made it easier for our backs to go forward," he said.
Italy was undone by a lack of discipline at the breakdown and poor ball handling.
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