Will Greenwood snatched the opportunist score that earned England a breathtaking 25-6 victory against Pool C rivals South Africa.

Both vocal sets of fans were kept on the edge of their seats as Jonny Wilkinson won the battle of the kickers to edge his side 12-6 in front early in the second half.

Then Greenwood struck on the hour to put his side in the clear after had England refused to buckle against South Africa’s relentless defence.

And Wilkinson was faultless with the boot in kicking four penalties, a conversion and two drop-goals for a personal haul of 20 points.

This was the game the tournament had been waiting for and both sides delivered with an electric atmosphere generated around the ground by both sets of fans.

England’s had plenty to cheer in an opening 10 minutes of brutal collisions with their side creating most of the pressure in defence and attack.

South Africa’s first burst up the middle was ended by a penalty slotted over from 40 metres by Wilkinson and that was the prelude for a series of raids as the Boks were penned into their own half. Jason Robinson led the way with two dazzling breaks and Mike Tindall was tackled inches short of the left-hand corner by Jorrie Muller in the 10th minute.

But they resisted all the pressure and worked their way down field, Will Greenwood charging down an attempted drop-goal before England gave away a penalty for handling on the floor that Louis Koen drilled over from wide on the right after 17 minutes

Koen was short with a long-range effort a minute later to emphasise that his side could provide a real contest with unflinching commitment in the tackle.

But England edged in front on the half-hour, though, when Corne Krige broke his binding to come round the wrong side of the scrum with Wilkinson faultless with his second penalty five yards in from the left.

Koen hit the left-hand post with his third penalty attempt a minute later and then failed to hit the target with two more efforts in the 33rd and 35th minutes before finally succeeding a minute before the break with the penalty that levelled the scores.

Straight away after the break England strung together a fantastic series of attacks that ended with South Africa caught offside to give Wilkinson his easiest penalty so far to retake the lead.

Then after halting a stunning Springbok attack they countered when Robinson’s long kick ahead was knocked on setting up the field position from which Wilkinson stroked over the kick that made it 12-6.

The game could still have swung either way as the Boks started to move the ball around with telling knock-ons stopping their most promising efforts.

And the game-changing score came on the hour thanks to the awareness of England’s defence. Lewis Moody – only called in on Friday to take over from Richard Hill – flew in to charge down Koen’s kick and Greenwood followed up to dribble the ball through and score.

Wilkinson converted and polished off another attack with a drop-goal that put his side 16 points clear. For good measure he added another – his seventh successful shot on target – five minutes from time to make it 25-6.

South Africa’s contribution to the game had been huge, but they just couldn’t batter their way over even when they ran a penalty from close-range.

England: Try - Greenwood. Conversion - Wilkinson. Penalties - Wilkinson 4. Drop-goals: Wilkinson 2.