MARTIN JOHNSON hailed England’s victory over Wales as a major step forward in the development of his team.

Two years ago, in the months before Johnson took over as manager, England crumbled at Twickenham in the face of a remarkable Welsh fightback.

Even Jonny Wilkinson, the model of composure, was reduced to throwing wild and wayward passes as Warren Gatland’s men stormed from 19-6 down to launch their Grand Slam campaign with a stunning victory.

On Saturday, Wales threatened a repeat performance as they closed to within three points after England had carved themselves a 20-3 lead with tries from James Haskell and Danny Care.

Suddenly, Wales had all the momentum and Twickenham was shrouded with a creeping sense of deja vu – but with five minutes remaining those fears were banished.

Delon Armitage atoned for an otherwise unsteady performance by snatching a vital interception, Mathew Tait launched a 60-metre counter-attack and his reverse pass sent Haskell over for the match-winning try.

For Johnson, the victory – and the manner of the victory in particular – was priceless after England’s sterile autumn international campaign.

Johnson has always insisted England are moving in the right direction and now he has something tangible to back it up.

“We have been in games when it hasn’t gone our way and the talk of small margins sounds very hollow when you lose,” said Johnson.

“When you have been 17 points up and it is down to three, teams get tense. You can feel the crowd get tense. It was a nervous situation, we had to find the next score and I thought we took it really well.

“You wouldn’t say it at the time but it was probably a good thing we went through that (Wales comeback) because we had to have the wherewithal and the belief to finish the game off.

“Composure is not something you can give players in a box. Going through the experience of being points up early – you could say too early – is something you have to deal with.

“Ultimately we got it done. It was closer than we would have liked but it is part of the process for these guys of understanding how to play.”

Haskell won his third cap in that defeat to Wales two years ago and his lung-busting run to appear on Tait’s shoulder yesterday epitomised the performance of a team determined not to suffer the same agony.

“I was thinking: ‘There is no way we could lose this game’. I knew we were letting ourselves down if we lost this game,” said Haskell.

“In my earlier Test matches I might have had a bit more panic but when I looked around at the talent on the field, there was no way we were going to capitulate because I think people would rather have died than lose that game.”

Johnson’s chief criticism of England during his 18-month tenure has been an ability to either see attacking opportunities or fail to execute them.

That was not the case against Wales. With Wales lock Alun Wyn-Jones serving 10 minutes in the sin-bin for a cynical trip, England rattled up 17 points either side of the interval.

Haskell drove over for the vital first try after a patient, composed build-up while Care’s try followed excellent turnover work from Steve Borthwick and Nick Easter’s midfield charge.

Wales roared back into the game with tries from Adam Jones and James Hook but England’s clinical execution on the break – and 15 points from Jonny Wilkinson – sealed the victory.

England are still some way from being the finished article and periods of the game were error-strewn and scrappy. But for the first time since last year’s Six Nations they showed glimpses of being a dangerous animal.

Borthwick and the lineout unit were excellent, the back-row of Nick Easter, Haskell and Lewis Moody overpowered Wales and Danny Care injected pace and tempo into the game on his return at scrum-half.

Johnson allowed his men to celebrate the victory on Saturday night, but they are back in camp on Monday and he will remind them how important it is they build on the performance heading to Italy next Sunday.

“It is great they have got the result we have worked so hard for but if we want to make it into a great win we have to perform next week or we won’t be having this conversation in Rome,” said Johnson.

“The mood of the guys was not euphoric, it was satisfied with the win. I said: ‘You have to enjoy this, enjoy playing Test rugby. That is what it is there for’. But we will be back in Monday and we start work again.”