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Sam Warburton hails Welsh spirit in World Cup victory over England

Wales players celebrate victory after the 2015 Rugby World Cup Pool A match between England and Wales at
Image: Sam Warburton celebrates with his Welsh teammates after they shock hosts England with a 28-25 win.

Captain Sam Warburton was almost lost for words after helping his depleted Wales side come from behind to seal a precious World Cup victory over England at Twickenham.

Wales trailed for the majority of the match, including 19-9 shortly after half-time, and saw key players Scott Williams and Liam Williams stretchered off in the closing stages, yet they found incredible levels of fortitude to earn a memorable 28-25 win to all-but seal their place in their quarter-finals. 

He said: "Unbelievable. I'm gutted (because) we've lost Jon Davies, Rhys Webb, Leigh Halfpenny, Cory Allen, and a couple of others go off then and hopefully they're okay.

"But it just shows the sort of spirit and the strength of the squad that despite the fact we've lost those sorts of top quality players, we can still come to a place like Twickenham, one of the hardest places in the world, and get an away victory.

Wales' fly half Dan Biggar kicks the ball  during a Pool A match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup between England and Wales at Twickenham stadium, south wes
Image: Wales' fly half Dan Biggar kicked seven penalties at Twickenham

"It's definitely up there with one of my best wins.

"Credit to England, they threw absolutely everything at us, they played really well and we really had to be at our best in defence, we gave a few too many penalties away but I'm lost for words, amazing win."

Despite trailing by 10 points at one stage, Warburton never gave up hope they would be able to pull off an unlikely win.

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With England leading 25-18, Gareth Davies' converted try levelled matters and the outstanding Dan Biggar booted his seventh penalty before Wales held on for a famous win.

Warburton added: "I think we've been in that situation a few times at half-time, we might not be leading the game but we've backed the fitness work we've done in the summer and know in the last 20 minutes we can come through quite strong.

"We always said, 'Keep our composure, no matter what the circumstance', and I'm glad that under a bit of pressure there, we managed to see the game out."

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