JASON Leonard led the acclaim for his fellow World Cup wannabes after a record-breaking display showcased England's astonishing strength in depth and left Wales beyond help.

''The younger players have shown maturity beyond their years,'' said 35-year-old Leonard, who captained England to a landmark Millennium Stadium triumph.

The Six Nations champions could afford to rest 14 Lions - Jonny Wilkinson, Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio and Jason Robinson among them - and still humiliate the Welsh outfit.

Wales were clueless in Cardiff, collapsing to a heaviest defeat on home soil against embarrassingly superior opponents, despite giving three players their first Test match starts.

''The attitude of all the players was great - we had a mixture of youth, power and pace,'' added Leonard.

''Everyone wanted to throw down a marker for the World Cup, but without the right team framework, then no-one can perform.''

England will fly to the shores of southern France now, where they meet World Cup warm-up opponents France in Marseille next Saturday, and head coach Clive Woodward's final selection task for Australia has not been made any easier.

Woodward will take his entire 43-man training group to France, with hooker Mark Regan, fly-half Alex King and winger Dan Luger - who all suffered knocks during the Wales game - not thought to be long-term problems.

Centres Stuart Abbott and Jamie Noon both shone in the Cardiff sunshine, while King showed some quality attacking touches, although six missed goal-kicks suggest that Paul Grayson might yet provide Wilkinson's World Cup support act.

But it was the forwards who ensured that England's World Cup warm-up campaign began in style, giving impressive scrum-half Andy Gomarsall an armchair ride, while dominating their opposite numbers mentally and physically.

No-one epitomised the desire and determination better than flanker Martin Corry, whose stamina-sapping contribution saw him lose more than six kilos in weight.

Elsewhere, Lewis Moody, Joe Worsley and Danny Grewcock were imperious, and Julian White destroyed Wales' highly-rated loosehead prop Iestyn Thomas. Wherever he looked, Woodward could only observe one outstanding performance after another.

England scored 27 unanswered second-half points, with Worsley, Abbott, Luger and replacement hooker Dorian West adding touchdowns to Moody's 25th-minute try. King slotted a drop-goal, three penalties and two conversions, and substitute Dave Walder booted one conversion.

''There was a sense of frustration at half-time,'' said Leonard. ''We felt that we'd had a lot of possession, but didn't come away with the points we deserved.

''We rushed a couple of things, and Wales were able to get out of the danger area. In that heat, it was hard work to get back down there, but we really went out and played in the second-half.''

Woodward was similarly enthused by England's improved second-half showing. Once his players moved sweetly through the gears, Wales, despite the brave contributions of flanker Martyn Williams and full-back Rhys Williams, were run ragged.

''I don't think that was a shadow England team,'' said Woodward. ''We have a lot of depth."

''I made an error in the last World Cup, when I didn't have confidence in all 30 players. I was afraid to use all 30 players, but I think we have now had some key games for me.

''Away against Argentina, the New Zealand Maori and Wales, we've shown that we can use all 30 players at the World Cup."

l Newcastle Falcons chief Rob Andrew was at Cardiff on Saturday - but suffered a nightmare journey home.

He flew to Bristol with Easyjet from Newcastle at 7pm before travelling to the Millennium Stadium, but suffered a three-hour delay on the return journey when the plane was held up in Paris and didn't arrive back in Newcastle until 1am.