Man of the match James Haskell was pleased to put smiles back on England fans' faces at Twickenham on Saturday.
Recent performances have left the home support unimpressed but Saturday's 30-17 defeat of Wales in its Six Nations opener redressed the balance.
Haskell said: "We've wanted a win for a long time. There was great spirit shown by the guys and we are very pleased with it."
"When we run down the tunnel before a game a few of us often say 'this [the crowd noise] is the reason we play'. Today is what playing rugby is all about."
Haskell, who scored two tries, added on BBC1: "When you play Wales they are always a tough physical side who make things very difficult for you."
"We didn't do it for the full 80 minutes but we are very excited about what we are doing and this is a step in the right directon for us."
"It's about possession and taking control."
On his elaborate celebration for his second try - sparked by a Delon Armitage interception - which made the game safe for Martin Johnson's men, he said: "I had to do a bit of a dive - I'm going to get some stick for the celebration I'm sure."
Wales coach Warren Gatland predictably pinpointed the sin-binning of lock Alun-Wyn Jones as the decisive moment in the game - England scored 17 points in the 10 minutes he was off the field.
Gatland said: "The most disappointing factor is conceding 17 points when we were down to 14 men."
"We spoke all week about discipline and not giving anything away. That's what cost us the game."
"We've got to be up front and honest with him. [Assistant coach] Shaun Edwards just said to him [Jones] 'I hope you never do that again in your career'."
"To be honest it's cost us the game today. It's huge. It's something we'll need to look at next week [against Scotland]."
"You need 15 players on the pitch. You should trust the system and your team-mates but on one or two occasions today we didn't do that."
England tryscorer Danny Care, who raced through a Wales defence missing Jones, added on BBC1: "Obviously these sort of games come down to little errors."
"He stuck out a leg and he had to go for 10 minutes which gave us a big lift."
"Fair play to James, he was all over the park today and thoroughly deserves his two tries."
Captain Steve Borthwick added on BBC1: "You see how much hard work everyone puts in but sometimes it doesn't come to fruition on the field."
On criticism levelled at Johnson, he added: "The people who matter haven't criticised him. We've been very tight and think he is doing a great job."
"We've learned a lot from him and will continue to do so. We want to be better next week and the focus will be on that."