Katy McLean kicked four second half penalties as England came from behind to beat Wales 12-6 and be crowned the FIRA Women's European champions in Amsterdam on Saturday.
England, who won a third successive Women's Six Nations Grand Slam earlier this year, found the blustery conditions difficult in the first half as Wales made the most of having the strong wind behind them to lead 6-0 through two penalties from full back Non Evans.
With the wind now in their favour, England started to dominate territory and possession and finally opened their account in the 53rd minute with fly half McLean's first penalty.
England, who had beaten Ireland 22-11 in the semi-finals, had Maggie Alphonsi sin-binned but McLean kicked her side level with 13 minutes going against Wales, the 18-10 conquerors of defending champions France in the last four.
McLean then kicked two more penalties to seal victory and allow captain and number 8 Catherine Spencer to get her hands on more silverware in 2008 with England's first European triumph in over a decade.
"We are delighted with this victory," admitted England head coach Gary Street. "We have not won the elite European Championships since 1997. A lot of very good English sides failed in this tournament but finally we have won it. It's great to be crowned Six Nations and European champions in the same season, not many sides can say they have done that.
Russia claim Group B title
"This was a tough game, but in the end we dominated the second half and were in control. Wales gave us a very good test though, our first real test since the Rugby World Cup final in 2006. You need tight games like this though and we proved today that we can come from behind and win."
Ireland and France drew 22-22 in the third place playoff, but the Irish claimed the placing by virtue of scoring four tries to the outgoing champions' three. Scotland edged Spain 27-25 to finish fifth with the Netherlands beating Sweden 7-6 for seventh.
Spain flanker Barbara Pla was named the Group A player of the Championship, while Russia full back Anastasiya Mukharyamova claimed the Group B award after leading her side to title with a 31-14 defeat of the France Army in the final.
Russia also received the Fair Play award, while Germany finished third in Group B after beating Belgium 19-15 and Romania overcame Finland 12-5 in the fifth place playoff in Amsterdam.