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England reveal their team to face Wales on Saturday

(Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
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England men’s head coach Eddie Jones has named his team to play in their third Six Nations match against Wales on Saturday in Cardiff (KO 4.45pm).

Jones has made two changes to the starting XV following injuries to Chris Ashton (Sale) and Mako Vunipola (Saracens), with Exeter Chiefs pair Jack Nowell selected on the right wing and Ben Moon at loosehead prop.

Joe Cokanasiga (Bath) and Brad Shields (Wasps) are included in the match-day 23 for the first time this tournament while Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers) and Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs) are named as finishers. Owen Farrell (Saracens) will captain England who have won their last five Six Nations matches against Wales.

Eddie Jones said: “England and Wales is always a big game. Intense rivals and there is the historical context to it, but for us it is our most important game because it is our next game and that is how we are treating it.

“Whenever you play against a Warren Gatland side you are playing against a side that is going to be very physical on the gain line. They are always very fit so you have to make sure you win the gain line and then find opportunities of where you are going to attack them.

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“As you have read in the media, it’s all about Wales, we are playing potentially the greatest team ever. Their players are full of emotion and it’s the biggest game they are going to play in their lives. We have had a good week just focussing on ourselves and focussing on getting our preparation right.”

On selection, Jones added: “Ben Moon will start and Ellis Genge will finish so we will get a great 80 minutes out of those two. It is disappointing to lose a player of the calibre of Mako Vunipola but we have two very good players who will do a great job for us.

“Jack Nowell will start and Joe Cokanasiga will come onto the bench. As we saw in the autumn Joe is a player of great potential so we are looking forward to him adding to the squad.

“Brad Shields comes in for Nathan Hughes as a finisher as we just feel like it is going to be a high work-rate game.”

England starting XV (509 caps)

15 Elliot Daly (Wasps, 27 caps)
14 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 31 caps)
13 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 19 caps)
12 Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 29 caps)
11 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 42 caps)
10 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 67 caps) (captain)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 82 caps)

1 Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs, 5 caps)
2 Jamie George (Saracens, 34 caps)
3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 19 caps)
4 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 70 caps)
5 George Kruis (Saracens, 29 caps)
6 Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons, 10 caps)
7 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 7 caps)
8 Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 38 caps)

Finishers (147 caps)

16 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 9 caps)
17 Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 6 caps)
18 Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs, 16 caps)
19 Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 55 caps)
20 Brad Shields (Wasps, 5 caps)
21 Dan Robson (Wasps, 1 cap)
22 George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 53 caps)
23 Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby, 2 caps)

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NoLongerARuck 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

The Six Nations produced so many compelling games and so much of action packed moments that you can only conclude that its the best international comp out there at the moment except for a world cup. If Wales improve it will be even better especially given the strides Italy have made in recent times. The Rugby Championship is now taking a hiatus in a year it really should be building toward something better which is terrible considering the competition was so tight last year. The Nations Champs promises much but one gets the feeling that the 6 Nations teams will not be at their peak given its at the end of their long season. In terms of rugby quality and entertainment Id rather watch the 6 Nations over everything else other than a world cup right now. The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field. In terms of entertainment the North wins. In terms of winning? They are making strides but until they win another world cup or get a team to rank number 1 again for an extended time again they cant really say they are better than the South.

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