Six Nations 2017: Wales vs England Preview

Wales vs England at The Principality Stadium (Sunday, February 12, 12.50am HKT)

England travel to Cardiff for the second Six Nations match of the round knowing they will need to lift their game from last weekend if they are to defeat Wales.

What we can expect
Brutal, intense, blood-and-guts rugby as two opening weekend winners with a lot to prove meet in Cardiff. Wales will throw everything at England, then rip up the stadium’s foundations and throw the rubble at them, too.

Wales
After a painfully slow start, Rob Howley’s men won easily enough in Italy last weekend, even throwing caution to the wind for the final three minutes of the game as they, unsuccessfully, sought a try-scoring bonus point. But they have not beaten England since emphatically ending their Grand Slam hopes at the same venue (under a different name) – and under the same acting coach – four years ago. 

Matchday 23: Leigh Halfpenny; George North, Jonathan Davies, Scott Williams, Liam Williams; Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb; Rob Evans, Ken Owens, Tomas Francis, Jake Ball, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric, Ross Moriarty Replacements: Scott Baldwin, Nicky Smith, Samson Lee, Cory Hill, Taulupe Faletau, Gareth Davies, Sam Davies, Jamie Roberts.

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England
Master manipulator Eddie Jones has refocused attention on the Principality Stadium roof, by keeping everyone guessing whether he will opt for open or closed until the very last minute – after earlier saying he didn’t really care either way. Smart move, but it still hasn’t hidden the fact that England’s starting back row, talented though it is, was almost literally born yesterday.

Matchday 23: Mike Brown, Jack Nowell, Jonathan Joseph, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Ben Youngs; Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Maro Itoje, Jack Clifford, Nathan Hughes Replacements: Jamie George, Matt Mullan, Kyle Sinckler, Tom Wood, James Haskell, Danny Care, Ben Te’o, Jonny May.

Key battle: The back rows
How England’s rookie back row, who boast a combined total of 20 caps, copes with the 100-plus cap experience of Welsh flankers Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric, with fit-again Taulaupe Faletau on bench-warming duties, will be vital. The openside battle between Tipuric and Clifford is looking especially compelling. With Haskell and Wood on the bench England have plenty of experienced back-up to call-on, but their winning run could live or die in the first 20 or 30 minutes.

All eyes on: Dan Biggar
It’s no great surprise that Howley should opt for experience at 10 in the meltingest of melting pots that is a Wales / England Six Nations’ encounter, but there remain doubts over Biggar’s fitness, after he was substituted at halftime with a rib injury in Italy last time out. Owen Williams, who has, officially been released back to Leicester, is on standby, while Sam Davies, who made such an impact as a replacement in Rome, will step up to the starting line-up.

Prediction
It’s going to be a close encounter of the tense kind. England by 3.