ENGLAND v WALES: 6 NATIONS

06.02.2015

Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Referee: Jérôme Garcès

Preview
The 2015 6 Nations International Championship kicks of in Cardiff with a class between the old foes England and Wales. These two teams will meet again at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

England have a mountain of injury worries. David Wilson, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood, Ben Morgan, Owen Farrell, Brad Barritt, Manu Tuilagi, Geoff Parling and Kyle Eastmond are all injured. Wales on the otherhand will field a full strength side and at home. England could be in for a tough day.

Wales finished third in last year’s 6 Nations after winning it in 2013. They’ll be smarting over that. I expect their greater experience and a home crowd to be too much in the end for England

Last Five Encounters
09.03.2014 England 29, Wales 18 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
16.03.2013 Wales 30-3 at Cardiff (6 Nations)
25.02.2012 Wales 19-12 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
13.08.2011 Wales 19-9 in Cardiff (World Cup Warm-up)
06.08.2011 England 23-19 at Twickenham (World Cup Warm-up)

England Last Five P 5, W 1, L 4
22.11.2014 v Samoa W 28-9 at Twickenham
15.11.2014 v South Africa L 28-31 at Twickenham
08.11.2014 v New Zealand L 21-24 at Twickenham
21.06.2014 v New Zealand L 13-36 at Hamilton
14.06.2014 v New Zealand L 27-28 at Dunedin

England does not have a good record going into this test match but throughout 2014 one got the impression that this could be a good side and will be a threat in the 6 Nations International Championship.

Wales Last Five P 5, W 2, L 3
29.11.2014 v South Africa W 12-6 in Cardiff
22.11.2014 v New Zealand L 16-34 in Cardiff
15.11.2014 v Fiji W 17-13 in Cardiff
08.11.2014 v Australia L 28-33 in Cardiff
21.06.2014 v South Africa L 30-31 in Nelspruit

Wales is coming to this test match with a win over South Africa back in November something England couldn’t do. The first half performance against New Zealand in November and for some of the second half demonstrated that Wales can play the game at pace and with skill. But can they do it for 80 minutes?

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table: Wales 2nd, England 8th
Europe Table: England 1st, Wales 3rd

IRB Ranking Points
England 85.48, Wales 81.64

Prediction: Wales by 9 points

Teams

Wales

15		Leigh Halfpenny	RC Toulonnais, France
14		Alexander Cuthbert	Cardiff Blues
13		Jonathan Davies	Llanelly Scarlets
12		James Roberts	Racing-Metro 92, France
11		George North	Northampton Saints, England
10		Daniel Biggar	Neath Swansea Ospreys
9		Rhys Webb	Neath Swansea Ospreys
8		Taulupe Faletau	Newport Gwent Dragons
7		Samuel Warburton (Capt.)	Cardiff Blues
6		Daniel Lydiate	Racing-Metro 92, France
5		Alun-Wyn Jones	Neath Swansea Ospreys
4		Jake Ball	Llanelly Scarlets
3		Samson Lee	Llanelly Scarlets
2		Richard Hibbard	Gloucester Rugby, England
1		Gethin Jenkins	Cardiff Blues
16		Scott Baldwin	Neath Swansea Ospreys
17		Paul James	Bath Rugby, England
18		Aaron Jarvis	Neath Swansea Ospreys
19		Luke Charteris	US Perpignan, France
20		Justin Tipuric	Neath Swansea Ospreys
21		Michael Phillips	Racing Metro 92, France
22		Rhys Priestland	Llanelly Scarlets
23		Liam Williams	Llanelly Scarlets
		HEAD COACH: Warren Gatland

Sam Warburton will play his 50th test for Wales and his 36th as captain, just two short of Ryan Jones’s record.

England

15		Michael Brown	London Harlequins
14		Anthony Watson	Bath Rugby
13		Jonathan Joseph	Bath Rugby
12		Luther Burrell	Northampton Saints
11		Jonathan May	Gloucester Rugby
10		George Ford	Bath Rugby
9		Benjamin Youngs	Leicester Tigers
8		William Vunipola	London Saracens
7		Christopher Robshaw (Capt.)	London Harlequins
6		James Haskell	London Wasps
5		George Kruis	London Saracens
4		David Attwood	Bath Rugby
3		Daniel Cole	Leicester Tigers
2		Dylan Hartley	Northampton Saints
1		Joseph Marler	London Harlequins
16		Thomas Youngs	Leicester Tigers
17		Marko Vunipola	London Saracens
18		Kieran Brookes	Newcastle Falcons
19		Nicholas Easter	London Harlequins
20		Thomas Croft	Leicester Tigers
21		Richard Wigglesworth	London Saracens
22		Daniel Cipriani	Sale Sharks
23		William Twelvetrees	Gloucester Rugby
		HEAD COACH: Stuart Lancaster

Nik Easter, at 36 years, will be the oldest player on the field if he comes off the bench.He won the last of his 47 caps at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.