England vs Wales – Six Nations Preview

England vs Wales in the Six Nations has always been regarded as a blood and thunder tie. With over a ton of muscle mass in the two sides' back five alone, plus Leigh Halfpenny, you can add 'titanic' to the list of words to describe it. 'Guile' may not be applicable to this Welsh backline when compared to those of 70s folklore (and distinctly absent from English rugby history in its entirety), but 'dynamism' certainly is €“ and that is what separates these two teams coming into the game. Six tries and a devastating display of attacking prowess, in particular from George North, have launched Wales into the position of favourites; not just for this game, but for the whole tournament. Everything has been done at pace and to devastating effect and for all their power, speed and brute strength, the marshalling abilities of Rhys Priestland and Halfpenny have seen the Welsh backline become a well polished unit. In contrast, two charge down tries and the boot of the impressive Owen Farrell has seen England home, in a not so convincing fashion. England find themselves with a host of players who have played fewer times at €˜HQ€™ than their Celtic counterparts. Among them is captain Chris Robshaw, who has been appointed skipper for the rest of the Six Nations. The English squad will be strengthened with the returning Toby Flood, Courtney Lawes and Manu Tuilagi, who all played 80 minutes for their clubs last weekend. Stuart Lancaster, England€™s coach, will be looking to call on the experience of his returning senior players in what is surely to be an emotionally charged game played in a fierce atmosphere. In contrast, the Welsh ranks could be depleting. Third choice hooker, Ken Owens, is will start in a tight five that has already lost Matthew Rees, Bradley Davies and Luke Charteris; an area which England are sure to attack come Saturday. However, Wales€™ own inspirational skipper, Sam Warburton, will return to lead his men out in a game that will go a long way in deciding the future for both teams. Wales stand on a precipice of a 'Golden Generation', with Lions coach elect Warren Gatland overseeing a terrific opening to the tournament, which has built upon their impressive World Cup showing. In contrast, interim head coach Stuart Lancaster has seen his 'win-win' position turn into something of a thankless task. Despite two wins in tricky away fixtures played in borderline conditions, the same old laments of slow-ball, no attacking direction and heads-down rugby have cropped up again in the rugby press. With Nick Mallet having publically thrown his hat into the ring for the full-time job, Lancaster is now in a struggle to convince the powers that be that he is the man to take the team forward, despite having overseen two victories to date with a fledgling English side. At around 4.02pm on Saturday, the two mountains of a midfield will collide in front of 82,000 roaring fans. Success will be decided by what the teams can do with the ball after that, but that collision will encapsulate everything there is to know about this fixture. Commitment, passion and pride: a game surely not to be missed.