The hosts have made a gamble by keeping the same starting line-up, but will it pay off against Warren Gatland’s visitors?
Steve Borthwick will be hoping the decision to name an unchanged starting XV – the first time an England line-up has remained the same since the 2019 World Cup final – will pay dividends for Wales’ visit on Saturday to a sold-out Twickenham. It’s time to make some England v Wales predictions.
Following last weekend’s tetchy 27-24 victory over Italy in Rome, the hosts have the opportunity to build a healthy run of form against a relatively youthful Wales XV. The visitors, however, come into the game with momentum after a strong second-half performance which saw Gatland’s side score all their points in a 27-26 loss to Scotland in Cardiff.
Read more:Scotland v France predictions
England will be eager to put a show on given they seemingly underperformed in their last fixture against an Azzuri side that has only won one Six Nations game in the past decade.
Wales, on the other hand, are desperate to improve on their dreadful competition record of just two wins in 11 Six Nations matches. They will, nonetheless, be buoyed by the return of experienced centre George North – one of seven changes made following last weekend’s clash at the Principality Stadium.
England v Wales predictions
Alan Dymock: England by six points.
Forget cutting loose, England just need to make Wales try to play out of situations again and again. Force enough errors as they dig deep in the bag for another kitchen sink, and their shape could fail. Or – usually more likely – they infringe and give away penalties. Jamie George has a real opportunity to show his captaincy credentials here, and provided they don’t keep running near Tommy Reffell, they should have an edge. It’ll be loud, this one.
Josh Graham: England by 12 points.
If Steve Borthwick’s new England are serious then they need a big statement win at home against a Wales side who were all at sea for 40 minutes against Scotland. Scraping past Italy can be tolerated given the new style and new players on board but the Twickenham crowd will be baying for Welsh blood.
Do the basics well and put Wales under pressure early and they should emerge victorious with some breathing space too.
Oliver Jervis: England by six points.
Wales displayed undoubted quality during their rampant try-fest in the second half against Scotland last weekend, but the final scoreline showed their current frailties and the damage they can cause. Against an experienced opponent of England’s calibre, I doubt their weaknesses will go unpunished – even if they have made multiple changes.
During the past week or so, Jamie George and his England camp have been calling for a raucous atmosphere at Twickenham and this fixture – against an arch enemy in the form of Wales – provides the perfect platform for this to be achieved. The hosts must give the fans something to cheer about and, considering the relatively poor performance served up in Rome, it is about time they showed a bit more spark on the field. With that in mind, I am going to back England on this occasion to show some fire against a still developing opponent.
Alan Pearey: Wales by three points.
Wales have been priced at 100-1 to win this year’s title – remarkable odds! Don’t forget they picked up two points from last weekend’s defeat and instilled a big dollop of self-belief by tearing up Scotland in the second half.
How many times have we seen them confound predictions after being written off? Such as in Warren Gatland’s first game as Wales boss 16 years ago, when they came from 19-6 behind to win 26-19. They did something similar in that memorable 2015 World Cup pool match.
I like the selection changes they’ve made, headed by new starting half-backs Tomos Williams and Ioan Lloyd, and with George North back to renew his centre partnership with Nick Tompkins. Wales have it in them to surprise people – and I think they will.
Kick-off time 16:45 GMT Saturday 10 February
TV channel ITV1 and ITVX (UK) – How to watch the Six Nations wherever you are
Venue: Twickenham Stadium
Capacity: 82,000
England v Wales head-to-head results
2023 Six Nations: Wales 10-20 England
2022 Six Nations England 23-19 Wales
2021 Six Nations Wales 40-24 England
2020 Six Nations England 33-30 Wales
2019 Six Nations Wales 21-13 England
England v Wales team news
Read more: England Six Nations squad
ENGLAND Freddie Steward; Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Fraser Dingwall, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Joe Marler, Jamie George (capt), Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum, Ethan Roots, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.
Replacements 16 Theo Dan, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Danny Care, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Related: Wales Six Nations squad
WALES Cameron Winnett; Josh Adams, George North, Nick Tompkins, Rio Dyer; Ioan Lloyd, Tomos Williams; Gareth Thomas, Elliot Dee, Keiron Assiratti, Dafydd Jenkins (capt), Adam Beard, Alex Mann, Tommy Reffell, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Cai Evans, 23 Mason Grady.
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