Preview: England v Wales
Preview, stats and facts ahead of England's clash with Wales on Saturday.
The third round of the Guinness Six Nations and England's first home game.
Eddie Jones' men welcome Wales to Twickenham, with both sides still in the hunt for a championship. One loss a piece in this season's edition adds another element of drama to this already fascinating affair. Whose title hopes will be dashed?
| Date | Saturday 26 February |
| Venue | Twickenham Stadium |
| Coverage | ITV & BBC Radio 5 Live |
| Kick off | 4:45pm |
Having been named in the starting line up Manu Tuilagi is now unavailable to play, after suffering a low grade hamstring injury. His replacement in the starting side will be confirmed on game day.
Courtney Lawes returns to captain England, Kyle Sinckler is in line to earn his 50th cap, and should he come off the bench for his 115th Test, Ben Youngs will become England Men's all-time record cap holder.
"We’ve prepared very well for this game, the squad have really come together on and off the pitch," said Jones. "Wales are a good, tough side and Six Nations champions and it will make for an exciting Test match in front of a full Twickenham crowd.
"We’ve got a talented, young, hungry squad who have trained with real intensity this week. We’re ready to go at them and can’t wait to play in front of our supporters again."
Teams
England
1. Ellis Genge, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Charlie Ewels, 5. Maro Itoje, 6. Courtney Lawes (c), 7. Tom Curry, 8. Alex Dombrandt, 9. Harry Randall, 10. Marcus Smith, 11. Jack Nowell, 12. (TBC), 13. Henry Slade, 14. Max Malins, 15. Freddie Steward.
Finishers
16. Jamie George, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Sam Simmonds, 21. Ben Youngs, 22. George Ford, 23. Elliot Daly.
Wales
1. Wyn Jones, 2. Ryan Elias, 3. Tomas Francis, 4. Will Rowlands, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Ross Moriarty, 7. Taine Basham, 8. Taulupe Faletau, 9. Tomos Williams, 10. Dan Biggar, 11. Josh Adams, 12. Nick Tompkins, 13. Owen Watkin, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 15. Liam Williams.
Replacements
16. Dewi Lake, 17. Gareth Thomas, 18. Leon Brown, 19. Seb Davies, 20. Jac Morgan, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Gareth Anscombe, 23. Jonathan Davies.
Stats & Facts
England have won their last four home games against Wales in the Championship, only once before since 1930 have they enjoyed a longer such streak, a nine game run between 1990 and 2006.
Wales have never led at half-time in a Guinness Six Nations match against England at Twickenham (11 matches) - making them the only side never to have held had a half-time lead against England away from home in the Championship.
England have lost just two of their last 24 home games in the Guinness Six Nations (W21, D1), defeats to Ireland in 2018 and Scotland in 2021, Wales’ last win at HQ in the Championship was in 2012 (L4 since).
England full-back Freddie Steward has made more carry metres (249) than any other player in the 2022 Guinness Six Nations.
Kyle Sinckler is set to win his 50th cap for England if he plays in this fixture, he made his debut off the bench in a victory against South Africa in November 2016, since when he has made more appearances than any other prop for England.
If Ben Youngs plays in this match he will win his 115th cap for England, overtaking Jason Leonard (114) as his country’s most capped men’s player, the scrum half has been involved in five tries in his last six starts against Wales (3 tries, 2 assists).
Views from camp
Eddie Jones: "We've got Ben Youngs to finish the game. Imagine having a halfback of 115 caps in the best form of his career coming on to manage that last 20 minutes."
Martin Gleeson:
Courtney Lawes: "We truly have unbelievable talent across the pitch. We want to be controlled in everything we do, we have to adapt to whatever situation we're thrown into, analyse it and deal with it."
Ellis Genge:
Previous Encounters
2021 | Wales 40 - 24 England
2020 | Wales 13 - 24 England
2020 | England 33 - 30 Wales
2019 | Wales 13 - 6 England
2019 | England 33 - 19 Wales
2019 | Wales 21-13 England
Related topics
- Attack
- T - Tries
- M - Metres carried
- C - Carries
- DB - Defenders beaten
- CB - Clean breaks
- P - Passes
- O - Offloads
- TC - Turnovers conceded
- TA - Try assists
- PTS - Points
- Defence
- Tackles - Tackles
- MT - Missed tackles
- TW - Turnovers won
- Kicking
- K - Kicks in play
- C - Conversions
- PG - Penalty goals
- DG - Drop goals
- Set plays
- TW - Throws won
- LW - Lineouts won
- LS - Lineout steals
- Discipline
- PC - Penalties conceded
- RC - Red cards
- YC - Yellow cards
England defeat Wales at Twickenham
England kept their Guinness Six Nations championship ambitions alive with a 23-19 win over Wales at Twickenham.
It had been 721 days since Twickenham hosted fans for a Guinness Six Nations match, and those in attendance witnessed England set a blistering pace against Wales, as Marcus Smith bagged two penalties inside the opening five minutes.
The visitors settled however and worked their way up the pitch, setting up camp close to England's line where they tested the hosts' scrum and lineout defence, which held firm.
Full back Liam Williams was shown a yellow card on the 20-minute mark for tampering with the ball at the base of a ruck, and just before he rejoined the Test, Smith extended England's lead to nine points.
As half time approached, Henry Slade executed a sublime 50-22 to hand England a prime attacking platform, and although they couldn't make it count, Smith was on hand moments later to slot his fourth penalty of the match, making it 12-0 at the break.
In what was a scrappy first 40, Eddie Jones' men had 62% possession, made 66 more metres, 21 more carries and had beaten four more defenders.
Alex Dombrandt struck for England early in the second half, catching the wayward throw of Ryan Elias 10 metres from the Welsh line, before cutting inside Tomos Williams and dotting down in the left hand corner for his first international try. Smith was unable to add the extras.
Josh Adams' try after 53 minutes got Wales on the scoreboard, and Nick Tompkins' converted effort seven minutes later reduced the deficit to five points, as Wales came back into the Test.
Ben Youngs replaced Harry Randall on the hour mark to become England Men's most capped player of all-time, before a brace of Smith penalties gave England a comfortable buffer, at 23-12.
Wales finished the game strong, scoring via Kieran Hardy and securing a losing bonus-point, and England held on for a nervy finish to see out the game 23-19.
Teams
England
1. Ellis Genge, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Charlie Ewels, 5. Maro Itoje, 6. Courtney Lawes (c), 7. Tom Curry, 8. Alex Dombrandt, 9. Harry Randall, 10. Marcus Smith, 11. Jack Nowell, 12. Henry Slade, 13. Elliot Daly, 14. Max Malins, 15. Freddie Steward.
Finishers
16. Jamie George, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Sam Simmonds, 21. Ben Youngs, 22. George Ford, 23. Joe Marchant.
Wales
1. Wyn Jones, 2. Ryan Elias, 3. Tomas Francis, 4. Will Rowlands, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Ross Moriarty, 7. Taine Basham, 8. Taulupe Faletau, 9. Tomos Williams, 10. Dan Biggar, 11. Josh Adams, 12. Nick Tompkins, 13. Owen Watkin, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 15. Liam Williams.
Replacements
16. Dewi Lake, 17. Gareth Thomas, 18. Leon Brown, 19. Seb Davies, 20. Jac Morgan, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Gareth Anscombe, 23. Jonathan Davies.
Fixtures & Results
England 23 - 19 Wales
England v Ireland - Saturday 12 March
France v England - Saturday 19 March
