Wales v England preview: facts, stats and teams
Ahead of England's final Autumn Nations Cup pool A game against Wales, we round up everything you need to know.
Eddie Jones has opted for George Ford at fly half with captain Owen Farrell moving to inside centre and Henry Slade shifting out one position into the 13 shirt.
- 2,000 fans to return to Twickenham Stadium for Quilter International
- England name side to face Wales in Llanelli
- Watch The Next Level | A kicking masterclass
- Listen to Heinz and Furbank on England Rugby Podcast: O2 Inside Line
England's pack remains the same as the one that started the 18-7 win over Ireland, with two new finishers added in Luke Cowan-Dickie and Anthony Watson after returning to the squad this week. Jack Willis will look to win his second cap as finisher as he returns to the matchday 23.
Wales have made eight changes to the side that beat Georgia including the return of influential captain Alun Wyn Jones.
Scrum half Lloyd Jones will make his first start for his country in four years as he partners Dan Biggar at fly half, with wing Louis Rees-Zammit, centre Johnny Williams and flanker James Botham also coming in.
England sit first in Pool A and win in Llanelli will secure top spot and a match against the winners of Pool B next Sunday at Twickenham Stadium to decide who wins the Autumn Nations Cup.
- When? Saturday, 28 November
- Kick-off? 1600 GMT
- Where? Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
- Coverage? Live on Amazon Prime and S4C, BBC Radio 5 live, match centre on EnglandRugby.com
Views from the camp
England head coach Eddie Jones: “We’re expecting another tough match, and at the home of Welsh Rugby where the heart and soul of their game is.
"12 months ago, Wales were Grand Slam champions and three points from a World Cup final, so we know what they are capable of. "
“We’ve picked the best 23 players for the battle and we’re looking forward to it greatly.”
England captain Owen Farrell: "It’s always a massive test. We’re looking to improve and a massively tough battle is a good one to throw ourselves into. It’s always a tough game and we’re excited for it.
"Obviously we’d have liked to have had a bit more territory in the last game to be able to attack from but at the same time we’ll be looking to deal with whatever is presented to us.
[On defence] "I don’t think turning up trying to get the same thing will get you anywhere near that level of intensity, I think you’ve got to try and push past it and get the emotion right in the build-up to the game. That’s everybody’s job as an individual and as a collective to drag people with you.
“They’re a fantastic team and it’s always a really tough battle between us and them, it’s always a fantastic Test match. I’m sure they’ll come looking to bring the best version of themselves and we’ll look to do the same.”
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac: “Saturday is another great opportunity for us and for this squad.
“It is another chance for us to take what we have been doing in training and take that into matchday and we are looking forward it.
“We know what we need to do and we are focused on that for Saturday.”
Previous meetings
2016 - England 25-21 Wales, Twickenham Stadium (Six Nations)
2016 - England 27-13 Wales, Twickenham Stadium (Quilter Cup)
2017 - Wales 16-21 England, Principality Stadium (Six Nations)
2018 - England 12-6 Wales, Twickenham Stadium (Six Nations)
2019 - Wales 21-13 England, Principality Stadium (Six Nations)
2019 - England 33-19 Wales, Twickenham Stadium (World Cup warm-up)
2019 - Wales 13-6 England, Principality Stadium (World Cup warm-up)
2020 - England 33-30 Wales, Twickenham Stadium (Six Nations)
Key stats
- Wales have lost eight of their last 11 Tests against England (W3), however they have won the last two times they’ve hosted this fixture.
- Wales have won their last two home games against England and will be aiming to win three in a row at home against England for the first time since 2005 to 2009.
- England have won their last two away games, they’ve not won three in a row since June 2017 to February 2018 when they won a series in Argentina before defeating Italy in Rome in the Six Nations (excl. matches at neutral venues).
- Wales come into this match after an 18-0 victory over Georgia in their last outing, the second time they’ve kept their opposition scoreless in a match so far in 2020 (42-0 v Italy), this after managing it just twice previously in the professional era (98-0 v Japan in Nov 2004, 66-0 v Fiji in Oct 2011).
- England and Wales have met 10 times previously outside of the Home/Five/Six Nations since it began, England have won six of those 10 clashes (L4) but lost their most recent such fixture (17th August 2019).
- England have the best tackle success rate (93%) of any side in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup, Wales are the only other side to have a success rate above 90%.
- England have the best lineout success rate (97%, 34/35) of any side in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup, meanwhile Wales have the lowest rate (71%, 20/28).
- After his brace against Ireland last week, Jonny May now has 31 tries for England, only Rory Underwood has more (49, Will Greenwood and Ben Cohen also have 31 each); May has scored three tries in seven games against Wales but all of those tries have come at Twickenham
- England’s Billy Vunipola has made 34 tackles in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup, more than any other player from any side, he’s also made a team high 21 carries for England.
Teams
15. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 45 caps)
14. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 53 caps)
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 32 caps)
12. Owen Farrell (Saracens, 86 caps)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 59 caps)
10. George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 70 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 102 caps)
1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 62 caps)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 52 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 38 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 41 caps)
5. Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 67 caps)
6. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 26 caps)
7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 20 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 54 caps)
Finishers
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 24 caps)
17. Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 21 caps)
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 6 caps)
19. Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 2 caps)
20. Ben Earl (Bristol Bears, 6 caps)
21. Jack Willis (Wasps, 1 cap)
22. Dan Robson (Wasps, 5 caps)
23. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 44 caps)
Wales
15. Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets) (92 caps)
14. Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester) (2 caps)
13. Nick Tompkins (Dragons) (7 caps)
12. Johnny Williams (Scarlets) (1 cap)
11. Josh Adams (Cardiff Blues) (28 caps)
10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints) (86 caps)
9. Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues) (30 caps)
1. Wyn Jones (Scarlets) (28 caps)
2. Ryan Elias (Scarlets) (16 caps)
3. Samson Lee (Scarlets) (44 caps)
4. Jake Ball (Scarlets) (48 caps)
5. Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys) (141 caps)
6. Shane Lewis-Hughes (Cardiff Blues) (2 caps)
7. James Botham (Cardiff Blues) (1 cap)
8. Taulupe Faletau (Bath) (79 caps)
Replacements
16. Elliot Dee (Dragons) (31 caps)
17. Rhys Carre (Cardiff Blues) (11 caps)
18. Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs) (50 caps)
19. Will Rowlands (Wasps) (3 caps)
20. Aaron Wainwright (Dragons) (25 caps)
21. Rhys Webb (Ospreys) (35 caps)
22. Callum Sheedy (Bristol Bears) (2 caps)
23. Owen Watkin (Ospreys) (24 caps)
How to watch on Amazon Prime
- Existing and new Prime members can watch live Autumn Nations Cup Rugby Union on hundreds of devices using the Prime Video app, across mobile, Fire TV, games consoles, Virgin’s V6 TV Box, BT TV, TalkTalk TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, online and many more. For a list of all compatible devices visit: www.amazon.co.uk/watchlivesport
- New customers will be able to join Amazon Prime for £7.99 per month, or £79 for the year
- Non-Prime members can also start a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime to experience the Autumn Nations Cup on Prime Video
- Whilst using the Prime Video app, customers can click on ‘Autumn Nations Cup’ to view the tournament schedule and choose between a main coverage stream or individual matches.
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 beat Wales to set up Autumn Nations Cup final
England secured a 24-13 win over Wales to top their Autumn Nations Cup pool and set up a finals game at Twickenham Stadium.
After wins over Georgia and Ireland, England travelled to Parc y Scarlet in Llanelli and relied on another dominant defensive performance along with a tactical kicking game to secure an eighth Test win in a row.
England, who have now won nine of their last 12 Tests against Wales, started the match on the front foot dominating possession but Wales who took the lead on 10 minutes. Henry Slade’s kick was charged down inside the hosts’ half and after Dan Biggar hacked the bouncing ball forward, Johnny Williams managed to kick it on again and then place down for the first points of the game.
England were on the board four minutes later after an initial break by Sam Underhill saw Kyle Sinckler go close to crossing, but the ball was spun wide and Slade strolled in unopposed.
In a game dominated largely by defence and a tactical kicking game, England took the lead for the first time when Owen Farrell knocked over a penalty on 30 minutes, and he repeated the feat just before the break for an 11-7 half-time lead.
A series of pick and drives close to the line brought England’s second try with Mako Vunipola spinning out of the initial hit to dive over for his first international score since 2014, Farrell converting.
Two penalties from Biggar got Wales to within five points, but after a deliberate knock-on by Elliot Daly, Farrell knocked over his third penalty to extend England’s lead to two scores.
A superb Jack Willis turnover secured England another kickable penalty which Farrell slotted as he took his personal haul to 14 points on the day.
Eddie Jones’ side will now face the France in the final of the Autumn Nations Cup game at Twickenham Stadium next Sunday at 14:00 GMT.
Reaction
England head coach Eddie Jones: “We’d like to play with a bit more fluency but it’s just not there at the moment.
“I’m really pleased with the boys’ effort, I thought their work today was outstanding.
“We want to put a smile on their the fans' faces and hopefully there are plenty of fans at home today with a smile on their face.
“It’s nice to see rugby returning back to having fans as part of the community rather than a virtual part of the community and we want to put a big smile on those coming.”
England captain Owen Farrell: “Of course we feel like we have got more in us, of course we can improve, but in terms of coming down to Wales and getting a win I think it was a good performance.
“We want to stick in the game as much as we can and come out on top in the big moments, and when that presented itself I thought we did really well.
“Our back row is very impressive at the minute, we have some outstanding athletes and outstanding rugby players and you can see that by the people that aren’t here as well. I thought Jack coming in and getting a key turnover was big but all our bench come on and make a big impact towards the end.
“We’re always going to be critical of ourselves, we want to improve as much as we can and it’s good that we have another opportunity to do that next weekend.”
Teams
Wales
15. Leigh Halfpenny, 14. Louis Rees-Zammit, 13. Nick Tompkins, 12. Johnny Williams, 11. Josh Adams, 10. Dan Biggar, 9. Lloyd Williams; 1. Wyn Jones, 2. Ryan Elias, 3. Samson Lee, 4. Jake Ball, 5. Alun Wyn Jones, 6. Shane Lewis-Hughes, 7. James Botham, 8. Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements
16. Elliot Dee, 17. Rhys Carre, 18. Tomas Francis, 19. Will Rowlands, 20. Aaron Wainwright, 21. Rhys Webb, 22. Callum Sheedy, 23. Owen Watkin.
England
15. Elliot Daly, 14. Jonathan Joseph, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Owen Farrell (c), 11. Jonny May, 10. George Ford, 9. Ben Youngs; 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Jamie George, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Joe Launchbury, 6. Tom Curry, 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Billy Vunipola.
Finishers
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Jonny Hill, 20. Ben Earl, 21. Jack Willis, 22. Dan Robson, 23. Anthony Watson.
ENGLAND MEN 2020 QUILTER INTERNATIONALS AS PART OF THE AUTUMN NATIONS CUP
- England 40-0 Georgia
- England 18-7 Ireland
- Wales 13-24 England
- England v France: Sunday 6 December 2020, KO 14:00 GMT - Twickenham Stadium (LIVE on Amazon Prime)
