Kickoff: 4:45pm
Date: Saturday 15th March
Location: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Watch on: BBC ONE
Team news
Wales
1.N.Smith 2.Dee 3.John 4.Rowlands 5.Jenkins
6.Wainwright 7.Morgan(C) 8.Faletau 9.T.Williams 10.Anscombe
11.Roberts 12.B.Thomas 13.Llewellyn 14.Mee 15.Murray
16.Lake 17.G.Thomas 18.Assiratti 19.T.Williams
20.Reffell 21.R.Williams 22.Evans 23.Tompkins
England
1.Genge 2.Cowan-Dickie 3.Stuart 4.Itoje(C) 5.Chessum
6.T.Curry 7.B.Curry 8.Earl 9.Mitchell 10.F.Smith
11.Daly 12.Dingwall 13.Freeman 14.Roebuck 15.M.Smith
16.George 17.Baxter 18.Heyes 19.Cunningham-South
20.Pollock 21.Willis 22.Van Poortvliet 23.Ford
This is a big game for Wales. They have shown a massive improvement under Sherratt and a win over England would definitely go even further to change the mood around the Welsh national team. To do this, Aaron Wainwright has been brought in to play blindside flanker. He will add more power and be a better line-out option for Wales. Joe Roberts has been brought in to play in the wing despite normally plying his trade in the midfield. There are also no wingers on the bench with Nick Tompkins being the non-halfback injury cover.
Steve Borthwick has made some surprising selections for his team against Wales although there does seem to be a theme. This England team looks to be very quick and deadly at the breakdown whilst also being built to dominate the kicking game. Tommy Freeman has moved to insidecentre to partner with his fellow Northampton Saint, Fraser Dingwall. This means that Elliot Daly moves onto the wing in his place. On the other wing, Ollie Sleightholme has been dropped despite good performances in favour of Tom Roebuck who is an elite aerial winger. Marcus Smith also comes back in and will start at fullback. His attacking kicking will no doubt be used a lot in this fixture. It will be interesting to see if Tommy Freeman, who is also proficient in the air in his normal, wing position, gets involved in the kicking game as well.
In the pack, Cowan-Dickie swaps back with Jamie George and starts with the latter coming off the bench. In the back row Ben Curry starts at openside flanker, moving Ben Earl to number 8 and the unlucky Tom Willis to the bench. Speaking of the bench, there is one name that will stick out to fans; Henry Pollock is an exciting prospect and has already shone for Northampton and England A this season. The abrasive back-rower will be a fan favourite for years to come. George Ford is also on the bench which means Borthwick has selected three fly-halves in his 23. Ted Hill, another unlucky player, has been dropped so presumably Cunningham-South will operate as emergency lock cover in case of injuries.
Wales can climb to 5th with an Italy loss to Ireland and a couple of bonus points against England at least. England have a much loftier goal; first they must secure a bonus point win over Wales, then they must turn their attention to Paris and hope that their northern neighbours can begrudgingly do them a massive favour.
Add comment
Comments