Wales look to spoil Twickenham return as England face tough test

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England head coach Eddie Jones

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 10: Eddie Jones head coach of England before the England against Canada Summer International at Twickenham Stadium on July 10, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images)

Eddie Jones’ new-look face what is perhaps their most pressurised challenge so far this Saturday with the visit of still injury-hit .

Though the victory against in November and defeat to Scotland were arguably more difficult games, the pressure to win this game is far greater than either of those.

Should England lose here, any lingering title hopes will be gone, and it will leave England with just one non-Italy Six Nations victory since before pandemic restrictions were first introduced back in March 2020.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 07: of England reacts at fulltime after the 2020 Guinness Six Nations match between England and Wales at Twickenham Stadium on March 07, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

The hosts were hoping to be bolstered by the return of Manu Tuilagi, but he misses out after a hamstring niggle picked up during training, though Courtney Lawes comes straight in to captain the side.

Charlie Ewels beats Nick Iseikwe to a starting berth in the second row alongside , while Kyle Sinckler and Luke Cowan-Dickie return to the starting line-up after benching against Italy.

In perhaps the biggest surprise, Harry Randall retains a place in the team, denying Ben Youngs a start in what should be the game he breaks the English caps record held by Jason Leonard by appearing for the 115th time.

Randall was raised in Wales, and played for their U16s, adding even greater significance to his first home start against a side that will be desperate to produce an upset.

Bookies have England winning by 13 points, but with the return of Taulupe Faletau, impressive in Bath’s defeat to last week, and Josh Adams, replacing , Wales will feel more than capable of earning a first win at Twickenham since the 2015 Rugby .

Coach is hoping his side are able to transfer their impressive home display against Scotland into a win on the road.

, WALES – DECEMBER 05: Wayne Pivac, Wales Head coach during the pre match warm up for the Autumn Nations Cup 2020 match between Wales and Italy at the Parc y Scarlets on December 05, 2020 in Llanelli, Wales. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images)

He said: “We need to transfer the performance we had in front of our own supporters away at Twickenham.

“That’s the big challenge in front of us. Playing in front of a full house, whether it’s home or away, is an exciting prospect.

“It just adds to the flavour of the match. History would show it’s a hard place to go and get a result but we’re certainly going there with that aim in mind.”

If Wales win, they could climb two places up the World rankings before two home games to come, favourites France followed by 34-match winless Italy.

With victory on Saturday, they will have hopes of recreating their famous 2013 title charge, where they also lost their opening game against Ireland before four straight victories.

England could fall as many as four places with a heavy defeat to Wales but roared on by their first home crowd in the Six Nations since their win against Wales in 2020, they will be hoping to repeat that feat.

They will confirm their starting line-up on Saturday morning, with a decision to be made on whether Elliot Daly or Joe Marchant start at outside centre to replace Tuilagi.

Written by Nick Powell

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