England v Wales: Team line-ups, kick-off time, key quotes, predictions, odds and where to watch on TV
Our guide to the Guinness Six Nations clash between England and Wales at Twickenham includes team news, predictions, statistics and more.
What time is kick-off & what channel is it on?
The match, which takes place at Twickenham, will start at 1645 GMT on Saturday March 7 and will be screened live on ITV.
England v Wales: Team news
England: E Daly (Saracens); A Watson (Bath), M Tuilagi (Leicester), O Farrell (Saracens, capt), J May (Leicester); G Ford (Leicester), B Youngs (Leicester); J Marler (Harlequins), J George (Saracens), K Sinckler (Harlequins), M Itoje (Saracens), G Kruis (Saracens), C Lawes (Northampton), M Wilson (Sale Sharks), T Curry (Sale Sharks).
Replacements: L Cowan-Dickie (Exeter), E Genge (Leicester), W Stuart (Bath), J Launchbury (Wasps), C Ewels (Bath), B Earl (Saracens), W Heinz (Gloucester), H Slade (Exeter).
Wales: L Halfpenny (Scarlets); G North (Ospreys), N Tompkins (Saracens), H Parkes (Scarlets), L Williams (Scarlets); D Biggar (Northampton), T Williams (Cardiff Blues); R Evans (Scarlets), K Owens (Scarlets), D Lewis (Cardiff Blues), J Ball (Scarlets), A W Jones (Ospreys, capt), R Moriarty (Dragons), J Tipuric (Ospreys), J Navidi (Cardiff Blues).
Replacements: R Elias (Scarlets), R Carre (Saracens), L Brown (Dragons), A Shingler (Scarlets), T Faletau (Bath), R Webb (Bath), J Evans (Cardiff Blues), J McNicholl (Scarlets).
Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand).
Assistant referees: Romain Poite and Alexandre Ruiz (both France).
England v Wales: Odds and tips
England are 1/4 favourites to make home advantage count against Wales, following their impressive victory over Ireland. Wales are 10/11 with a 10-point start and 11/4 to win. Click here for the odds
That international takes place on Sunday, and Saturday’s England v Wales game – obviously we have lost the Ireland v Italy game due to the precautions surrounding the coronavirus - is priced up pretty much as I would expect.
Normally I would have been all over Wales getting a 13-point start for this match (Hills, 10/11), but their three-quarter cupboard is beginning to look pretty bare, with Josh Adams picking up a late injury in the France game and Dan Biggar, already in the wars, suffering what appeared to be a serious injury for Northampton last week, so I don’t know how fit he will be.
I’d probably side with Wales +13 if pressed – the England back-line looks very tasty with the return of Anthony Watson, but Sam Underhill is a fair loss at open-side, as is the non-availability of Mako Vunipola – but I am not forcing a bet.
England v Wales: Inside the camps
- George Ford on coronavirus
"When we were in Japan there was the typhoon... there are bigger things that are more critical than us playing in a rugby game," he said.
"There are important things other than playing against Wales. You speak about family all the time and there are things that happen in your life all the time."
Ford says coronavirus has caused minimal disruption to England's preparations for Wales' visit to south west London.
"It's been a completely normal week. We went out for food together on Wednesday night," the Leicester fly-half said.
"In terms of hygiene, not much has changed because we want to be pretty red hot on that anyway. It's just reminders more than anything to keep good habits around camp.
"It's hard to believe, but we're genuinely just concentrating on the game on Saturday first and foremost. It will be a tough enough challenge as it is."
- England coach Eddie Jones
Eddie Jones admits England will be motivated by revenge when they face Wales in a Guinness Six Nations title clash they must win to remain in title contention.
Jones has made two changes for Saturday's Twickenham showdown after naming Anthony Watson on the right wing in place of Jonathan Joseph and covering for Sam Underhill's head injury by picking Mark Wilson at openside.
A year ago England were powering towards the Grand Slam as they followed up emphatic victories over Ireland and France by building a 10-3 half-time lead in Cardiff that spiralled into a 21-13 defeat.
Wales went on to be crowned champions and the setback at the Principality Stadium still rankles for England ahead of Wayne Pivac's first visit to Twickenham since replacing Warren Gatland in November.
"You've got to remember they beat us last year so we owe them one," head coach Jones said.
"They've lost two games in a row. They've got a new coach and they'll want to make a statement on Saturday.
"Traditionally our games are very close so they'll come with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of energy.
"Their two veterans Ken Owens and Alun Wyn Jones will lead the way and they'll be a tough team to beat.
"They pass the ball a little bit more under Wayne Pivac but there isn't any great change at the moment.
"They're a still a very good team. They were semi-finalists at the World Cup and to get that far you have to be a good team.
"These three games in the Six Nations are the ones that are great for England - Scotland, Ireland and Wales. They're traditional, they're tough and they mean a lot to all of the countries."
- Wales coach Wayne Pivac
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac says Liam Williams and Josh Navidi are "ready to go" in Saturday's Guinness Six Nations clash against England following lengthy injury lay-offs.
Scarlets wing Williams has not played since Wales beat World Cup quarter-final opponents France on October 20, suffering an ankle problem during training just a few days later.
Back-row forward Navidi last featured on the pitch in mid-January before a subsequent hamstring issue laid him low.
But both players will start at Twickenham, with Williams replacing an injured Josh Adams and Navidi preferred to 75 times-capped number eight Taulupe Faletau, who is on the bench.
"The key was to get enough volume into them," said Pivac, who has also called up scrum-half Tomos Williams instead of Gareth Davies and selected prop Rob Evans over Wyn Jones.
"We've done that, and we think they are both ready to go. They've put in a lot of hard work to get to the start line this weekend.
"They are both very experienced players and they know their bodies as well as anyone. We are confident they can do a job for us."
England v Wales: Recent meetings
2016 Six Nations: England 27-13 Wales
2017 Six Nations: Wales 16-21 England
2018 Six Nations: England 12-6 Wales
2019 Six Nations: Wales 21-13 England
2019 World Cup warm-up: England 33-19 Wales
2019 World Cup warm-up: Wales 13-6 England
Six Nations fixtures & results
Round One (February 1-2)
Round Two (February 8-9)
Round Three (February 22-23)
Round Four (March 7-8)
- Ireland v Italy, Saturday Mar 7, 2.15pm, Aviva Stadium, Dublin - POSTPONED
- England v Wales, Saturday Mar 7, 4.45pm, Twickenham, London; ITV; Ref - Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
- Scotland v France, Sunday Mar 8, 3.00pm, BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh; BBC; Ref - Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Round Five (March 14)
- Wales v Scotland, Saturday Mar 14, 2.15pm, Principality Stadium, Cardiff; BBC and S4C; Ref - Angus Gardner (Australia)
- Italy v England, Saturday Mar 14, 4.45pm, Stadio Olimpico, Rome; ITV; Ref - Pascal Gauzere (France)
- France v Ireland, Saturday Mar 14, 8.00pm, Stade de France, Paris; BBC; Ref - Wayne Barnes (England)