Preview: England v Wales
Everything you need to know ahead of England's Guinness Men's Six Nations fixture against Wales at Twickenham.
Warren Gatland's Wales team travel to Twickenham off the back of a narrow 26-27 home defeat to Scotland in round one, while a Jamie George-led England outfit enter the weekend having won their opening tie against Italy.
Scores from Elliot Daly and Alex Mitchell, as well as 17 points from George Ford secured the 24-27 victory in Rome as Gonzalo Quesada's Azzurri responded with tries from Alessandro Garbisi and Monty Ioane.
| When? | Saturday 10 February |
| Where? | Twickenham Stadium, London |
| Kick off | 16:45 GMT |
| Where can I watch? | ITV |
England last faced Wales in back-to-back fixtures ahead of the Rugby World Cup last year. Following a loss in the first game at the Principality, Borthwick's charges hosted the second, emerging 19-17 victors in front of a Twickenham crowd thanks to a Maro Itoje try and a late Ford penalty.
STATS & FACTS
England have won each of their last five Guinness Men’s Six Nations home matches against Wales, however, each of their last four such victories have come by margins of fewer than seven points; England have led at half time in each of their 12 home games against Wales in the Championship, the only side they’re yet to trail against at the break at Twickenham.
England won their opening game of this year’s Guinness Men’s Six Nations (27-24 v Italy), they have not lost a Round 2 fixture in a campaign after winning their opener since 2009, when they lost to Wales (15-23) after an opening round win against Italy (36-11).
Wales have won just one of their last nine games in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations (L8), however, their sole win in that period came away from home (29-17 v Italy in 2023), while they lost by just a single point in Round 1 this year (26-27 v Scotland).
England beat more defenders than any other team in the opening round of this year’s Guinness Men’s Six Nations (25), while Wales beat the joint-second most (20, also Ireland and France) and were one of three teams to make a joint-high six line breaks (also Italy and Ireland).
England’s Maro Itoje (33) was one of three players to hit 30+ attacking rucks in the opening round of this year’s Guinness Men’s Six Nations, alongside Caelan Doris (31) and Wales’ Dafydd Jenkins (35), while he won a turnover or slowed down three defensive rucks, the joint most of any player alongside Wales’ Tommy Reffell.
George North could make his 50th appearance in the Guinness Six Nations, becoming the fourth Welsh player to reach half a century in the Championship (since 2000), after Stephen Jones (50), Gethin Jenkins (56) and Alun Wyn Jones (67); North is also just three tries away from Brian O’Driscoll’s all-time try scoring record in the Six Nations (23, O’Driscoll – 26).
Views from camp
Steve Borthwick: "Whilst last week’s performance was far from perfect, it was a promising start. This blend of experience and leadership gives these guys that are fairly new in the international environment continuity and cohesion. We expect the very best version of a very good Wales team."
Jamie George: "We want to build on the foundations we laid in Rome. There’s a huge amount of excitement, this game means a lot to rugby fans in England.
"I have been very impressed with everyone that has come into the squad, Immanuel in particular, he is a very confident guy and isn’t phased by the occasion."
TEAMS
England
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Tommy Freeman, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Fraser Dingwall, 11. Elliot Daly, 10. George Ford, 9. Alex Mitchell, 1. Joe Marler, 2. Jamie George - captain, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Ollie Chessum, 6. Ethan Roots, 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Ben Earl.
Replacements
16. Theo Dan, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Alex Coles, 20. Chandler Cunningham-South, 21. Danny Care, 22. Fin Smith, 23. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Wales
15. Cameron Winnett, 14. Josh Adams, 13. George North, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Ioan Lloyd, 9. Tomos Williams, 1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Elliot Dee, 3. Keiron Assiratti, 4. Dafydd Jenkins - captain, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Alex Mann, 7. Tommy Reffell, 8. Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements
16. Ryan Elias, 17. Corey Domachowski, 18. Archie Griffin, 19. Will Rowlands, 20. Taine Basham, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Cai Evans, 23. Mason Grady.
Previous Encounters
2023: England 19-17 Wales
2023: Wales 20-9 England
2023: Wales 10-20 England
2022: England 23-19 Wales
2021: Wales 40-24 England
2020: Wales 13-24 England
2020: England 33-30 Wales
U20 Men in Action
England U20 Men face Wales in the second round of the U20 Six Nations following their five-try victory in Treviso last Friday. Tries from Josh Bellamy, Finn Carnduff and a Henry Pollock hat-trick secured the 36-11 victory at Stadio Comunale di Monigo.
Team News
Bath Rugby's Recreation Ground will host England v Wales, before Mark Mapletoft's men return in March to face reigning champions Ireland.
England U20 Men's team to face Wales U20 Men
- Tickets for England U20 Men v Wales can be found here
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 secure victory over Wales at Twickenham
England made it two wins from two in the 2024 Guinness Men's Six Nations with victory over Wales in front of a home crowd.
Tries from Ben Earl and Fraser Dingwall complimented two George Ford penalties to secure the 16-14 victory at Twickenham as Wales responded with a score from Alex Mann and a first-half penalty try.
- Talking Points: Borthwick and George react to victory over Wales.
- Extended Highlights: England v Wales
Warren Gatland's men came into the fixture looking for a first win of 2024 following their narrow loss to Scotland in round one, while England had their sights set on a second successive victory following their 24-27 victory in Rome last weekend.
Borthwick's men earned a fast start in the early exchanges, attacking deep inside the Wales 22 with piercing runs from the likes of Freddie Steward and Elliot Daly. However, an early yellow card to Ollie Chessum shifted the momentum and it was the visitors who chalked the first points on the score board.
It came when referee James Doleman ran under the posts to award Wales the penalty try following the collapse of their driving maul. Ethan Roots saw yellow and England went down to 13 men.
Minutes later Earl crossed for a try, much to the delight of the Twickenham crowd. Maro Itoje forced a Welsh knock-on and the resulting scrum opened a gap for the Saracens No.8 to extend for the line and score.
Wales' second came just minutes before half time. Tomos Williams broke through the England defence, offloading to Mann on the inside for the blindside flanker to run in unopposed.
The half time stats echoed the 5-14 home deficit with Wales retaining 68% of possession in the first forty. Steward made the most metres for England with 43, while Sam Underhill led England's defensive effort with 13 first-half tackles.
Jamie George led his side out for the second half with obvious intent, which was rewarded when Ford slotted an early penalty to narrow the deficit to within six points.
Roared on by the crowd and with fresh legs in the shape of Ellis Genge and Dan Cole in the front row, England began to turn the tide when a string of scrum penalties earned them field position in opposition territory.
With the forwards unable to break through the goal line defence, Mitchell shifted the ball wide through Ford and then Daly, whose gather and offload to Dingwall afforded the Northampton Saint the opportunity for a try in his first ever game at Twickenham.
The inside centre dived inside the left corner flag to draw the game to within one point heading into the final quarter before Mason Grady saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on challenge in his own 22. Ford slotted the resulting penalty kick to give his side the lead for the first time in the contest.
As the clock ticked over the 80th minute, Danny Care gathered from the base of the maul and thumped the ball deep into the stands to seal the victory.
TEAMS
England
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Tommy Freeman, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Fraser Dingwall, 11. Elliot Daly, 10. George Ford, 9. Alex Mitchell, 1. Joe Marler, 2. Jamie George - captain, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Ollie Chessum, 6. Ethan Roots, 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Ben Earl.
Replacements
16. Theo Dan, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Alex Coles, 20. Chandler Cunningham-South, 21. Danny Care, 22. Fin Smith, 23. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Wales
15. Cameron Winnett, 14. Josh Adams, 13. George North, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Ioan Lloyd, 9. Tomos Williams, 1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Elliot Dee, 3. Keiron Assiratti, 4. Dafydd Jenkins - captain, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Alex Mann, 7. Tommy Reffell, 8. Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements
16. Ryan Elias, 17. Corey Domachowski, 18. Archie Griffin, 19. Will Rowlands, 20. Taine Basham, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Cai Evans, 23. Mason Grady.
FIXTURES AND RESULTS
England 16-14 Wales
Scotland v England - Saturday 24 February
England v Ireland - Saturday 9 March
France v England - Saturday 16 March
