England head coach Eddie Jones has already hurt Wales... now he can go for the kill

England coach will have last laugh after attack on rival captain
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Chris Jones9 February 2018

Strip away the hype surrounding England’s clash with Wales and you have the second-best side in the world playing the No6-ranked team.

England, who have won 23 of their past 24 games under Eddie Jones, opened the defence of their Six Nations title with a powerful win over Italy. But Jones knows Wales, who thumped Scotland 34-7, can cause his men big problems on Saturday.

In the face of this threat, England’s head coach has called on their “24th man”, the Twickenham crowd, to make it an intimidating atmosphere.

But Warren Gatland and his reshaped Wales team are taking comfort from their 2012 win at rugby’s headquarters and the 28-25 victory there in the 2015 World Cup when a vociferous home crowd had little effect. Of more interest to England fans, though, is the fact their side have won five of the past six matches against Wales.

Jones normally sets the verbal agenda in Test week but held fire until Thursday when he accused Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones of disrespect in trying to delay Scotland’s conversion after their 79th-minute try and pressurising the referee.

The Australian has raised the issue with World Rugby which should have the desired effect of annoying Wales.

Both teams have been affected by injuries, with Wales hampered by the absence of an entire back row of Taulupe Faletau, Sam Warburton and Dan Lydiate plus Rhys Priestland and regular half-backs Dan Biggar and Rhys Webb. Any nation would struggle to cope with such losses.

However, any significant disruption to the normal lines of communication has at least been negated by Wales featuring 10 players from Scarlets. In the back division, only wing Josh Adams does not play for the Pro12 champions — the other six, therefore, play with a cohesion rarely seen at Test level because players do not normally spend every hour together.

The sight of outside-half Rhys Patchell opting to run out of his own 22 against Scotland may not have pleased the Welsh coaching panel but it got the crowd into the match and was instantly recognisable to Scarlets fans.

To counter this threat England are going to put extreme pressure on Patchell, their tacklers moving up together at full throttle, with outside centre Jonathan Joseph slightly in front of his team-mates. This will aim to give Patchell few options as he looks to move the ball wide.

England want to test his decision-making when faced with little room for manoeuvre. One way to negate that kind of pressure is to kick behind the England defence and try to expose full-back Mike Brown, who did not have his most assured performance in Rome. Wales believe they can drag Brown into areas where he is uncomfortable, as he only kicks with his left foot.

To implement their tactical plan, Wales will need secure possession and their scrum has been a reliable asset, while Wyn Jones’s work at the line-out remains world-class.

With Wales guaranteed ball, it will come down to how well England’s defensive line speed holds up and if they can stop the Welsh ball-carriers.

England opted not to compete fiercely at the breakdown in Rome, choosing to fan out in defence, with three players back to cover any kicks.

This defensive strategy did not stop Italy scoring two tries as they exposed England out wide, but Jones can point to the fact his team scored seven tries and ran out comfortable winners.

He believes it will take a “seriously good side” to beat England and Jones still claims his players are 20 per cent away from the fitness level he wants at the 2019 World Cup. Gatland is adamant his squad are fitter than Jones’s men but that is just wishful thinking.

The hype around any Anglo-Welsh battle is fun but the facts speak for themselves — England will stay on course for an historic third successive title.

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