Red Rose bank on HQ factor
ENGLAND vs WALES
ENGLAND coach Stuart Lancaster is banking on the Twickenham roar compensating for his team’s lack of caps in tomorrow’s Six Nations showdown with Wales.
Lancaster has named the most inexperienced side in the tournament’s history for a match that represents the biggest test of his short tenure. His most seasoned player, Charlie Hodgson, is out with a finger injury, meaning Saracens youngster Owen Farrell switches to fly-half and Manu Tuilagi returns at centre. But Lancaster said: “If you look at the experience of the two sides, people would say they have a lot more consistency in terms of playing together and their evolution is further down the line.
“I’d like to think we’re pretty confident internally and have the confidence of the English public – and certainly the crowd at Twickenham will be a huge factor for us. We’re not getting caught up in who is favourite, we’re going to be concentrating on ourselves and trying to get the crowd behind us early in the game. We want to play a brand of rugby that excites the crowd.” The return of World Cup star Tuilagi from injury is not the only change in crucial areas, with Northampton scrum-half Lee Dickson preferred to Leicester’s Ben Youngs. Fly-half Toby Flood and lock Courtney Lawes also make comebacks but will start on the bench. Scarlets’ youthful No8 Ben Morgan is promoted in place of Phil Dowson, while Leicester lock Geoff Parling is set for his first start, with no place for Tom Palmer in the 22.
ENGLAND TEAM | TO FACE WALES
15 Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Tuilagi, 12 Barritt, 11 Strettle, 10 Farrell, 9 Dickson; 1 Corbisiero, 2 Hartley, 3 Cole, 4 Botha, 5 Parling, 6 Croft, 7 Robshaw (capt), 8 Morgan. Replacements: Webber, Stevens, Lawes, Dowson, Youngs, Flood, Brown