WALES: Leigh Halfpenny; Alex Cuthbert, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, George North;
Rhys Priestland, Michael Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Ken Owens, Adam Jones, Alun Wyn
Jones, Ian Evans, Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton (capt), Toby Faletau.

Replacements: Richard Hibbard, Paul James, Ryan Jones, Justin Tipuric, Lloyd Williams,
James Hook, Scott Williams.

Gulp.

I can't decide what to do for the prediction league i'm in.

I think it will be closer than expected - performances of late would suggest a decent Welsh victory of 10-15+ points seem to be the general concensus for most.

Wales by 5 will be my choice, I think.

Interesting.

England have shown impressive heart so far but precious little attacking flair - so Wales should win easily?

But... they've not played at home yet, have only turned out in atrocious conditions, and have won on each occasion. On Saturday they will probably have a proper No 8 and scrum-half for the first time, some cavalry in the form of Lawes and marvellous Manu to arrive in the second half, and a stadium full of tanked-up blokes in sheepskin coats helping out with serious decibels of singing.

Could be very interesting.

Well we'll find out if Sarries have taught Charlie how to tackle. I reckon there will be a deep trench worn in the 10 channel by the Welsh runners at HQ on Saturday.

Quote:

RossM
Well we'll find out if Sarries have taught Charlie how to tackle. I reckon there will be a deep trench worn in the 10 channel by the Welsh runners at HQ on Saturday.

Will be interesting to see if he starts. Lancaster has indicated he'll only make a couple of changes - which would appear to insinuate that the only (expected) changes will be Dickson and Morgan.

Guscott suggested a backline (well FH and centre pairing) of:

10. Flood/Farrell
12. Barritt
13. Tuilagi

I think if Barritt can defend well and run straight and hard to create space for Tuilagi then it could be a sensible move. Might be a bit harsh to drop Farrell, or throw him right in at the deep end though.

I agree with Guscott:

10. Flood/Farrell
12. Barritt
13. Tuilagi

I'm guessing that will be the set up in the second half, with Charlie starting but Farrell moving to 10 to accommodate Manu later

I would not play Flood in a million years at 10....he has a lot of England caps and still looks fragile. Give the jersey to Farrell....we're building for the future and Flood will not be 10 at the next WC....let's get some youth in there now and start thinking of the future.

Flood did seem to avoid being in the right position for the drop goal against Saracens on Sunday.
England don't have Worsley to tackle Roberts who seems to be back in his best form - I hope.

Got to say, very disappointed with flood against Sarries. If Geordan Murhpy hadn't stepped up, they would have lost.
International no10s need to have a big enough pair to make calls like that. If he cant do it for club, he won't be able to manage it for country.

Didn't see the game but the sarries fans who infest my working environment thought it was a touch of genius to get the 15 to do the drop goal when everyone expected Flood to do it.

Hang on, it's the week before England v Wales and Gatland hasn't launched some pathetic attacks across the border, like calling Hartley a coward for not fighting the Cardiff Blues hooker behind the stands after a Heineken Cup match, or saying how they'd cracked our lineout calls... before England ended up dismantling theirs instead.

Does he only do such things whilst in the middle of an 8 match losing streak like this time last year? You'd think after achieving fourth, fourth and fourth again in the last three Six Nations he'd be keen to have a go now that his team are finally looking good.

Mind you, even Gatland couldn't **** up a grand slam with the most talented XV Wales have had for over a decade, could he?

Well, Johnson did, although it's debatable whether he had picked the best of the talent at his disposal!

Now he's retained Flood, it looking likely he will get some game time in the second half

This is going to be a massive test for Stuart Lancaster's England side, even though they have home advantage.
IMO, one of the problems in selection would appear to be who will take the place kicks for England if Farrell is left out? Hodgson has looked a lot better at Outside Half than in his previous incarnation for England, but I wonder how much of that is also linked to the fact that the kicking duties have not been weighing on his shoulders this time.

After his performance in the last two games, should Charlie be dropped for Flood? Harsh call, if so, IMO. As others have said Flood, in his first game back (?) last weekend, looked a little bit short of confidence when it came to putting himself in the frame for the match winning drop kick, although I love the theory that he was purely acting as a decoy.

I have to say, I find bewildering Tigeroo's total lack of any recognition of Gatland's part in the fact that he and his coaching team have nurtured "the most talented XV Wales have had for over a decade", Does Tigeroo really believe that Gatland, Edwards and Howley just turned up at the training ground one morning to be met by this most talented squad of players, all at the top of their international game and raring to go? Not only do Wales currently have a very fine squad, but their fitness levels seem to be better than any of the other 6N sides I have watched so far this term. Believe me, Tigeroo, that is in no small part due to the regime of the coaching team. We had a number of years of it at Wasps under that particular management team!

A poor decision to include Flood in my opinion. I was at Vicarage Road on Sunday and Flood was dreadful. At the end of the game, he was actively putting himself into positions were for he couldn't go for a drop goal, hence why first Agulla, then Murphy, took responsibility off him. I don't want a 10 who wont take responsibility in the Premiership starting for England.

I would go for:

10. Farrell
12. Barritt
13. Tuilagi

21. Hodgeson

Have just seen that Lancaster has trimmed the squad and retained Farrell, Flood and Hodgeson. That's madness, his first glaring mistake. Why have three players to cover one position? It means that the bench will probably be Flood and Tuilagi, and I don't see the point of that at all.

It means Mike Brown has been sent back to Quins, so who covers 15 if Foden goes down on matchday?

Quote:

Nomad_Wasp
Have just seen that Lancaster has trimmed the squad and retained Farrell, Flood and Hodgeson. That's madness, his first glaring mistake. Why have three players to cover one position? It means that the bench will probably be Flood and Tuilagi, and I don't see the point of that at all

Unless he's uncomfortable about having such an inexperienced player as Farrell at 10 in such an important game. Then it does have a point

Is it important? Wales are odds on the win the Grand Slam, England have already exceeded expectations, and we're at home. If the plan is to play Farrell at 10 long-term then he needs to play in these sort of games.

Additionally, if you don't rate him to cover 10 in an emergency, why have him in the team at all? Barritt and Tuilagi are both better centres.

I just think it's daft to have three players in the team who all play the same position

Until England sort out an attacking game, I'll be very happy for Wales and similar teams to win against them. The game needs flair, adventure, a fearless attitude to attack, not just defence and containment. England have been missing that for years and until they get it back I won't be their greatest fan.