Six Nations 2010
England v Wales
Match Preview

The opening match of this year's RBS 6 Nations on 6th February sees England taking on Wales in Twickenham Stadium's Centenary Match marking 100 years since the two nations' first encounter at the famous stadium.

After last year's disappointing autumn Test series, where England scored just one try in three games against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand, Johnson's selection for Saturday's game has a more attacking flavour to it. Johnson has cast off the shackles and named the boldest attacking team of his 18-month tenure for Saturday's RBS 6 Nations championship clash with Wales.

Mathew Tait makes his first England start at outside centre since the 2007 Rugby World Cup final and the livewire Harlequin Danny Care is restored at scrum-half. After suffering a knock in training, Riki Flutey, widely expected to make his comeback in the 12 jersey, has been forced out, with Toby Flood taking his place.

Delon Armitage returns to the team at full-back after England missed his attacking presence during a miserable autumn. Nick Easter also returns at number eight as one of six changes to the team beaten by New Zealand in November. Steve Borthwick has come under intense scrutiny for his captaincy but England manager Martin Johnson insists the squad needs a group of leaders.

That is why the return of a character like Easter, someone ready to take the bull by the horns, is so important for setting the tone in Johnson's team.

An unprecedented injury list hampered England's November campaign that saw them lose to Australia and the All Blacks either side of an unimpressive showing in victory against Argentina. And in response to a woeful return of one try in those three matches, Johnson has attempted to restore England's cutting edge. The inclusion of Armitage, Tait and Care suggests England will attack Wales with pace.

Tait's career has come full circle since making his infamous international debut as a teenage centre against Wales' Grand Slam side of 2005. Since then he has been shunted around the back line, filling on the wing and at fullback but never really given a run in his preferred 13 jersey except for at the 2007 World Cup.

Johnson has since acknowledged the mistakes made during the autumn and clearly shifted the emphasis for the Six Nations. The inclusion of Armitage, Tait and Care suggests England will attack Wales with pace.

The centrepiece of the pre-match show will be the singing of Jerusalem and the National Anthem by over 300 members of massed choirs laid out in a huge human St. George Cross with choristers drawn from local schools and amateur choirs and the London Community Gospel Choir backed by the Royal Artillery Band.

During the game the England team will be playing in a limited edition, traditional look, jersey made by Nike using the last technology. In keeping with that traditional look and feel, England Rugby sponsors O2 have temporarily relinquished their core branding to support Twickenham's centenary celebration and discreet O2 branding will appear on the shirt sleeve rather than the jersey front.

England have history in their favour. Wales rarely win at Twickenham and, more to the point, they have taken some humiliating hammerings even in the barren recent years for England. Welsh heads do drop at Twickenham when things go wrong, but it will be interesting to see just how much confidence Warren Gatland has instilled in their team, it certainly helped two years ago when England led and were on top for 50 minutes.

The blow of Gethin Jenkins’s withdrawal from the match with a calf strain can’t be overstated. Paul James is a fine scrummager and although inexperienced hooker Gareth Wiliams would have liked to be alongside his club colleague, James’ scrummaging won’t give Wales any cause for concern. What they will however miss is Jenkins’ colossal workrate in the loose, where he’s made a name for himself, acting like an extra flanker. In the overall picture however, what once looked like an all-Lions front row combining has now been decimated and it is an area that England, will now look to attack. David Wilson has a shot at becoming the man to regularly fill an increasingly up-for-grabs number three jersey. Against James, Wilson will fancy himself to be the cornerstone of what is likely to be an immense forward effort.

The biggest question marks are around both centre combinations. How will Flood and Tait combine and has Hook finally found his place in the Wales backline. Will Jonny Wilkinson stand flatter than he did in the autumn, bringing his centres into the game where they would be at their most dangerous, on the gainline. There are great head-to-heads all over the pitch, Moody v Williams. Haskell v Powell. Wilkinson v Jones. Tait v Hook. Armitage v Byrne. All mouthwatering prospects.

One thing is for sure, apart from loosehead prop, the rest of the team is virtually first choice, with no injuries decimating the squad. Unlike the autumn, there are no excuses. A good opening win for England and it will set them up for the rest of the competition, and momentum will build. A loss, and the question marks and criticisms will intensify and England may be destined for mid table mediocrity, or worse.

England finished last year’s Six Nations showing real attacking flair to their game, ending up as highest try scorers of the competition with 16, how Martin Johnson would love to pick up where they left off and forget about the dreary autumn.

England: 15-Delon Armitage, 14-Mark Cueto, 13-Mathew Tait, 12-Toby Flood, 11-Ugo Monye, 10-Jonny Wilkinson, 9-Danny Care, 8-Nick Easter, 7-Lewis Moody, 6-James Haskell, 5-Steve Borthwick (captain), 4-Simon Shaw, 3-David Wilson, 2-Dylan Hartley, 1-Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16-Steve Thompson, 17-Dan Cole, 18-Louis Deacon, 19-Steffon Armitage, 20-Paul Hodgson, 21-Shontayne Hape, 22-Ben Foden.

Wales:
15-Lee Byrne, 14-Tom James, 13-James Hook, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-Shane Williams, 10-Stephen Jones, 9-Gareth Cooper, 8-Ryan Jones (captain), 7-Martyn Williams, 6-Andy Powell, 5-Luke Charteris, 4-Alun-Wyn Jones, 3-Adam Rhys Jones, 2-Gareth Williams, 1-Paul James.
Replacements: 16-Huw Bennett, 17-Rhys Gill, 18-Bradley Davies, 19-Jonathan Thomas, 20-Richard Rees, 21-Andrew Bishop, 22-Leigh Halfpenny.