By Zippy
February 1 2005

Preview of the Wales vs England game at the Millenium Stadium, Cardiff this Saturday. A game that everyone has been looking forward to since ever. For full team news read on

Wales: G Thomas (Toulouse (capt); H Luscombe (Dragons), T Shanklin (Blues), G Henson (Ospreys), S Williams (Ospreys); S Jones (Clermont Auvergne), D Peel (Scarlets); G Jenkins (Blues), M Davies (Gloucester), A Jones (Ospreys), B Cockbain (Ospreys), R Sidoli (Blues), D Jones (Scarlets), M Williams (Blues), M Owen (Dragons).
Replacements: R McBryde (Scarlets), J Yapp (Blues), J Thomas (Ospreys), R Jones (Ospreys), G Cooper (Dragons), C Sweeney (Dragons), K Morgan (Dragons).

News:

- Hal Luscombe gets a start due to Sonny Parkers injury, Tom Shanklin moves to centre.

- Robert Sidoli gets a recall in the second row after some impressive displays for Cardiff Blues.

- Martin Williams gets a start after being ruled out earlier in the week, its so important to Wales that he is fit.

- The bench looks strong with McBryde, Yapp, Morgan new to the match squad from the Autumn Internationals.

England: J Robinson (Sale Sharks, capt); M Cueto (Sale Sharks), M Tait (Newcastle), J Noon (Newcastle), J Lewsey (Wasps); C Hodgson (Sale Sharks), M Dawson (Wasps); G Rowntree (Leicester), S Thompson (Northampton), J White (Leicester), D Grewcock (Bath), B Kay (Leicester), L Moody (Leicester), A Hazell (Gloucester), J Worsley (Wasps).

Replacements: A Titterrell (Sale Sharks), P Vickery (Gloucester), S Borthwick (Bath), J Forrester (Gloucester), H Ellis (Leicester), O Barkley (Bath), B Cohen (Northampton).

News:

- Young Newcastle centres Noon and Tait get starts, one can only imagine the pressure come Saturday.

- A lot rests on Matt Dawson's experienced shoulders, Hodgson will need to forget his Australia performance.

- Ben Kay gets in ahead of Steve Borthwick, some say controversially.

- Hazell will need a big game to replace the loss of Corry.

Overall

How excited am I? I hope for an exciting game and a Wales win of course, this is one tight game to call.

Guinness Fantasy Rugby

Play here http://www.guinnessfantasyrugby.com/gateway.html

Then I've set up a league:

League Name: The State Of Play
Password: Wales

And don't forget the Prediction League! Click "Prediction League" on the left hand menu and there is a link below to the Instructions.