England v Wales: Everything you need to know ahead of the Twickenham Six Nations clash

Wales' Six Nations campaign may only be into it's second week but it's already shaping up to be a long slog.

A disastrous first half performance in the first half of Saturday's defeat to Scotland was only masked by an revitalised comeback in the second. However, the damage was already done.

This is year's competition could yet install a character-boost for the young guns appearing in their first Six Nations in a Wales shirt.

But a famous win for Warren Gatland's new-look side would put them among the greats of teams gone-by, even if the rest of the competition throws us very little to cheer about.

In the words of Stereophonics: "As long as we beat the English, we don't care".

Wales have only defeated England on home soil twice in the history of the Six Nations, the last time being back in 2015.

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How will the teams line-up?

Warren Gatland has made seven changes to the starting line-up for Saturday’s game.

George North will make his 50th Six Nations appearances, lining up alongside Nick Tompkins in midfield, having recovered from a shoulder injury that saw him miss the opening match of the competition.

Fly-half Sam Costelow, who went off injured during the Scotland match, is replaced by Ioan Lloyd.

Gareth Thomas, Elliot Dee and Keiron Assiratti are part of a new-look front row and Alex Mann handed a first Wales start, taking over from an injured James Botham.

England have named an unchanged team, the first time that has happened in four years.

Head coach Steve Borthwick has retained the same starting XV and bench originally announced for the 27-24 victory over Italy in round one.

Five players made their Test debuts against Italy – Ethan Roots, Fraser Dingwall, Chandler Cunningham-South, Fin Smith and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. They'll have the chance to impress again at Twickenham.

What are the coaches saying?

A cynic would suggest Warren Gatland has got the mind games out in the open before his opposite number had a chance to speak with the press.

First naming his side that we run out at Twickenham a day earlier than expected, then discussing the disrupted preparations ahead of the fixture due to the weather.

He said: "We were going to go out today but the pitch is probably unusable at the moment. There was puddles of water everywhere.

"We can’t play Warrenball at the moment, whatever that is. I'm still trying to work out what Warrenball is. We need to find other ways of getting across the gain line."

Perhaps Gatland's comments that will get the biggest rouse from over the border were his thoughts on keeping the crowd quiet in the opening stages of the fixture.

He said: "For me personally [Twickenham] doesn't hold any trepidations. I think the factors for us will be seeing if we can start well.

"Stopping the crowd from singing 'Swing low sweet chariot' too early and too often and silence them a little bit."

Steve Borthwick said playing Wales always creates a "special atmosphere" and admits, despite beating Italy, his side will have to be better for Gatland and Co's visit.

said: “It was both pleasing and important to have started our Six Nations campaign in Rome with a victory.

“However, we know there are areas of our game to improve as we prepare for this Saturday’s game against a spirited Wales team.

“With a new player group and a number of new caps, we have tried to develop our game on both sides of the ball.

“Such changes take time and I was pleased [with] how quickly the players settled and adapted last weekend against Italy.

“I have no doubt that this group of players are relishing the challenge before them and are looking forward to creating a very special experience for our supporters.”

Where can I watch the game?

The match is on ITV1 with coverage starting at 4pm.

When is kick-off?

It kicks off at 4:45pm.

What are the key talking points?

Cardiff-born Immanuel Feyi-Waboso will line-up against the country of his birth for the first time, having opted to play for England.

He will make just his second appearance in a white jersey after making his test debut in the first match of this year's competition in Rome.

Ioan Lloyd, who is one of Gatland's seven changes from last week's starting XV, has had the backing of his head coach to express himself on the Twickenham pitch, who has offered him a license to show what he's capable of.

Gatland said: "[Ioan Lloyd] is an instinctive player so we need to allow him that opportunity to express himself but it's also about him being smart.

"It's not about forcing it. It's not about going after things when there isn't those chances and it may take him 20 or 30 minutes before he gets an opportunity or a break.

"The worst thing you can do is try and make a gap that isn't there and get caught or turned over.

"So it's kind of like saying go out there, be instinctive and play yourself with having someone like Tomos Williams, Nick Tompkins or George North inside to give him some good communication and direction to make his job easy."

Gatland's men will be looking to make a good account of themselves in first half following last week's early collapse.

Wales' young captain had positives to take out of last weeks defeat at the hands of the Scots.

Dafydd Jenkins said: "It's all about winning. We played well in the second half but we didn't win so it doesn't really mean anything.

"If I want to be here I need to be the best I can possibly be, in terms of competing with the best players in the world.

"But, mainly, like a lot of other people in the team I've learned that we can compete and that we're meant to be here so that'll be the main thing I take out of [the Scotland game]".

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