Wales Aims To End Losing Streak With Victory Over England In Cardiff
Wales Aims To End Losing Streak With Victory Over England In Cardiff
Wales look to break its losing streak against England in a thrilling Six Nations showdown at the Principality Stadium. Can Wales secure a crucial victory?
For Welsh fans, it doesn’t take long to predict what their side can expect from England when the old rivals meet in Cardiff this Super Saturday.
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One look at the team England coach Steve Borthwick has chosen - a team that features three openside flankers in the back row - and scrum-half Williams, points straight to the breakdown battle as the key area for the team that wants to take control.
Team News
Wales has made two changes to its starting XV for its Six Nations clash against England at the Principality Stadium.
In the back row, Aaron Wainwright starts at blindside flanker, with captain Jac Morgan shifting to openside, while Taulupe Faletau retains his spot at No. 8.
Joe Roberts comes into the back three on the left wing for his first start of the 2025 Championship, joining Ellis Mee, who moves to the right wing, and fullback Blair Murray.
The front row remains largely settled, with Nicky Smith at loosehead, Elliot Dee at hooker and WillGriff John continuing at tighthead.
Will Rowlands and Dafydd Jenkins maintain their second-row partnership, while Tomos Williams and Gareth Anscombe start at halfback.
Ben Thomas and Max Llewellyn link up again in midfield.
Nick Tompkins returns to the matchday squad among the replacements, alongside Rhodri Williams and Jarrod Evans, while Dewi Lake, Gareth Thomas, Keiron Assiratti, Teddy Williams and Tommy Reffell provide forward cover.
England made four changes to its starting XV for their Six Nations showdown with Wales in Cardiff.
Luke Cowan-Dickie comes in at hooker, packing down alongside Ellis Genge and Will Stuart, who is set to win his 50th cap.
The back row sees Tom Curry start at blindside flanker, with his twin brother Ben on the openside, and Ben Earl continuing at No. 8. In the backline,
Elliot Daly shifts to the left wing to accommodate Tom Roebuck, who earns his first start of the Championship on the right, while Marcus Smith moves to fullback.
Tommy Freeman slots in at outside center in a reshuffled midfield.
England will operate with a 6-2 split on the bench, where 20-year-old Henry Pollock is in line for his senior debut, and George Ford provides additional cover.
Noise From The Camps
Speaking ahead of the clash, Welsh scrum-half Tomos Williams discussed the key area he feels England will target.
“We’re anticipating them coming hard at the breakdown,” he said. “Both the Curry brothers [Ben and Tom] and Ben Earl are big jackal threats. There’s also [Luke] Cowan-Dickie and a couple of others, so we're expecting that breakdown battle to be big, especially with their back row. They've got so much depth and talent there, and they’ve got quality across the board.”
Focusing on his relationship with the English players, Williams has gotten to know them better since he crossed the River Severn in the summer of 2024, moving from Cardiff in the United Rugby Championship to Gloucester in the Gallagher Premiership.
The one player Williams has yet to encounter at club level is his opposite number, Alex Mitchell.
The 30-year-old was injured with a shoulder issue when Gloucester faced the England scrum-half’s Northampton Saints outfit in November, but the pair likely will clash when Saints visit Gloucester’s Kingsholm Stadium at the end of March.
“We play against them a lot, week in, week out,” Williams said. “There's a lot of quality in that side. It’s a very talented group. But we are focusing on ourselves this week.”
Williams has been developing strong partnerships with his Wales teammates at Gloucester, including Gareth Anscombe and Max Llewellyn.
Speaking about interim head coach Matt Sherratt's decision to recall the pair, Williams said, “We work together at Gloucester, so we've got those connections. I've played with Gareth a lot for a long time and then Maxie a lot this season.
"It's been great to have Gareth outside me and then Max. I can't speak highly enough of both. I rate them so much as players, and that's helped a lot.
"There was never any doubt that Max would perform in internationals. If you get the ball in his hands, you can see what he can do, and he's been doing it week in, week out for Gloucester. I'm happy he's shown that on the international stage because he's a class player, and he's proved it.”
Since then, Wales started strongly against Ireland at the Principality Stadium but faded and lost 27-18.
Against Scotland in Round 4, Wales started slowly but rallied late and earned a losing bonus point in a 35-29 loss.
“It was always difficult with two of the coaches [Gatland and Rob Howley] leaving, and we had to move on pretty quickly,” Williams said. “We’ve had a good coach come in, and he's helped us massively. The influence Jockey gives to the group is really good as well.
"We just need to take confidence from the Irish game, the first 60 of the Irish match and then the last 60 of the Scottish game. We’re building now and then hopefully things will go well.”
For England's head coach Steve Borthwick, the chance of claiming the title remains a real possibility, even if they must rely on Scotland defeating France in Paris.
“Our aspiration is to win the tournament; that has always been the target, and that has not changed. The team is really clear on what we need to do to put ourselves in that position,” he said. “Every England supporter would be expecting us to say that, and that is exactly what we’re aiming to do. We want to do it by playing fast and getting the ball to our players with strength, pace and athleticism. That is exactly how we want to play this weekend.”
In terms of the stand-out selection this week, Borthwick discussed the shift of Tommy Freeman from the wing to the center, saying, “Tommy has moved to 13 within many games and has covered center for us before. With his athleticism, the ground he can cover and his power in the carry, he has always been that option. He has grown to become a formidable Test player."
The Form Line
Wales against England is one of the Six Nations' great rivalries, and there have been some memorable encounters over the years.
England won the most recent encounter at the Principality Stadium (20-10 in 2023), but the two before went Wales’ way, most notably in 2019, when a comeback win (21-13) set Wales on its way to a Grand Slam.
Borthwick’s side will go into its match as the favorite after consecutive wins over France, Scotland and Italy, while Wales is aiming to avoid a 17th loss in succession. However, form does not always dictate results in this fixture, and with the Cardiff crowd roaring them on, Wales will believe it finally can turn the tide.
England enters this fixture with momentum, having delivered a commanding performance against Italy in their latest match. England secured a bonus-point win, scoring seven tries in a 41-24 victory, keeping the title aspirations alive.
Early replacement Marcus Smith was instrumental in orchestrating the attack, showcasing England's evolving offensive prowess utilizing multiple backline distributors.
Wales, on the other hand, is enduring a challenging period.
Wales suffered a 35-29 defeat to Scotland at Murrayfield, marking its 16th consecutive test loss - a record shared with Italy for the longest losing streak in the professional era.
Despite showing resilience with a late surge, Wales has struggled to convert performances into victories, placing the team at the bottom of the Six Nations standings.
That is why Saturday’s game represents a potential turning point. Wales has been edging closer, with narrow defeats in its last three outings.
Key Stats
Wales' set-piece, particularly at the lineout, has been strong, stealing 14% of opposition throws in this year’s Championship.
Dafydd Jenkins' tireless work in defense has seen him complete 28 tackles in a single match, while Jac Morgan leads all players with 73 tackles in the tournament so far.
England, meanwhile, has relied on its dominant carrying game, with Maro Itoje and Ben Earl proving hugely influential in breaking opposition lines.
However, England has not scored four or more tries in Cardiff since 2001, highlighting how difficult it is to impose their game at the Principality Stadium.
Right now, England captain and second-row Itoje is the king of the breakdown. The Saracens man has secured 52 so far in his Championship career, and two more would allow him to break Brian O’Driscoll’s Championship record of 53.
Prediction
Few cities in World Rugby set a better stage than Cardiff's high-octane test matches.
While England arrives as the deserved favorite for this clash, the emotion and intensity of this fixture often has thrown the form book out the window, and we have a feeling it might well do once again.
Wales has been steadily improving, and, backed by a raucous Cardiff crowd, this could be the moment the Welsh finally end their long losing run. Expect a dramatic finish, but with Wales’ growing confidence and ability to pull off explosive attacking plays, the Welsh will edge this one and bring an end to their torrid losing run. Wales to win by four points.
Team Rosters
Wales
15 Blair Murray, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Joe Roberts, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Nick Tompkins
England
15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Tom Willis, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 George Ford
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