Wales head coach Warren Gatland has named an unchanged XV ahead of this Saturday’s all-important clash with England at Twickenham.
The Welsh enjoyed a winning start to their 2018 Six Nations campaign with a somewhat surprising win over much-fancied Scotland.
After an impressive Autumn, many were touting the Scottish team above the Welsh team, especially considering the litany of injuries the Welsh were contending with.
Regardless, an early interception from Gareth Davies run in for a try set the tone early in Cardiff, and tries later on from Leigh Halfpenny (x2) and Steff Evans capped a 34-7 bonus point victory for the 2012 Grand Slam winners.
Looking ahead to the England game, Gatland appears to have decided to leave the team in its current state. Gatland said:
It’s great to name an unchanged starting XV, the players deserve that for a very good performance on the opening weekend.
England are fresh off a 46-15 win against the Italians, which featured imperious attacking play with occasionally shoddy defence.
Nevertheless, Gatland is wary of the challenge Eddie Jones’ men pose:
We know how tough it is going to be against that huge English forward pack. They are really going to test us.
England have been in great form the last couple of years so we know the challenge we face but we have had a good couple of weeks in camp and we are looking forward to going up to Twickenham.
The Welsh team for this Saturday henceforth reads off as follows:
Leigh Halfpenny, Josh Adams, Scott Williams, Hadleigh Parkes, Steff Evans, Rhys Patchell, Gareth Davies – Rob Evans, Ken Owens, Samson Lee, Cory Hill, Alun Wyn Jones (C), Aaron Shingler, Josh Navidi, Ross Moriarty – SUBS – Elliot Dee, Wyn Jones, Tomas Francis, Bradley Davies, Justin Tipuric, Aled Davies, Gareth Anscombe, Owen Watkin.
