England v Wales, Six Nations 2022: What time is kick-off, what TV channel is it on and what is our prediction?
Wayne Pivac's Wales, the defending champions, arrive in south west London to take on Eddie Jones' England at Twickenham in round three of the 2022 Guinness Six Nations.
The Welsh have not won at Twickenham in the Six Nations Championship since 2012, with England enjoying four successive victories.
This year, England bounced back from their 20-17 opening-round defeat to Scotland at Murrayfield with a 33-0 shut-out victory over Italy in Rome.
Wales, meanwhile, responded to a heavy 29-7 drubbing by Ireland to beat Scotland 20-17 in Cardiff.
What is the match?An historic rugby rivalry, England v Wales in front of a full house at Twickenham. A total of 137 matches have been played between these two sides since their first-ever meeting in 1881, with England winning 65 times, Wales 60, plus 12 draws.
When is England v Wales?Saturday, February 26.
What time is kick-off?4.45pm GMT.
What TV channel is England v Wales on?ITV.
Six Nations 2022 full fixtures
Who is the referee?- Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
- Assistant Referee 1: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
- Assistant Referee 2: Frank Murphy (IRFU)
- TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)
Manu Tuilagi has been ruled out of England's clash against Wales with a hamstring injury.
Tuilagi had been due to make his first start in the competition in almost two years after completing his recovery from a torn hamstring. However, England revealed late on Thursday that a scan had uncovered a "low grade" issue.
Joe Marchant has been recalled and will train with the squad on Friday, while an updated team will be confirmed on Saturday.
The news comes as a blow to head coach Eddie Jones, who earlier on Thursday insisted England have added an "edge to the team" after recalling Tuilagi and Courtney Lawes.
Lawes has been sidelined for over a month because of concussion but is immediately restored to the back row, in the process relieving Tom Curry of the captaincy.
In an unexpected twist, Ben Youngs must surpass Jason Leonard's record as England's most capped played as a replacement due to Harry Randall continuing as starting scrum-half.
Youngs was expected to be restored at nine after being demoted for the five-try rout of Italy in Rome, but he will win his 115th cap off the bench before a full house at Twickenham.
Maro Itoje moves from the back to the second row and Alex Dombrandt holds off the challenge of Sam Simmonds at No 8. Tighthead prop Kyle Sinckler will win his 50th cap.
WalesWales boss Wayne Pivac has left out wing Louis Rees-Zammit and recalled No 8 Taulupe Faletau.
Rees-Zammit is replaced by a fit-again Josh Adams, with Alex Cuthbert retained on the other wing and set to win his 50th cap.
Faletau makes his first Wales appearance for 11 months, having proved his fitness following a long-term ankle injury by playing in Bath's last two Gallagher Premiership matches against Wasps and Leicester.
He returns in a reshaped back-row, with Ross Moriarty switching to blindside flanker and Taine Basham lining up at openside. Jac Morgan, who made his Test debut against Scotland 12 days ago, is on the bench.
Pivac has retained Owen Watkin and Nick Tompkins as his centre combination, while there are call-ups among the replacements for Ospreys fly-half Gareth Anscombe, Scarlets scrum-half Kieran Hardy and Dragons prop Leon Brown.
Wales XV: L Williams (Scarlets); A Cuthbert (Ospreys), O Watkin (Ospreys), N Tompkins (Saracens), J Adams (Cardiff); D Biggar (Northampton, capt), T Williams (Cardiff); W Jones (Scarlets), R Elias (Scarlets), T Francis (Ospreys), W Rowlands (Dragons), A Beard (Ospreys), R Moriarty (Dragons), T Basham (Dragons), T Faletau (Bath).
Replacements: D Lake (Ospreys), G Thomas (Ospreys), L Brown (Dragons), S Davies (Cardiff), J Morgan (Ospreys), K Hardy (Scarlets), G Anscombe (Ospreys), J Davies (Scarlets).
What happened in this fixture in 2021?Wales 40 England 24
By Gavin Mairs
The record-breaking glory of this Triple Crown triumph for Wales was matched only by utter despair for England, whose Six Nations campaign lay in tatters after a second defeat in three rounds.
It was an utterly compelling contest with Wales drawing confidence from two controversial first-half tries but ultimately making light work of the final quarter to score their highest points total of all time against England, despite Eddie Jones' side playing their best rugby of the championship to pull themselves back into the contest.
After the despair of the year before, Wales, remarkably, were now honing in on a Grand Slam, and this performance underscored their credentials.
And if England's frustration at the controversy of two first-half tries by Josh Adams and Liam Williams was understandable, there was simply no excuse for their ineptitude in the final quarter. Nor the inability to react and adapt to the controversial refereeing of Pascal Gauzere...
To read the full report, click here
What are they saying?Revealed: The five-year strategy Wales have used to frustrate England
By Charlie Morgan
Some aspects of strategy in sport are unashamedly obvious. Others take hold stealthily and become more influential as a contest wears on so that, by full-time, one subtle ploy has shaped everything. Over recent years, the way Wales kick when they face England has fallen into that second category.
Here is a statistic to frame how you watch Saturday’s action at Twickenham. It should help to track a pivotal subplot. In each of their first two matches of the current Six Nations, against Scotland and then Italy, England threw into 17 line-outs. Over their past three Six Nations meetings with Wales, they have accumulated 15 line-outs in total. This is no accident.
To read the full article, click here
Latest Six Nations 2022 table- England 1/6
- Wales 11/2
- Draw 40/1
This will be close. Both teams are going through a transitional phase, with Wales also badly hit by injuries. Neither side is showing any sort of form. But if there's one game that can inspire players to up their game, to go above and beyond, it is England against Wales - a rivalry that dates back 141 years!
Predicted score: England 17 Wales 15