England and Wales do battle once again today in another Rugby World Cup warm-up clash.
This time Twickenham is the location for another Summer Nations Series showdown between two old and bitter rivals, with Warren Gatland’s side having run out surprise 20-9 victors in Cardiff last Saturday.
Gareth Davies and George North both registered tries in a much-needed morale boost for Wales, who had been floundering since Gatland’s return after a disastrous Six Nations campaign that was played out against the backdrop of a financial crisis in the Welsh game.
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It was a worrying day at the Principality for England despite Steve Borthwick’s side dominating the opening 40 minutes and creating numerous chances, with their 33-man squad for the World Cup in France subsequently announced 48 hours later - with the likes of Henry Slade, Alex Dombrandt, Mako Vunipola and Jonny May the headline omissions.
With those plans now confirmed and only two more warm-up fixtures to come against Ireland and Fiji, Borthwick will be desperate to get back to winning ways to show that his side have what it takes to mount another challenge on the biggest stage, four years after Eddie Jones’ team were bested in the final by South Africa in Yokohama.
England vs Wales date, kick-off time and venue
England vs Wales takes place today, Saturday August 12, 2023 at Twickenham Stadium in south-west London, with kick-off set for 5:30pm BST.
Where to watch England vs Wales
TV channel and live stream: Saturday’s match is being broadcast live via Amazon Prime Video and the Amazon Prime Video app.
Live blog: You can follow coverage of the whole game with Standard Sport’s live blog, featuring expert analysis from rugby correspondent Nick Purewal at Twickenham.
England vs Wales team news
England are back at close to full strength for today’s game, seeing a host of Premiership finalists return, including captain Owen Farrell.
All eyes will be on Billy Vunipola for his first appearance under Borthwick, having surprisingly been named as the only specialist No8 in the squad for France.
Ollie Lawrence and Joe Marchant is the midfield pairing, with Henry Arundell and Elliot Daly on the wings and Freddie Steward at full-back, plus Jack van Poortvliet at 9.
Joe Marler, Jamie George and Will Stuart are the front row, with Maro Itoje back at lock with George Martin. Vunipola is joined in the back row by Ben Earl and Courtney Lawes.
Wales suffered a double injury blow in their initial win over England after Scarlets hooker Ryan Elias (hamstring) and Exeter lock Dafydd Jenkins (knee) both limped off at the Principality, and will miss out this wekend and the final World Cup warm-up game against defending champions South Africa at the Principality on August 19
Wales show a completely different XV for their second clash with England, with Scarlets centre Joe Roberts handed his senior international debut in midfield alongside Nick Tompkins. Taine Plumtree gets his first start at No8, and hooker Dewi Lake will be captain after Jac Morgan took on the job last weekend. Tom Rogers makes his first Wales appearance for over two years on one wing, with Josh Adams earning his 50th cap on the other.
Namesakes Owen and Tomos Williams are the chosen half-back pairing on this occasion, with Liam Williams at full-back. Lake is joined in the front row by props Gareth Thomas and Tomas Francis, with Adam Beard and Rhys Davies at lock and the back row filled out by Dan Lydiate and Tommy Reffell.
There are two more potential debutants on the Welsh replacement bench in Scarlets prop Kemsley Mathias and Ospreys centre Keiran Williams.
England vs Wales lineups
England XV: Steward; Arundell, Marchant, Lawrence, Daly; Farrell (c), Van Poortvliet; Marler, George, Stuart, Itoje, Martin, Lawes, Earl, B Vunipola.
Replacements: Dan, Genge, Cole, Hill, Willis, Youngs, Ford, Malins.
Wales XV: L Williams; Adams, Roberts, Tompkins, Rogers; O Williams, T Williams; G Thomas, Lake (c), Francis, Beard, R Davies, Lydiate, Reffell, Plumtree.
Replacements: Parry, Mathias, Lewis, Tshiunza, Basham, Hardy, Biggar, K Williams.
England vs Wales prediction
Back-to-back defeats by a Welsh team that have struggled so badly otherwise in 2023 would be a terrible look for England ahead of the World Cup, warm-ups or not.
Borthwick’s side dominated the first half in Cardiff and laid on a host of try-scoring opportunities, but faded thereafter and majorly lacked a killer instinct that must be developed quickly if they are to have any chance of a first global title for two decades.
No1-ranked Ireland in Dublin will be a seriously tough test next Saturday and England could really do with building some confidence as the naysayers begin to increase after Monday’s final squad selection, despite the 2003 champions landing on the easier half of the draw in France.
Another strong result and performance would do Wales the world of good, but we expect the hosts to come out on top in another fierce battle here, having named close to their first-choice XV and been boosted by the returns of Farrell and Co.
England to win, by 10 points.
England vs Wales head to head (h2h) history and results
Wales’ win last weekend was their first over England since 2021, following back-to-back Six Nations losses. They have not won at Twickenham since the 2015 World Cup.
England wins: 67
Wales wins: 61
Draws: 12
England vs Wales match odds
England to win: 1/7
Draw: 25/1
Wales to win: 11/2
