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‘It will be a close game that England can win’

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England are in a fortuitous position. They have a lot of people competing for not that many places. It looks like a promising start to the RBS 6 Nations.

England are in a fortuitous position. They have a lot of people competing for not that many places. It looks like a promising start to the RBS 6 Nations.

Brian Ashton has named a good side to take on Wales. It has got the experience we require at the moment but still balanced with this element of youth.

England have dynamic players in the back row with James Haskell and Luke Narraway alongside Lewis Moody. Haskell was terribly unlucky to miss out on the World Cup. With Narraway – you look at the way Gloucester are playing at the moment and he is part of that lynchpin of five at the back of their scrum.

Mathew Tait had a poor game for Newcastle by his high standards at the weekend and that did not bode well for him. He will play a part in the RBS 6 Nations but will have to be content at the moment and hopefully get a chance later in the tournament.

Lesley Vainikolo and Danny Cipriani are perfect impact players from the bench. In a tight game we have got two players there who can turn it. Vainikolo’s method is brute strength and speed. He scores tries as he has been doing for Gloucester all season. Cipriani is one of these players who can make something happen out of nothing.

There will be real danger from the Welsh side but England can overcome that.

Wales have a common link with 13 Ospreys players being named in the starting XV. The strength of this Welsh side is that they will join up together and be a really good team. For England it might take a couple of games to hit the ground running. That is why Warren Gatland chose so many guys from Ospreys.

Gavin Henson and James Hook will be threats but the biggest achievement for Gatland is coaxing Martyn Williams out of retirement. He has been a fantastic performer for Cardiff this season.

Neither side is going to approach the game with a cavalier attitude. Both will look for a certain amount of possession in the forwards. They will be looking for quality of ball that the exciting back lines from both sides can attack from. That will be the key to the game.

It will be a close game that England can win and hopefully a passionate Twickenham crowd can get behind them on Saturday.