Wales must put a marker down early and keep the Twickenham crowd quiet against England in their Guinness Six Nations showdown on Saturday, according to Ross Moriarty.
The defending champions go into the Round 4 contest off the back of consecutive defeats to Ireland and France, ensuring they won’t be lifting the Championship trophy again this year.
But with England still in the race for the title and the Triple Crown, there is no danger of Wales not being motivated for their trip up the M4 as they aim to get back to winning ways.
And Dragons back-rower Moriarty is aware of the challenge that awaits the visitors.
“We know if you don’t match England physically then you’ve got no chance,” he told the WRU. “As a pack and back line we have to go and meet them, especially in their back yard.
“That’s what we’ll be looking to do. They pride themselves on having a big and physical pack with a few big backs so we know what’s coming.
“It’s no different to any other time we have played against them. It’s always the same when you play away from home. You want to put your marker down early and keep the crowd quiet, especially at Twickenham.
“That’s a big thing for us. It’s great when we play at home as we get the crowd on our side and it’s the same for them when they’re in their own backyard.
“It’s not nice when someone comes in and ruffles up your feathers. Getting stuck into people physically is my bread and butter so I’ll definitely be trying to do that from the start.”
Wales were beaten 27-23 in Cardiff in the last round and despite experiencing a mixed Guinness Six Nations campaign so far, Moriarty is confident they are close to where they need to be.
He said: “It’s disappointing when you lose. No one wants to lose.
“I think France was a game which could have gone either way with a bounce of a ball and the interception pass which gave them a 50-metre try.
“For certain people and the way they play there might not be that sort of rivalry, but for me every time I go on the pitch it’s personal whether you’re playing Italy, France, Ireland or Scotland.
“It might be a little bit more for England because we know how much it means to everyone.
“No one wants to see us lose. We want to win every game. It doesn’t happen every week, but we’re looking forward to it.”
