Wales v England stats

Head-to-head
• This is the 120th time these sides have met. England lead Wales by 54 wins to 53, with 12 draws.
• Wales have won their last three Six Nations matches against England in Cardiff, most recently winning 23-15 in 2009.
Wales
• Wales have not won a game since beating Italy in last year's Six Nations (Played 7 Lost 6 Drawn 1).
• Wales have yet to win a Friday night Six Nations match. They have played twice before, losing to France in 2009 and 2010.
• The last two times Wales beat England in their opening fixture, they went on to win the Grand Slam.
England
• England have not won in Cardiff since 2003, when they won in the Six Nations (26-9) and in a World Cup warm-up match (43-9).
• England conceded fewer tries (five) than any other side in last year's Six Nations.
• Martin Johnson's side are the highest-ranked Six Nations team in the IRB World Rankings (4th).

TEAM LINE-UPS

Wales: 15-James Hook, 14-Morgan Stoddart, 13-Jamie Roberts, 12-Jonathan Davies, 11-Shane Williams, 10-Stephen Jones, 9-Michael Phillips; 1-Paul James, 2-Matthew Rees (captain), 3-Craig Mitchell, 4-Bradley Davies, 5-Alun-Wyn Jones, 6-Dan Lydiate, 7-Sam Warburton, 8-Andy Powell

Replacements: 16-Richard Hibbard, 17-John Yapp, 18-Ryan Jones, 19-Jonathan Thomas, 20-Dwayne Peel, 21-Rhys Priestland, 22-Lee Byrne

England: 15-Ben Foden, 14-Chris Ashton, 13-Mike Tindall (captain), 12-Shontayne Hape, 11-Mark Cueto, 10-Toby Flood, 9-Ben Youngs; 1-Andrew Sheridan, 2-Dylan Hartley, 3-Dan Cole, 4-Louis Deacon, 5-Tom Palmer, 6-Tom Wood, 7-James Haskell, 8-Nick Easter

Replacements: 16-Steve Thompson, 17-David Wilson, 18-Simon Shaw, 19-Joe Worsley, 20-Danny Care, 21-Jonny Wilkinson, 22-Matt Banahan

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges: Alan Lewis (Ireland) & Simon McDowell (Ireland)
TV: Jim Yuile (Scotland)

I'm starting to get excited for tonight, but not for the rugby!

Looking forward to the night out, but I can't see Wales beating England. I hope that we can pull off an unlikely victory, but I'm fearing the worst. I'm sure it will be a close hard fought game and a worthy opener to this years Six Nations.

Roland was awful in this game.

Glas a du wrote:Roland was awful in this game.

Necro-posting alert!

Glas a du wrote:Roland was awful in this game.

Is this an epic fail attempt at getting the excuses in early and missing by 10 months?

It's as true now as it was then.

I guess so , but England won anyway so we dealt with it and moved on. Thanks for reminding us the win should have been bigger though.

I'm not saying he changed the result, as that raises difficult metaphysical questions that could flip your brain out your ear-ole. He was pants though.

I was wondering what made you dig up an 8 month-old thread!

I do it sometimes, for the heck of it, because I'm a crazy guy, Ja!

Mental!

I know! Sometimes I scare myself.

Still he made up for it with a correct decision on the Warburton red, showed he could handle a high pressure game and situation and not be cowardly. all what you see, apply he laws. Lets applaud him for what he got right as well eh Glas

Glas a du wrote:I do it sometimes, for the heck of it, because I'm a crazy guy, Ja!

Couldnt you have found a more positive thread to revive?

You're not wrong.

Sadly that doesn't always equate with being right.

Yes he did apply the letter of the law, but so would an appropriately programmed computer.

I don't think Warburton can have any complaints in reality, that doesn't make the shortarsed mortgage broker a good ref.