England enter Saturday’s Six Nations opener against Wales at Twickenham as overwhelming favourites.
England, 66-to-1 favourites in a two-horse race with one bookmaker, go into the match on an 11-game winning streak.
Wales, by contrast, have lost 21 of their last 23 Tests, a sequence that includes a 68-14 Six Nations thrashing by England in Cardiff last season.
England’s run suggests they are genuine contenders to win the Six Nations for the first time in six years.
It is a decade since England last won a Grand Slam but coach Steve Borthwick, abandoning his usual caution, has already made it clear he wants his side competing for a clean sweep in their tournament finale away to France on 14 March.
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Meanwhile, for Wales problems have been intensified by a bitter row over the Welsh Rugby Union’s plans to reduce the number of the nation’s professional clubs from four to three.
But Wales flanker Josh Macleod, who will be making his Six Nations debut, insists all is not yet lost for the visitors against an England side who’ve added an increasingly expansive backline game to their traditional forward strength.
“There is always that physical edge in Anglo-Welsh matches,” said Macleod. “We are there, we’ll look after our own house, and whatever they throw at us, we will be ready.”
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Physicality, however, has often been an issue for a Wales side without a win in the championship since 2023.
Since rugby union turned professional, England have never won the Six Nations in the year immediately after a British & Irish Lions tour, with this edition following the combined side’s 2025 series win in Australia.
The last England team to buck that pattern were the 1963 side that won the then amateur Five Nations.
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England also have a front-row injury crisis ahead of Saturday’s match, while captain Maro Itoje is on the bench after missing some of the squad’s preparations to attend the funeral of his mother.
England are also sweating on the fitness of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso after the dynamic wing failed to finish training on Thursday with an unspecified leg issue.
Jamie George, a former England captain and a longtime teammate of Itoje at Saracens, will lead the hosts out on Saturday, with the experienced hooker urging his side to embrace the weight of expectation upon them.
“I’ve been around too long not to lean into being favourites,” said George. “The elephant in the room – we’ve been in good form recently. We haven’t shied away from it.”
Wales coach Steve Tandy has fond memories of Twickenham from his time as Scotland defence chief, helping the Dark Blues to memorable Six Nations wins in 2021 and 2023.
“Winning at Twickenham, at such an iconic stadium, is incredible,” said Tandy.
“Going up to England I find it exciting. For our group I know ‘intimidating’ and ‘daunting’ are words which people will throw out which is understandable.
“But we have to be excited about how we can go and attack this game.”
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Borthwick has forecast Wales will resort to a kicking game at Twickenham, a view supported by Tandy moving Louis Rees-Zammit from wing to fullback, where he replaces the diminutive Blair Murray.
“Zammo is threatening and if there is a kick that is too long then something can happen, as we have seen for Bristol,” said Tandy. “I am excited by his aerial work as well. As much as he is quick, he is a big man as well.”
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– AFP
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
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