Wales fear no one as Gatland names an unchanged team

Cardiff: There was no apprehension in the air in Wales, only bullishness about the trip on Saturday to Twickenham, where England have not lost a Six Nations match since 2012. That self-belief was expressed by Warren Gatland naming an unchanged team for the first time in two years, even though Lions wing George North is available but has to make do with a place on the bench. Wales, too, are buoyed by the fact that they went to Twickenham as outsiders in the 2015 Rugby World Cup and pulled off a startling victory.

Factor in also that they were the last team to win there in the championship six years ago and went on to win the Grand Slam. There is little doubt that Gatland fancies his side’s chances and did little to play down the rivalry when asked if Wales horizons now stretched beyond just being satisfied with taking an English scalp.

“Well, Saturday would do nicely, I’d be happy with that,” said Gatland, who anticipates that England will make one change, with Jonathan-Joseph replacing Ben Te’o. “We don’t have any fear about going up there and playing. We are excited about it and not intimidated by the Twickenham factor at all. There are a lot of guys in the squad that will go there with a lot of confidence. In the past we’ve backed our ability to play for 80 minutes and we’ve felt we’ve been fitter than the English sides.

“We’ve had success playing right until the end against them. If it’s a close game then, hopefully, that confidence can boost us. England are strong at set-piece, scrum and line-out, with some attacking threats as well.

“I don’t see a massive amount of change in what we’ve experienced in the past. We are not talking too much about England.”

There would be little need to do too much forensic appraisal of England’s players given that Gatland was closely connected to 15 of them during last summer’s Lions tour to New Zealand.

The two-time Lions coach was interested to hear that Eddie Jones favours putting his hat into the ring for the job in South Africa in 2021 now that he has been given a two-year extension to his England contract.

“He’ll do a great job if he’s Lions coach,” said Gatland, all too aware that Billy Vunipola was among several, who felt that if Jones had been coaching the Lions last summer that the — series would have been won rather than drawn.

“Three-nil will be expected. It’s probably the easiest of the three tours, isn’t it?”

Gatland is well aware of England’s record since Jones took over (23 wins from 24 Tests) and was nothing but complimentary about his influence even to the point of rejecting the notion that Jones might have picked the brains of his Lions players as well as forwards coach, Steve Borthwick, for insights into Gatland’s way of working.

“He doesn’t need to nick anything from me,” said Gatland “I’m the one learning from him. He’s obviously done a great job so I’m watching him particularly closely.”

Gatland did, though, issue a word of warning about England’s unrelenting focus on toppling the All Blacks as the world’s No 1-ranked side, with the two teams meeting in November.

“I think England wanted to do it this week but they weren’t allowed,” said Evans.

“We got quite a bit out of it. England always have a good pack but we are not scared about going there. We are not afraid of anything.”

That attitude runs right through the side. Gatland had no hesitation in sending out the same starting XV even though the vast experience of North was at his disposal. Instead he has backed rookie wing, Worcester’s Josh Adams. Saracens’ Liam Williams is also technically fit but has been sent back to his club to get game-time after playing only once in the past three months. Lock Cory Hill is going through return-to-play protocols after a head knock.

“We felt the starting XV that beat Scotland deserved another chance,” said Gatland. “We were very happy with Josh’s debut and, if we are going to find out about a player at the next level, it will be this weekend.”

There is no doubt that Wales are well aware of the potential consequences of a win at Twickenham after their impressive opening-day 34-7 win over Scotland in Cardiff.

“We said if you start well, you go to Twickenham, and if you can get a result there, you are going to Dublin for a Triple Crown and potentially playing for the Championship,” said Gatland. “We know how important this weekend is.”