Dubai: Cardiff will be the central focus for northern hemisphere rugby eyes over the next week as the most exciting climax to an RBS Six Nations in recent years awaits England and Wales at the Millennium Stadium.
England are chasing a first Grand Slam in a decade, while Wales are looking to retain their crown and spoil the English party — arguably one of their strong points.
A seven-point win or more will see Wales defend their crown, while any sort of win for England will give them a coveted Grand Slam.
Wales’ interim head coach Rob Howley is relishing the fixture and has already stoked the fires, promising a “warm reception” for the visitors on Saturday.
“England are a very good side and it’s great it has come down to the last game of the Championship,” Howley told the BBC.
And from the evidence of the round four clashes, it is Wales, not the unbeaten tournament leaders, who are better prepared for the grand finale.
England scraped past a spirited Italian side spearheaded by an indomitable Sergio Parisse on Sunday. Despite an English onslaught in the opening half, Italy’s defence was stoic throughout and the ferocity of their tackling caused the hosts to lose their shape.
The Azzurri’s left winger Luke McLean scored the only try of the match and England had to rely on the accuracy of fly-half Toby Flood’s boot from the kicking tee — he slotted six from six — to overcome the belligerent Italians.
England’s 18-11 victory is the lowest total Stuart Lancaster’s side have managed against Italy. And a manifestly irritated head coach demanded improvements from his side if they are to plug the sizeable Grand Slam hiatus.
“At half-time, we weren’t quite accurate enough but still felt we were in control. We let that slip in the second half and Italy pushed us right to the end,” he said.
England skipper Chris Robshaw conceded his team were not good against Italy, saying: “It’s a win at the end of the day, but there’s a lot of work to do going into Wales next week.”
Sometimes it’s a case of getting the job done. And England have done exactly that throughout this Six Nations campaign, which perhaps augurs well for the seismic confrontation coming up in Cardiff.
Though Wales failed to make a notable dent in the points difference tally (England are 14 better off), which could prove crucial come the final whistle next weekend, against Scotland on Saturday they stuck to a rigid game plan that saw them trump the Scots in just about every position.
A masterclass from the returning Sam Warburton at open-side flanker was one of the rare causes for celebration of the dire Edinburgh fixture, which produced more penalty attempts than any other international fixture previously recorded.
Twenty-three points from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny and a first international try for hooker Richard Hibbard were enough to overcome six penalties from Greig Laidlaw and earn Wales an arduous 28-18 win in difficult conditions.
On a dreary Dublin night on Saturday, the 13-13 logjam between Ireland and France told a familiar story for the hosts, who dominated the opening half, going in at the break 13-3 up, but failed to add to their tally in the second 40 minutes.
A first-half try from captain Jamie Heaslip and a maturing kicking performance from 21-year-old Ulster fly-half Rory Jackson was cancelled out by a late French surge, heralded by the excellent Louis Picamoles, who scored Les Bleus’ five-pointer 76 minutes in and then dashed into his own try area to deny Keith Earls a dramatic late winner for the home side two minutes later.
