England and Wales face off at Twickenham with rebuilding teams

LONDON — England has it. Wales thinks it has it.

That's momentum, considered vital to a team's chances of Six Nations success.

England and Wales — both rebuilding following the Rugby World Cup in the autumn — believe they grabbed enough momentum from their opening matches to be a threat when they meet on Saturday at Twickenham.

But only one of them won last weekend.

England got the ball rolling by grinding out a 27-24 comeback victory against Italy in Rome. For the first time since 2019, England won its opener.

Wales lost to Scotland but believed it showed a large dose of character by coming back from the dead in Cardiff and scoring 26 points without reply in the second half before losing by one.

Neither Wales nor England finished well, though.

England had the win assured when injury time arrived and Italy scored a third try thanks to a grand solo effort by Monty Ioane.

Wales' fightback stalled with 10 minutes to go and it couldn’t achieve the biggest comeback in Six Nations history from 27-0 down. But coach Warren Gatland was enthused.

“We'll go there (Twickenham) with a lot of confidence we can build on that second half, and belief,” he said.

To reinforce that, Gatland picked more of the Wales team that finished against Scotland than started.

Hooker Elliot Dee and tighthead prop Keiron Assiratti were both replacements against Scotland. They have been joined by World Cup loosehead Gareth Thomas, back from injury. Flanker Alex Mann will also make his first test start. Scrumhalf Tomos Williams and flyhalf Ioan Lloyd start after coming off the bench. They all played a big part in the Cardiff comeback.

Like Thomas, center George North has also passed fit to play, and will become the fifth Welshman to appear in 50 Six Nations matches.

“He looks in pretty good nick,” Gatland said. “I just hope that combination with him and Nick (Tompkins) can flourish like it did in the World Cup.”

North was the only player in the squad to have won at Twickenham. Wales has only three wins there since 2000, the last time at the 2015 World Cup.

In contrast, England named an unchanged side for the first time since the 2019 World Cup final.

That was a massive show of faith by coach Steve Borthwick, who gave five players their debuts in Rome, including two starters; flanker Ethan Roots, who was named man of the match, and center Fraser Dingwall.

The blitz defense introduced by new assistant coach Felix Jones will take a while to bed, which might open the gaps that the Italians exploited to lead England at halftime. But England stuck to its plan — which involves more intent than execution for now — to prevail.

“Winning the first game is huge,” said flyhalf George Ford, who tallied 17 points in Rome. “You always want to start this tournament with a win because it gives you a bit of momentum and confidence. We understand it's going to be a tough day — it always is against Wales — but we're really excited to keep on getting better. There has been a mindset shift in defense and attack that is really enjoyable to be a part of.”

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Lineups:

England: Freddie Steward, Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Fraser Dingwall, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Ethan Roots, Ollie Chessum, Maro Itoje, Will Stuart, Jamie George (captain), Joe Marler. Reserves: Theo Dan, Ellis Genge, Dan Cole, Alex Coles, Chandler Cunningham-South, Danny Care, Fin Smith, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

Wales: Cameron Winnett, Josh Adams, George North, Nick Tompkins, Rio Dyer, Ioan Lloyd, Tomos Williams; Aaron Wainwright, Tommy Reffell, Alex Mann, Adam Beard, Dafydd Jenkins (captain), Keiron Assiratti, Elliot Dee, Gareth Thomas. Reserves: Ryan Elias, Corey Domachowski, Archie Griffin, Will Rowlands, Taine Basham, Kieran Hardy, Cai Evans, Mason Grady.