Gatland hopes Wales can land the first blow

Andrew Baldock 12:24 06/03/2014
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  • Touchdown Twickenham: Jonathan Davies will return to the Welsh midfield against England.

    Wales boss Warren Gatland has billed Sunday’s Six Nations showdown between England and Wales as a big “psychological” game ahead of the 2015 World Cup.

    This weekend’s encounter will keep one team in the Six Nations title race and effectively end silverware hopes of the other.

    But it will also provide an early pointer towards next year’s World Cup, with England, Wales and Australia all drawn in the same pool.

    “It’s a big game psychologically for both teams because we have to go there (Twickenham) next year as well. That’s going to be even bigger than this Sunday,” said Gatland, who has recalled fit-again centre Jonathan Davies and lock Alun-Wyn Jones to his starting XV.

    “We have two big games at Twickenham in the World Cup against England and Australia.

    “If we can win on Sunday, that is four in a row against England and if we then win the Six Nations as well, you start having a few doubts.

    “The starting XV won’t be too far off 1,000 caps when it comes to the World Cup, and it won’t be too far off its peak in terms of the age.”

    Regarding his team selection for this weekend, Gatland said it was not a difficult decision to recall British and Irish Lions star Davies.

    Davies has been sidelined from Test rugby for four months and has seen just 105 minutes of competitive action for the Scarlets since suffering a torn pectoral muscle during Wales’ opening autumn series defeat by South Africa on November 9.

    But the 25-year-old centre, a key performer in the Lions’ Test series triumph against Australia last summer, returns to resume his powerful midfield partnership with Jamie Roberts.

    With Davies back, George North, who deputised in the No13 shirt against France last month, reverts to his familiar wing position, with Liam Williams dropping out.

    “He has been training really hard,” Gatland added. “He is a world-class player, so it wasn’t difficult for us to make that call.”

    Four teams – Ireland, England, Wales and France – are currently locked on four points at the top of the Six Nations table.

    The losers at Twickenham will effectively be out of title contention, which further raises the stakes for the 125th meeting between two fierce rivals.

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