Wales v England: Five talking points ahead of the Rugby World Cup warm-up clash

Adam Kyriacou
Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny and England's Danny Care and Richard Wigglesworth.

Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny and England's Danny Care and Richard Wigglesworth.

Ahead of the Rugby World Cup warm-up clash between Wales and England in Cardiff on Saturday, here’s our five talking points heading into the meeting.

Danny Care and Marcus Smith look to move up the order

It’s an all-Harlequins eight, nine and ten for England this weekend with Alex Dombrandt linking up with Danny Care and Marcus Smith as the trio look to impress.

Dombrandt and Smith have been around the squad for some time now but for Care this is something of a resurgence after being preferred over Alex Mitchell and others as the third scrum-half. However, Care will view this as a clean slate to push as high as possible in the pecking order, with this start giving him an opportunity to show he is a must pick during key World Cup games. He has a job with Ben Youngs and Jack van Poortvliet ahead of him but don’t write Care off.

There were fears over his half-back partner’s selection for the tournament until head coach Steve Borthwick confirmed he would be taking three fly-halves to France next month. That should help relax Smith in Cardiff and with Care alongside, the pair will be eager to impress so will be worth watching closely.

Wales begin new life without several senior players

A teamsheet without Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Rhys Webb, as well as the injured Ken Owens and benched Dan Biggar, makes for strange reading for rugby fans. Jones, Tipuric and Webb have all retired from international rugby in shock calls ahead of the tournament so it’s very much a new era for Wales.

While there are still some experienced heads in their line-up, on the whole it is a new look for the Welsh, with Jac Morgan hoping to lead by example as skipper. However, it’s hard not to look at the pack and be concerned as it’s lost a significant amount of quality and could find life tough against England on Saturday.

Leigh Halfpenny to run out for special game at home

It will be a memorable day for Leigh Halfpenny as he emerges for what will be his 100th international for his country.

Halfpenny has worked hard to return to the Test scene since injury blighted a fair chunk of recent years and it’s a credit to him that he makes this century, becoming the ninth Welshman to achieve that feat. Team-mates on Saturday, George North and Biggar, are two of those as Halfpenny now joins a special club.

Excitement over uncapped England trio in Cardiff

At the other end of the scale are England’s newest caps, Tom Pearson, Theo Dan and Tom Willis, who are likely to catch the eye at different points in the fixture.

Pearson starts on the openside as he looks to transfer his club form for London Irish onto the international stage, while Dan and Willis are set to emerge off the bench during the second period and are box office talents. All three have a good chance of making England’s squad for France and enjoy strong tournaments.

Flanker Pearson is all-action and has clearly impressed the coaching team in camp while hooker Dan and back-row Willis’ form for Saracens and Bordeaux-Begles respectively has been outstanding. Watch out for the latter duo’s impact later in the match especially, with Dan a real livewire front-row who will be a threat.

How the once mighty have fallen in the world rankings

They certainly have. The Rugby World Cup semi-finalists and finalists in 2019 are not the force they once were, highlighted by Friday’s world rankings permutations.

Defeat could make for embarrassing reading for either side after this weekend, as they could drop to their record lows if things don’t go their way. Wales are set to plummet to 10th if they lose by more than 15 points, while if England were to go down by a similar margin they would fall to an all-time low of eighth place.

In contrast, if England were to come out on top on Saturday they could go above Scotland into fifth spot, if Gregor Townsend’s outfit fall to a defeat against France.

READ MORE: Wales v England preview: Red Rose to take the win and set Warren Gatland’s men back even further

England Danny Care Leigh Halfpenny Marcus Smith

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