England will look to banish the memories of that nightmare loss to Wales in the World Cup last year when they host their neighbours in a crucial Six Nations clash at Twickenham Saturday.
Wales and England have been the two best teams in the competition this year, with the latter still in with a shot of completing the Grand Slam. Wales are unbeaten in the Six Nations 2016 as well, but that opening draw against Ireland puts them on the back foot going into this marquee match against England.
Eddie Jones' men are top of the table with three wins in three, a point ahead of Wales, who have two wins and a draw. A victory against Wales at home will mean, England will complete a Grand Slam and a long-awaited 6 Nations title with victory in Paris over France in the last round of the competition.
What might prevent them from, first, getting that victory over Wales, however, is the memory of that stunning fightback from Warren Gatland's men in the World Cup, when they came from nowhere to end England's dreams of winning an RWC title on home soil.
New coach Jones insisted the England players haven't even discussed that painful 28-25 defeat in preparation for this match against Wales, but when they step onto the pitch at Twickenham, those memories will, no doubt, come flooding back. How they cope with that and react will decide the outcome of this match.
"We haven't spoken about it once, because it is irrelevant to this group of players," Jones was quoted as saying by The Guardian when asked about the Wales World Cup defeat. "This group trains differently, they think differently about the game.
"I've been scarred by games in the past as a coach but you don't stay involved in high-level sport if you carry baggage around. If we need that to motivate us, I've done a bad job during the week."
Jones, an Australian, believes aggression is what England, who like Wales will go in with the same XV, require if they are to beat a Wales team coached by New Zealander Gatland.
"I'm not an Englishman but I reckon I understand what makes English sport tick and we need to be aggressive," Jones added. "You go back to the great Ashes cricket series. When have England won Test matches? When they've had two fast bowlers – or are least one – that wants to rip every Aussie batsman's head off. To me that is English sport."
Where to Watch Live
The Six Nations match between Wales and France is scheduled for 4 p.m. local time (9.30 p.m. IST) start. There will be no live coverage of the Six Nations match in India.
Viewers in the UK and Ireland can watch the Six Nations match live on ITV1 and RTE (Ireland), with the online live streaming option on ITV Player. England vs Wales can also be listened to live on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Audience in France can watch the Six Nations clash live on FR2, while the match will be shown live in Italy on DMAX.
Sky Sport 1 will broadcast the match live in New Zealand, with the live stream option on Sky Go NZ. Viewers in Australia, USA and Canada can watch the 6 Nations live on Bein Sports and Bein Sports Connect.
Audience in South Africa can catch all the action live on SuperSport. The match can also be live streamed on SuperSport Live Video.
