England travel to meet Wales in round five of the Six Nations, with their 2025 title hopes still alive on Super Saturday.
Steve Borthwick’s side head to Cardiff best-placed to capitalise on any late wobble from leaders and clear favourites France, who, after their statement victory in Dublin in round four, will be expected to clinch their first championship since 2022 when they host inconsistent Scotland later in the evening despite the absence of injured superstar Antoine Dupont.
Ireland, Grand Slam dreams now wrecked for the second year in a row, are away in Italy first up, but will need to win massively in Rome and then hope that results in the other two matches go decisively in their favour to still have a chance at snatching a historic third successive Six Nations crown.
England know they need to win with a bonus point and hope that Scotland do them an enormous favour in Paris, with any French victory enough for them to take the title due to their hugely superior points difference.
While the odds are against them, Borthwick’s men should at least be soaring with confidence after turning their fortunes around of late with back-to-back fortuitous one-point wins over France and Scotland and a commanding seven-try, bonus-point thrashing of Italy last weekend to keep them in the mix.
However, all of those triumphs came at Twickenham and trips to Cardiff are never straightforward, even against a Wales side whose record losing run now stands at 16 successive Test defeats - 10 in a row in the Six Nations.
Their impressive resurgence in a brave losing effort against Ireland in round three under Warren Gatland’s temporary successor Matt Sherratt gave way to a worrying first half in Scotland, only for an excellent second at Murrayfield to see them fall only six points short in the end.
Wales - who have not won a single game since the 2023 World Cup - can still avoid a second successive wooden spoon this weekend after their two bonus points in Edinburgh, one more of which, thanks to their better points difference, could see them rise to fifth and condemn Italy to the foot of the table if the Azzurri don’t get anything at all at home to a wounded Ireland.
Wales vs England date, kick-off time and venue
Wales vs England is the middle game of three on Six Nations Super Saturday (March 15, 2025), with kick-off slated for 4:45pm GMT. Italy vs Ireland is up first, with France vs Scotland to come last.
The match will take place at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, where the roof will be closed.
How to watch Wales vs England
TV channel: In the UK, Wales vs England is being broadcast live and free-to-air on BBC One and Welsh-language channel S4C, with coverage of the rugby beginning on both at 4pm GMT.
Live stream: Free live coverage of the game is also available online via the BBC Sport website and BBC iPlayer.
Live blog: Follow the action with Standard Sport’s live blog, featuring expert analysis from Simon Collings at the Principality Stadium.
Wales vs England team news
Wales show two changes from their eventful defeat by Scotland, with Scarlets centre Joe Roberts making his first-ever start on the wing in place of Tom Rogers, who is out with a fractured thumb.
The other alteration is in the pack, where Aaron Wainwright starts at blindside flanker, with Tommy Reffell moving to the bench and inspirational captain Jac Morgan switching to openside.
Borthwick has been bold with four changes and three positional switches, with Marcus Smith straight back in at full-back after his impressive display against Italy after replacing the injured Ollie Lawrence early in a forced backline reshuffle.
Elliot Daly was promptly moved from 15 to outside centre for much of that game after Lawrence’s season-ending Achilles injury that will also rule him out of British & Irish Lions contention in Australia this summer, but is on the wing this time opposite Tom Roebuck, who comes in with Tommy Freeman moved inside to start at 13 for the first time for England as Northampton team-mate Fraser Dingwall keeps his spot at 12.
Ollie Sleightholme is dropped altogether despite his impressive two-try performance last time out, while there is still no Henry Slade either.
Among the forwards, former captain Jamie George is replaced at hooker by Luke Cowan-Dickie after earning his 100th Test cap against Italy and Tom Willis drops to the bench as Ben Curry joins twin brother Tom in the back row, with Ben Earl shifted back to number 8.
Fly-half veteran George Ford is promoted to a 6-2 bench along with uncapped Northampton back-rower Henry Pollock, 20. Bath flanker Ted Hill drops out of the squad along with Sleightholme and the injured Lawrence.
Wales vs England lineups
Wales XV: Murray; Mee, Llewellyn, B Thomas, Roberts; Anscombe, Tomos Williams; Smith, Dee, John; Rowlands, Jenkins; Wainwright, Morgan (c), Faletau
Replacements: Lake, G Thomas, Assiratti, Teddy Williams, Reffell, R Williams, J Evans, Tompkins
England XV: M Smith; Roebuck, Freeman, Dingwall, Daly; F Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Stuart; Itoje (c), Chessum; T Curry, B Curry, Earl
Replacements: George, Baxter, Heyes, Cunningham-South, Pollock, Willis, Van Poortvliet, Ford
Wales vs England head to head (h2h) history and results
England will be hunting a third successive win over Wales and fifth in the last six meetings between the two nations.
Earl and Dingwall both scored tries and Ford kicked a crucial penalty as they came from behind to win narrowly 16-14 in last year’s Six Nations at Twickenham.
England lost 20-9 on their last visit to Cardiff in the first of a 2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up double-header, just winning the home return a week later. Earlier that year they won at the Principality in the Six Nations, 20-10.
Wales wins: 61
England wins: 69
Draws: 12
Wales vs England prediction
England need to win this and win it well to have a shot at the title, and even then they will still need France to stumble on home soil with the trophy so tantalisingly within reach.
It’s a shock team selection from Borthwick in so many facets, but one that has clearly been picked in an attempt to continue the expansive attacking game we saw against Italy to get tries and points on the board as soon as possible and avoid the usual tense arm wrestle that we’ve commonly seen between these two rivals in recent years.
It seems a risk definitely worth taking in the circumstances, though if it backfires England will surely end up third with Ireland likely to brush aside Italy in Rome earlier on Super Saturday.
The first half against Scotland threatened to undo the significant progress that Englishman Sherratt has made in such a short space of time with Wales, though they showed admirable resolve again after the break having pushed Ireland to the limit in his first game in charge.
Form tends to go out of the window whenever Wales meet England, though how the home fans would dearly love that embarrassing losing run to end in this of all fixtures to finish another torrid championship on a high.
However, we’re backing the visitors to come out on top once more with that additional firepower and confidence flowing - though they will take nothing for granted.
England to win, by seven points.
Wales vs England match odds
Wales to win: 16/5
England to win: 1/4
Draw: 25/1
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
