England play Wales at the Principality Stadium in their final game of the 2025 Six Nations Championship. Steve Borthwick’s team have an outside chance of winning the tournament.
Wales are seeking to avoid five defeats out of five this campaign, but will have taken heart from their valiant second-half performance against Scotland in round four.
England captain Maro Itoje says his team will not be intimidated in Cardiff.
When is Wales v England?
Wales host England on Saturday, March 15. The match will kick-off at 4.45pm (GMT).
Also on the schedule for Super Saturday is Italy v Ireland, at 2.15pm, and France v Scotland, which will conclude the action at 8pm.
Where is Wales v England taking place?
At the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Wales’s only other home match of the campaign came on the third weekend of the championship when they lost 27-18 at home against Ireland.
How to watch Wales v England on TV?
It will be on BBC One. The BBC and ITV have once again shared coverage of the Six Nations in the UK.
Who is the referee?
Australian official Nic Berry will be refereeing his first match of this year’s Six Nations. His assistants will be Nika Amashukeli of Georgia and Hollie Davidson of Scotland.
The TMO will be Mike Adamson, also of Scotland, and the FPRO will be Frenchman Eric Gauzins.
What is the latest team news?
Wales
Scarlets centre Joe Roberts will make his first professional start on the wing when Wales tackle England.
Roberts replaces Tom Rogers, who suffered a fractured thumb during the early stages of Wales’s 35-29 defeat against Scotland at Murrayfield.
Wales’s interim head coach Matt Sherratt has made one other change from that game, with Aaron Wainwright featuring at blindside flanker.
Wainwright’s call-up means captain Jac Morgan switches to his more familiar openside role and Leicester flanker Tommy Reffell drops to the replacements’ bench.
Roberts impressed on the wing after going on for Rogers in Edinburgh to win his fourth cap and he has won Sherratt’s vote ahead of other options such as starting Gloucester back Josh Hathaway or moving Max Llewellyn from midfield.
Wales XV: Murray; Mee, Llewellyn, B Thomas, Roberts; Anscombe, Tomos Williams; Smith, Dee, John, Rowlands, Jenkins, Wainwright, Morgan, Faletau.
Replacements: Lake, G Thomas, Assiratti, Teddy Williams, Reffell, R Williams, J Evans, Tompkins.
England
England have made extensive changes to their team for Saturday’s final Six Nations match against Wales, including recalling Marcus Smith at full-back.
A week after being dropped, Smith returns as one of four personnel changes with head coach Steve Borthwick making three further positional switches despite last Sunday’s seven-try rout of Italy.
Tommy Freeman moves from the right wing to partner Northampton team-mate Fraser Dingwall in the centres after Ollie Lawrence was ruled out with an Achilles injury sustained against the Azzurri. It will be Freeman’s first Test start in the No 13 jersey.
Tom Roebuck fills the vacancy on the right wing created by Freeman’s move infield while Elliot Daly shifts from full-back to left wing.
And there are two changes up front with Luke Cowan-Dickie coming in for Jamie George at hooker and Tom Willis dropping to the bench to accommodate Ben Curry’s promotion to the back row.
England XV: M Smith; Roebuck, Freeman, Dingwall, Daly; F Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Stuart, Itoje (capt), Chessum, T Curry, B Curry, Earl.
Replacements: George, Baxter, Heyes, Cunningham-South, Pollock, Willis, Van Poortvliet, Ford.
What is the latest news?
Maro Itoje: England are not intimidated by Wales – we’re ready to be aggressive
By Charlie Morgan
England captain Maro Itoje has insisted that the Principality Stadium atmosphere is not intimidating and urged his side to sign off their Six Nations campaign in an aggressive manner against Wales.
England can still win the championship if results go their way across the final round and their captain explained that “pretty phases” would take a back seat as the visitors aim for a “ruthless” performance.
“It’s being aggressive with how we play,” Itoje explained. “Being aggressive in the manner in which we play, but also the mindset and mentality. We are not coming here just to play pretty phases, you have to come here and play with intent.
“There is also an important part to be disciplined and ruthless with your decision making. If you are not, you are missing out on opportunities.”
England prevailed 20-10 on their last Six Nations trip to Cardiff thanks to tries from Anthony Watson, Kyle Sinckler and Ollie Lawrence, but had slipped to painful defeats in 2021 and 2019 before that. Itoje suggested that “every game is unique” in this special rivalry, yet denied that a hostile atmosphere would stifle England.
“The atmosphere is obviously great, it is a stadium you want to play in,” Itoje said. “I don’t see it as intimidating at all, I don’t see it as something to beware of or anything like that.
“I see it as something to relish, something to enjoy and something to make our mindset tighter and bring us closer as a group. Whilst there are going to be a lot of Welsh fans, there are going to be an awful lot of England fans as well, a lot of England fans will be in that stadium supporting their team. For me it is a great thing to relish and enjoy.”
Itoje acknowledged that Wales have shown “an extra level of danger” since Matt Sherratt became interim head coach following the departure of Warren Gatland and expects the hosts to rally in an attempt to snap their run of 16 consecutive Test defeats.
“I think they will be extremely aggressive,” he said. “The Welsh nation is a proud nation and they love their rugby and despite their results I think they are showing a lot of promise and a lot of improvement. They are going to be absolutely up for this game, particularly against us. We need to make sure we manage that.”
Andy Farrell, the British and Irish Lions head coach, will be an interested observer as the Six Nations reaches its conclusion this weekend and Itoje is in contention for selection on what would be a third tour to follow 2017 and 2021. England have embraced the additional sub plot, and know that a tilt for the title will help their chances of contributing a strong contingent.
“No doubt, the better England does in the Six Nations the more likely more players from England are going to be selected,” Itoje said. “So, we all have a vested interest in making sure England are successful and we win as many games as possible, because when you’re part of a winning team, you look better.
“It works for England, and it works on the individual level as well. We haven’t shied away from the fact that it’s a Lions year. Everyone always put their hand up and wants to get recognised. But the best way to do that is to win for England, perform for England and then everyone shines.”
Six Nations 2025 table
When did Wales and England last win the Six Nations?
England last won the Six Nations in 2020 while Wales last claimed the title a year later in 2021. These were also the most recent years in which the respective nations won the Triple Crown.
England’s last Grand Slam was in 2016, Wales’s was in 2019.
What was the score last year?
England overturned a half-time deficit to edge past Wales with a 16-14 victory at Twickenham. Steve Borthwick’s men took the lead for the first time in the final 10 minutes thanks to a George Ford penalty.
The result saw England continue their winning start to the campaign after victory over Italy on the first weekend. As for Wales, it made it two defeats from two with Warren Gatland’s side going on to collect the Wooden Spoon.
