Wales to travel in upbeat mode

England v Wales Preview: The prematch rhetoric from the Principality has been tinged with a mischievous hue as Wales's new head coach, Warren Gatland, sought to deflect the pressure to triumph today firmly in England's direction.

The New Zealander wasn't underselling his charges, merely outlining that history emphatically supports an England victory.

The Welsh have travelled to London in hope for the past 20 years but on arriving at Twickenham found it to be a most inhospitable venue. They have the lumps to prove it, suffering some fearful beatings: 34-6 (1990), 60-26 (1998), 46-12 (2000), 50-10 (2002) and 62-5 (2007), to highlight just five particularly painful episodes.

The psychological fillip associated with the new management team of Gatland, Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley will, however, guarantee that Wales travel in an upbeat frame of mind. The players are keen to endorse the new regime.

The Llanelli wing Mark Jones, one of only two non-Ospreys - Cardiff openside Martyn Williams is the other - in the Welsh starting XV radiates that positivity.

"Warren has come from environments in the past where he has tried to create that winning mentality. If you look at the teams associated with him, they are associated with that mentality," he says.

"We want to be a team that is remembered as being not only mentally strong but one that wins games. The two go hand in hand. We are conscious that we need to be consistent. It is about being right there in games right until the end; it is about always being in a position to win games."

Twickenham will test that faith but Jones is anxious to downplay the issue of today's venue.

"We cannot afford to go there and worry about being at Twickenham - otherwise we'll be beaten before we get there.

"It is going to be quite hostile, but you have to use it as a lift. As for the 20-years thing, it is not something we have spoken of as a group - it is not an issue for us.

"England don't lose too often at Twickenham in the Six Nations - three times in the last 10 years, I have been told - and they have a fantastic group of players, whose confidence is high after getting to the final of the World Cup.

"It is all to do, but what a great place to go and turn them over."

Gatland's decision to select a record 13 Ospreys in the red of Wales guarantees that the unit skills within the team will offer fluidity born of familiarity.

There is also the fact that the Ospreys employ a rush defence, a gambit beloved of the assistant coach Edwards, who employs it to great effect at Wasps.

Edwards will take time to fine-tune the system he prefers but the concept is well known to his new charges.

But arguably the key issue at Twickenham today is whether the Welsh front five have the power and durability to survive against England's behemoths.

The England coach, Brian Ashton, knows that it's an obvious target, what's perceived to be the soft underbelly of this Welsh team. His captain, Phil Vickery, has already sounded the clarion call.

"Rugby is a very simple game - it is won and lost up front," says the prop.

"And the physicality of the international game, in particular, is huge.

"England versus Wales is always an immensely physical game and I have never played in one that wasn't. You've got two teams that are very highly motivated.

"Wales have got a clean slate with a new coaching team and a fantastic target to aim for having not won at Twickenham for 20 years, and I don't think they will have any fears coming to Twickenham.

"It will be a massively physical game played on the very edge, as you would expect international rugby to be played."

Much attention will focus on those refugees from a 1980s hair salon Adam and Duncan Jones as well as the hooker Huw Bennett. There is no doubting the athleticism of a back row in which captain Ryan Jones is a brilliant linchpin, the physicality of scrumhalf Mike Phillips or the intrinsic flair of a back line under the baton of the talented James Hook. But Wales will need Gavin Henson to play consistently well and not flit in an out of the match.

A high-tempo contest - as distinct from a setpiece slugfest - is central to Welsh hopes.

For Wales to compete, they will need the ball. England will be less insecure, their confidence founded on their transformation at the World Cup in France. It would be a surprise if they offered anything less than a hard-nosed, practical approach aimed at dismantling the Welsh pack.

England's new boys Luke Narraway and James Haskell add mobility and ball skills while the back line offers experience in the person of Mike Tindall and pace in the back three - albeit that Iain Balshaw hasn't yet shrugged off his brittle veneer and penchant to implode. That's without mentioning the potential impact of the granite-hewn Lesley Vainikolo from the bench.

Despite losing a handful of big-game players to retirement, England retain an experienced backbone, and provided they apply themselves to winning, without worrying about the aesthetics of the process, they should extend their sequence against Wales at Twickenham but with a smaller margin on the scoreboard.