"I want a win in this game more than any other"

This week, the best (annual) sporting event kicks off with the Six Nations, with a mouth-watering Wales vs England game under the Friday night lights in Cardiff. With England and Wales in the same World Cup group later this year the game is steeped in significance.

England have, for the last ten years, been the nearly men in the Six, while Wales have excelled. The last time England arrived at the Millennium Stadium, they had a Grand Slam on the table and were thoroughly stuffed by 30 points to 3. Last year at Twickenham, England recorded a respectable victory of 29 points to 18. Make no mistake, the recent history between the two sides shows that neither holds a decisive advantage, and that the rub of the green and the venue can make all the difference.

Wales, in what some have called a thinly veiled attempt at mind-games, named their squad a couple of days early. It is such a settled squad that there are just two changes from the 2014 starting XV and only three from 2013. This contrasts with England who have at least five probable starters out injured, and nine changes from the 2014 XV. The most striking of these changes has to be in the centres, where the pairing of Roberts and Davies has started this fixture since 2011. Expect Roberts to run some hard lines at George Ford in the 10 channel.

This is so different to England, where six months from the start of a home Rugby World Cup not even the coaches know what the best centre pairing is. Tomorrow, Luther Burrell will start in his favoured 12 shirt, with Jonathan Joseph outside him at 13. Joseph has been in sparkling form this year, along with the whole Bath back line, and delivered a stunning performance against Toulouse in the revamped European Champions Cup to ensure that even without an injury to Manu Tuilagi he would have been right in the mix for the 13 shirt.

The last two games between these sides have seen the balance of power up front swing either way. In Cardiff in 2013 England got on the wrong side of Steve Walsh up front, while in Twickenham the following year Wales rubbed Romain Poite up the wrong way so badly that Gethin Jenkins was sent to the naughty step for ten minutes after 53 minutes. Expect a massive battle up front, with both packs trying to lay down a marker for the impending World Cup.

The old saying “I support Wales, and anyone playing England” is massively overplayed. Wales are more than good enough to not obsess over the England game, but there is always a certain spice to the occasion. As an England supporter I am not ashamed to say I want a win in this game more than any other in the tournament. We might be in more diverse days, with many Welsh players plying their trade this side of the Severn Bridge or earning the big bucks in France, but this game is still hugely important. In the excellent autobiography (Proud) of Gareth Thomas you read about Lawrence Dallaglio banging on the Wales dressing room door shouting “You’ve been dicked” after Wales suffered a 60 point loss. Just try and say this game doesn’t matter to the players.

Whatever happens this evening, I hope that we get to appreciate a fantastic game of rugby. In Wales vs England we have the biggest rivalry in the Northern Hemisphere, and while it is so easy to read so much into every incident this Six Nations with the World Cup around the corner, we cannot forget that this is a fantastic tournament in itself and a fantastic game to show off this tournament.