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England braced for ‘ultimate test’

England braced for ‘ultimate test’

England assistant coach Andy Farrell has labelled Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations showdown at the Millennium Stadium against Wales as the ‘ultimate test.’

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Rob Howley’s men stand between England and a first Grand Slam in a decade for the red rose brigade.

Victory in Cardiff will give England their first Grand Slam in a decade while a loss by less than seven will give them their first title since 2011.

Farrell says his side can rely on their recent exploits against southern hemisphere super powers South Africa (where they drew) and New Zealand who they crushed at Twickenham 38-21 in December.

“When we have have a challenge thrown at us, we have responded,” Farrell said. “It is the ultimate test to go there and win, but it is where we want to be.

“Wales have been there and done it. They have been a tremendous side over the years. They have a lot of experience and won Grand Slams.

“It is going to be a tremendous challenge because experience should come through. You would expect trophies to go with the experience. We don’t mind a bit of adversity. It is where we have been good in our short time together.

“Experience has to start somewhere and we have to be challenging to win our first trophy.”

After shocking world champions New Zealand, Farrell says his side has no reason to fear any side in the world.

“What pleased me most about that win was the adversity of us losing the two games before it and the pressure it put on us,” he said. “The performance that came out of that showed a team that isn’t going to fold under pressure.

“People’s expectations were then for us to kick on. We played well against Scotland and showed character through the rest of the Six Nations to get where we are now.

“The game is about accumulating points to win the game. If you look at points, they are on 92 for the tournament and we are on 91, so we are obviously doing something right.

“Wales have scored two more tries. We must have been doing something right to get all the three-pointers in the first place and end up on the same points.

“Tries don’t just come from attack. They can come from set pieces, from your kicking game, from all areas of the field. We have to make sure all areas of our game are switched on this weekend to break that good defence Wales have.”

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