The two sides meet at Twickenham in Round 4 of the RBS 6 Nations, with a Championship crown still a real possibility for either team after respective wins over Ireland and France at the weekend.
And while it was Wales who inflicted a dark day on the English when they clashed in Cardiff last March, England lock Joe Launchbury insists he and his fellow forwards will bring Sam Warburton and co past the point of exhaustion this time around.
“We pride ourselves on being a pack that can play this all-court game, can run around and take teams to dark places,” said Launchbury, who has been outstanding for Stuart Lancaster’s side since making his international debut in November 2012.
“The key is to get yourself into that place of exhaustion. That is what enables you to win games.
“Cardiff was a tough day – it is still there in the memory. We probably weren’t quite there physically and we’ve addressed that. We’ve slightly changed the way we try to go about playing. I think we do have a harder edge than last year: we have moved forward as a team. I feel more comfortable in the system now.
“We’ve got different players in through injury and stuff and we are a completely different outfit and we are very excited about what’s coming round. The team culture is the best I have encountered. You can see that in our resilience against Ireland, and that enabled us to come away with the win.
“Maybe we don’t have the experience of other teams but we are definitely learning on the job and the key for us now is to keep winning these tight games.”
Launchbury finished Saturday’s hard-fought win over Ireland in the back row and he admits that area, and the breakdown in particular, will be an especially ferocious battleground on March 9.
The 22-year-old won three turnovers in the 13-11 victory against the previously unbeaten Irish and a repeat in the next round of action would make life hard for Warren Gatland’s troops.
“The breakdown is going to be huge,” added Launchbury. “It’s up to us as a pack of eight – myself and everyone in the team – to really counter those threats. Warburton is one, but all the other guys get over the ball as well for Wales.”
