The former Wales scrum-half and captain tasted defeat on four occasions at Twickenham in the Five and Six Nations as a player. During those dark days, between 1996 and 2002, England ran in an average of five tries per match as successive Welsh teams conceded a staggering 177 points.
But while the current Wales backs coach admits he has a few painful memories from his trips to Saturday’s venue, he reckons Wales can roar to only a third away victory against the English in 25 years and clinch the Triple Crown.
“It wasn’t nice to be part of what happened between 1996 and 2002 at Twickenham, but when you look back at the England sides in my era you just have to mention the likes of Lawrence Dallaglio, Richard Hill, Neil Back, Martin Johnson and Jason Leonard to remember how good they were then,” admitted Howley.
“They were very effective in what they brought to the table. But that is all insignificant because I’m not playing on Saturday – the one thing we can talk about are the current crop of Welsh players.
“Whatever happened in 1996, 1998 and 2000 has nothing to do with these guys. They are playing with great confidence and will not be interested in what happened in years gone by.
“They have come a long way, through the Rugby World Cup, and have a huge amount of self-belief. They have a great ability to adapt under pressure and absorb pressure.”
Howley insists Wales will not under-estimate England and dismissed the idea that his side are overwhelming favourites to de-rail their old enemies’ Championship hopes. But he believes Wales can go up another notch as they bid to keep their Grand Slam dream alive.
“England are ranked higher than us by the IRB and at home they should be favourites. We’re under no illusions, a lot has been said about favourites and history, but you’re only as good as your next game.
“Away days in the Six Nations are hard. England have played two and won two. They have played very difficult sides, in difficult conditions and, with a back-three of Ben Foden, Chris Ashton and David Strettle, they can stress any defensive line.
“We understand how they want to play against us and it’s about negating their strengths. They will be targeting us at Twickenham, but the challenge for us is to live up to the expectations.
“We need to be as clinical and accurate under pressure as we were in the victory over Ireland. We left about 20 points out on the park against Scotland and, against England, we might not be fortunate enough to have that many opportunities.
“We weren’t clinical enough against the Scots. We know we have to be better against England.”
