Six Nations LIVE: England beat Wales 12-3 thanks to two Jonny May tries to keep Grand Slam hopes alive
Follow the latest from the Six Nations encounter at Twickenham
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Your support makes all the difference.England and Wales collide at Twickenham on the second weekend of the Six Nations with both teams unbeaten and looking to challenge not only for the championship but also the Grand Slam.
The hosts return to Twickenham off the back of a resounding 46-15 victory over Italy in Rome, a bonus-point result that has put them top of the Six Nations table. But hot on their heels is Wales, who thrashed Scotland 34-7 in Cardiff and only trail England on points difference.
With Warren Gatland and Eddie Jones engaging in their usual verbal barbs this week – Gatland claiming that Wales have been and will be fitter than England before Jones questioned Rhys Patchell’s “bottle” and hit out at Alun Wyn Jones – the tension ahead of the game has built towards fever pitch, and the atmosphere inside the stadium is certain to rise as a result.
Wales haven’t beaten England since 2015, but that victory was the famous Rugby World Cup success over England that paved the way to their embarrassing elimination from their own tournament. However, they've suffered the loss of Leigh Halfpenny to a foot injury just an hour before kick-off, so Gareth Anscombe starts at full-back with Owen Watkin on the bench.
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What time does it start?
England vs Wales kicks off at Twickenham at 16:45 GMT.
Where can I watch it?
The Six Nations encounter will be shown live on ITV from 16:20 GMT.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's Six Nations encounter between England and Wales, brought to you pitchside from Twickenham Stadium.
What a day it's lined up to be with two Six Nations matches in store as the second week of the championship kicks off.
Ireland return to the Aviva Stadium this afternoon looking to improve on last Saturday's nervous win over France, although the breath-taking 43m match-winning drop-goal from Jonathan Sexton was one of the moments to cherish in Six Nations history.
But there's no doubting that the main event will be England vs Wales at Twickenham in a renewal of one of the biggest rivalries in world rugby. The sparks have been flying as verbal barbs have been traded in the week from Warren Gatland and Eddie Jones, but today the talking stops and the action begins in what could be one of the matches of the tournament.
We start this morning with the story that will develop throughout the afternoon. Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny missed training yesterday and could be forced out of today's match. Wales have until 15:45 to name their finalised team, but are optimistic that Halfpenny will be fit enough to take his place in the side.
If he fails to make it, Halfpenny is likely to replaced by Gareth Anscombe, although Gatland could choose to move Rhys Patchell to full-back and deploy Anscombe at fly-half.
We'll keep you up-to-date with any developments as they happen.
Moving to the news that has dominated this week, England head coach Eddie Jones did not hold back on Thursday after naming his side. The Australian heaped the pressure on Wales No 10 Rhys Patchell, and if it was an attempt to unsettle the Scarlets stand-off, it was not a veiled effort at all.
BREAKING
We're hearing reports that Leigh Halfpenny is OUT of today's match, with the reason being a bit more serious than initially though as the full-back is suffering from a foot infection. As illnesses go, it's a lot worse than the common cold!
We're still awaiting confirmation from the Wales camp, and that may not come until 15:45 at the latest, but it looks like Gareth Anscombe will be named as his replacement at full-back.
It echoes what happened to Wales last year when they lost George North to injury just an hour before kick-off, and comes as a major blow to Warren Gatland's hopes.
Not done with his press conference, Jones then turned his attention to Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones, accusing the lock of skulduggery by trying to intentionally influence the referee last weekend into chalking off Scotland's late try.
"What he did was right out of order."
Did Jones have a point?
But was Alun Wyn Jones flustered by the comments? Of course not.
The Wales skipper laughed off "uncle Eddie's" remarks and also backed Patchell to deliver this afternoon, and Sam Peters was there to assess what the British and Irish Lions veteran had to say.
Back to the game at hand, and in particular the two teams, and it was Wales who named their side first as Gatland repeated his action of unveiling his squad early by announcing it on Tuesday. It's very much as you were for the Welsh, although a certain George North returns on the bench and could have a big say in the match in the final 20 minutes.
England meanwhile have made two changes, one of which was forced upon them after first-choice scrum-half Ben Youngs suffered a season-ending knee injury last week in Rome.
Here's the latest on the Leicester Tigers half-back's condition:
So with Youngs absent, Danny Care starts for England for just the sixth time under Eddie Jones, with Richard Wigglesworth recalled to the replacements.
However, Jones elected to make one more change as he restored Jonathan Joseph to the starting line-up in place of Ben Te'o, who remains on the bench.
Here's the England team news:
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