England begin their 2026 Six Nations campaign with a home clash against Wales this weekend.
Twickenham plays host to a battle between two sides in very different form, with Steve Borthwick’s hosts riding an 11-game winning streak as they bid to go one better than last year’s runner-up finish - a result confirmed by a blowout victory against Wales.
England face stiff competition from the dominant forces of France and Ireland but remain among the favourites to clinch what would be an eighth Six Nations title overall and first since 2020. They have not achieved a Grand Slam since 2016.
The Welsh squad, meanwhile, will be hoping to leave their recent two winless Six Nations campaigns in the past as new head coach Steve Tandy takes charge for the first time at this level, with a pair of nervy victories over Japan last year ending their abysmal losing streak.
Wales are desperate to avoid a third successive wooden spoon during a campaign that takes place against the backdrop of ongoing turmoil in their club game, particularly the future of Ospreys.
Here’s everything you need to know about England vs Wales on the opening weekend of the 2026 Six Nations.
England vs Wales date, kick-off time and venue
England vs Wales takes place on Saturday February 7, 2026 at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in south-west London.
Kick-off is scheduled for 4:40pm GMT.
How to watch England vs Wales
TV channel: In the UK, England vs Wales is being shown live and free to air on ITV1 and STV, with coverage beginning at 3:45pm GMT.
Live stream: Live coverage of the game will also be available for online streaming via the ITVX website and app, which is free with a registration.
Live blog: Meanwhile, you can follow the action as it happens at Twickenham on Saturday right here with us, in Standard Sport’s dedicated live blog.
England vs Wales team news
England captain Maro Itoje will start on the bench against Wales, having arrived at England’s training camp later than his team-mates after attending his mother Florence’s funeral in Nigeria.
In his stead, hooker Jamie George temporarily resumes the captaincy in the front row alongside Joe Heyes and Ellis Genge.
Alex Coles fills in for Itoje in the second row, joined there by Ollie Chessum, while Bath pair Sam Underhill and Guy Pepper are the flankers and Ben Earl starts at number eight.
Alex Mitchell is at scrum-half and George Ford continues at fly-half from the team that beat Argentina in November to round off an unbeaten autumn campaign.
Freddie Steward is picked at full-back, meanwhile, as Henry Arundell - making his first Test start since the 2023 World Cup - and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso are given the nod on the wings. Northampton duo Fraser Dingwall and Tommy Freeman are selected to start in midfield.
Six of Borthwick’s eight replacements are forwards, and five are British and Irish Lions. Joining Itoje in covering the starting pack are the likes of Henry Pollock, Tom Curry and Luke Cowan-Dickie, while it’s Marcus Smith and Ben Spencer who have been given the task of providing back cover.
Tom Roebuck, Fin Smith and Ollie Lawrence are all hopeful of being involved against Scotland next week as they fine-tune their rehab from respective toe, calf and knee injuries, with George Furbank also returning to the full 36-man tournament squad which features an uncapped trio in Greg Fisilau, Vilikesa ‘Billy’ Sela and Emmanuel Iyogun.
England’s other injury absentees include Fin Baxter, Will Stuart and Ben Curry, with Bevan Rodd and Trevor Davison covering at prop.
Wales are without Taulupe Faletau, Christ Tshiunza, Max Llewellyn and captain Jac Morgan, the latter of whom was Wales’ only Test Lion in Australia last summer.
Louis Rees-Zammit is now firmly back in the rugby world following a foray into the NFL and makes his Six Nations return at full-back, playing at Twickenham for the first time for Wales.
Josh Adams and Ellis Mee join Rees-Zammit in the back three, with a centre pairing of Eddie James and Ben Thomas. Tomos Williams and Dan Edwards are the half-backs.
Hooker Dewi Lake has the captaincy again in Morgan’s absence, with Nicky Smith and Archie Griffin also in the front row, ahead of locks Dafydd Jenkins and Adam Beard.
Alex Mann and Aaron Wainwright are joined in the back row by Josh Macleod, who makes his Six Nations debut deputising for Morgan, who dislocated his shoulder against Argentina in the autumn.
Returning prop Tomas Francis is on the bench, but the likes of Blair Murray and Tom Rogers do not feature.
England vs Wales lineups
England XV: Steward; Feyi-Waboso, Freeman, Dingwall, Arundell; Ford, Mitchell; Genge, George (c), Heyes; Coles, Chessum; Pepper, Underhill, Earl
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Rodd, Davison, Itoje, T Curry, Pollock, Spencer, M Smith
Wales XV: Rees-Zammit; Mee, James, B Thomas, Adams; Edwards, T Williams; Smith, Lake (c), Griffin; D Jenkins, Beard; Mann, Macleod, Wainwright
Replacements: Belcher, Carre, T Francis, Carter, Plumtree, Deaves, Hardy, Grady
England vs Wales head to head (h2h) history and results
Four of the last five meetings between these long-time rivals have been won by England, with Wales’ only victory in that time coming in a 2023 World Cup warm-up.
You have to go back to Wales’ successful 2021 Six Nations campaign for their last competitive win in this match-up, and back farther still - to the 2015 World Cup - for their last win at Twickenham. It was 2012 that Wales last triumphed on the old enemy’s soil in this competition, meanwhile.
Much more recently than any of those results was England’s 68-14 battering of Wales in Cardiff during last year’s Six Nations, with previous boss Warren Gatland having departed by the time that record-setting defeat was registered.
Pollock and Chandler Cunningham-South scored two tries each that day, with Freeman, Mitchell and Heyes also getting over to rack up their country’s highest-ever points tally against Wales and extend England’s lead in the all-time head-to-head.
England wins: 70
Wales wins: 61
Draws: 12
England vs Wales prediction
Based on recent history in this match-up and overall form, it’s hard to realistically predict anything but a comfortable home win.
England are the third-ranked team in world rugby having won their past 11 games, while Wales have lost 21 of their last 23 outings, only beating Japan (twice) in that time.
That run includes an unprecedented 18-Test losing streak and two Six Nations tournaments passing without a victory, resulting in consecutive wooden spoons which Tandy will be desperate to avoid turning into a hat-trick.
Wales’ last Six Nations win was earned in March 2023 against Italy, who have since bumped them out of the world’s top 10. Perhaps Tandy’s previous experience as a defensive coach will at the very least stem the bleeding of points to give his side a chance of ending that run.
Doing so at Twickenham may well be a step too far, even if two of their last three losses against England were by just two points, but the visitors will surely put up more of a fight than last time.
England to win, by 15 points.
England vs Wales match odds
England to win: 1/50
Wales to win: 25/1
Draw: 50/1
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
