Following his performances for the national side during the Autumn Internationals, Dragons back row Danny Lydiate will start for Wales as they take on England in the RBS 6 Nations opener at the Millennium Stadium on Friday night .
“Dan (Lydiate) was magnificent for us in the autumn”, said Wales Backs Coach Rob Howley.
“The second row has been consistent in recent times and we have two good youngsters who have both been playing exceptionally well coming into the back row.
“This is going to be a battle of inches and not yards and we know the pack can dominate like they did in our Autumn games we are in with a good chance.
“We are playing England at the home of Welsh rugby at the start of the Rugby World Cup year so we are looking to get ourselves of to a great start and create some momentum and I can’t think of a better place for a Welshman to do that.”
WALES: James Hook; Morgan Stoddart, Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies, Shane Williams; Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips; Paul James, Matthew Rees (C), Craig Mitchell, Bradley Davies, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton, Andy Powell
REPLACEMENTS: Richard Hibbard, John Yapp, Ryan Jones, Jonathan Thomas, Dwayne Peel, Rhys Priestland, Lee Byrne
