Wales head coach Steve Tandy insists Wales will travel to Twickenham not in “survival mode” but with a clear intent to play their own game, as his side prepares to face an in-form England in the Six Nations.

Despite England’s imposing recent record, Tandy repeatedly framed the challenge as an opportunity rather than something to fear.

“I think we’ve got to look inward and look ourselves in the mirror because I believe we’re the ones that are going to take the challenge to England,” he said, stressing that Wales’ focus is firmly on their own development.

England, he acknowledged, are currently one of the standard-bearers in the sport. Steve Borthwick’s side lost just once in 2025, winning their last 11 matches in a row.

“We’re going to play probably the form team in World Rugby,” Tandy added.

“So it’s going to be awesome for us to see our development from the autumn, getting into camp. You’d think it’d be intimidating. I think it’s exciting.”

Tandy was clear that his selection decisions – particularly in midfield and the back row – were driven by how Wales want to play, not by trying to simply contain England.

On his bold midfield choices, including Eddie James and Ben Thomas, Tandy clearly wants to bring some attacking rugby to Twickenham.

“I don’t think we want to be that team [that just survives],” Tandy said, “I think we’ve been surviving for a while, whereas actually we want to play our game.

“We want a team that want to go out there and play our game.”

He linked that directly to the broader project he and the coaching group are trying to build: “We’re on the start of a journey, and I think we’ve got to back ourselves and back some younger guys.

“The only way you learn is by experiencing, there’ll be ups and downs along the way. But if we’ve got a longer-term goal. I don’t think we can just be in survival mode.”

In the back row, Tandy explained that the balance was chosen to suit both the modern game and Wales’ attacking ambitions.

The lack of Olly Cracknell raised a few eyebrows, with Taine Plumtree and Harri Deaves preferred on the bench, and Josh Macleod handed a start at openside.

“We’ve got to go [with] what suits us,” Tandy explained.

“We’ve got to play the game as well. Can’t just be defensive in how we want to select the team.

“There’ll be lots of loose balls, there’ll be aerial battles, we feel we’ve got a back row that can really help the game there, but also they bring their own impacts.”

Tandy made no attempt to hide the external perception that Wales are underdogs – but he also made clear that narrative holds little sway inside the camp.

“Look, I think internally, the boys believe in what we’re trying to do, and outside of it, why would people give us a chance really and realistically? Look at the form of both teams, you probably wouldn’t.”

Yet his message to the squad is that of performance and preparation:

“The outcome we can’t control,” Tandy said.

“The only thing we can control is how we train, how we prepare, how we’re better from that Autumn series.

“When we come out of this game on Saturday, we will look ourselves in the mirror, irrelevant of the outcome – we’ll be better than we were in the autumn.”

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