Six Nations: Previous success at Twickenham will count for nothing says Wales's Shaun Edwards

Shaun Edwards has poured cold water on suggestions that Wales might enjoy a psychological advantage in the white-hot cauldron of an intense Six Nations battle with fierce rivals England.
Shaun Edwards.Shaun Edwards.
Shaun Edwards.

Wales will return to Twickenham in a fortnight’s time, just 168 days after their dramatic 28-25 triumph left England demoralised and hurtling towards World Cup pool stage humiliation.

This time, the prize is Six Nations points and potentially one hand on silverware in what should be the pivotal game of a tournament that Wales last won three years ago and England two years before that.

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Asked about any mental edge from the World Cup, Edwards said: “You know what, I have never thought that any one game has anything to do with the next.

“That was proven in 2013. We obviously won convincingly (in Cardiff), but in the next two games England beat us. And in the game after that, we beat them. So, I don’t think any one game can be so psychologically damaging that it would hurt another performance three or four months later.”

One area where Wales will require a huge improvement from Friday night’s 19-10 victory over France is their discipline, having conceded 14 penalties against Les Bleus. And Wales assistant coach Edwards is well aware that a goalkicking marksman of England centre Owen Farrell’s quality will punish them if he is afforded opportunities.

“We will look at each individual penalty (conceded against France) and see if there is anything common that was occurring,” added Edwards.

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“If we give that many penalties away against England, I am pretty sure that with the way young Farrell is kicking at the moment – he is pretty dead-eye.

“They also have George Ford who can kick as well. Their tactical kicking game and their aerial game is probably more testing than the French.

“England have got very big ball-carriers in the back-row. They have a very athletic pack.

“We will have to up our game and go to another level against England.

“We will be playing against a very formidable opponent.”