England are ready for Welsh Hostility

England say they are ready for the Welsh and their hostile brand of patriot fervour when the RBS 6 Nations title rivals lock horns at Twickenham on Sunday afternoon.

Scrum-half Danny Care admits the Red Rose know they are disliked by Warren Gatland's champions, while wing Jack Nowell goes a step further by describing the emotion as "hate".

"There is obviously a huge history between the two countries and we have had some great battles against Wales," Care said.

"You know when you play Wales that they don't like you, which you get used to as an England player. You relish that and look forward to the challenge.

"Any time you play for England it's a great feeling, but with the Welsh you know they are coming for a battle. We are up for the challenge and looking forward to it."

Nowell, a new-comer to the England elite side, who made his debut against France, was part of the England U20s team that beat Wales 23-15 in last year’s junior World Cup final and will make his first test appearance against their senior side this weekend.

"I loved winning that tournament. We fell behind in the first half and a few things didn't go well for us, but obviously it was nice to come back in the end and get the win," Nowell said.

"We're going out to play against a team that hate you and want to do anything to beat you up or beat you in the game."

In retaliation to the Welsh and combat the anti-English sentiment that drives many opponents in the 6 Nations, head coach Stuart Lancaster has demanded that there should be an increased sense of pride in wearing the red rose.

"You hear a lot about how proud Ireland, Wales and Scotland are and we kind of get forgotten. I think we are an unbelievably proud country," Care said.

"Obviously Stuart has done a lot of stuff to reconnect everyone with grassroots rugby and see the heritage side of things, the lads who have played before us in the shirt and gave their lives in the war.

"We have gone on that journey, looked at stuff like that and seen how much it means to people still.

"We are playing for them and playing for the whole country. We are incredibly proud of putting on the England shirt and running out at Twickenham."

Full-back Mike Brown, who has been one of England’s players of the tournament to date, exchanged angry words with the ultimate champion of Celtic resistance Brian O'Driscoll in the 13-10 victory over Ireland last month.

Ultra-competitive Brown is known for his fiery temperament and has been told to continue playing on the edge by England's management.

"As long as it's not affecting the team in a negative way, or costing the team points or a penalty, then the coaches are fine with the way I play rugby," Brown said.

In addition to the atmosphere of the game, tactically, hooker and now one of the side’s senior figures, Dylan Hartley, has revealed that the English are going to target Wales’s ‘big ball carriers’: Toby Faletau, Richard Hibbard and Jamie Roberts.

The Northampton hooker believes the key to ending Welsh hopes of a third consecutive 6 Nations title is by stopping the Welsh trio with big hits in an effort to sap Wales’ morale.

"We obviously look at talismen in other teams, I prefer to call them targets. That's not a joke," he said.

"You respect them because they provide a lot of momentum, but if you make them a target, it changes that.

"In every team it's the number eight who is the big go-forward man - David Denton, Louis Picamoles, Jamie Heaslip and now Toby Faletau.

"If you see a big man being stopped, psychologically that's huge. I look at my opposite number Hibbard - he's very powerful for them.

"They like to put Roberts up the middle of the field then Hibbard round the corner on a big strong carry.

"It's nothing complicated but they do it very well. They're very powerful blokes.

"I don't think you focus on them - it's not mindless targeting - but if you get an opportunity you always take it."

Revisiting last year's record 30-3 rout in Cardiff has dominated the build up to England's penultimate match of the 2014 Six Nations.

With a Grand Slam at stake, they were put to the sword as Warren Gatland's champions retained their title in stunning fashion and went on to dominate selection for the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.

Only flanker Tom Wood has broken ranks to concede Sunday's Twickenham collision will be fueled by the desire to avenge a traumatic afternoon at the Millennium Stadium.

Wood's Northampton team-mate Hartley, however, believes England have already redeemed themselves and would rather focus on the renewal of a ferocious rivalry that began in 1881 and spans 124 games with the ledger tied at 56 wins apiece with 12 draws.

"This is being hyped up as an emotional revenge game, but as a team we haven't talked about that," Hartley said.

"That day in Cardiff was the complete, all-round poor performance and we haven't seen anything like it since.

"The lesson has been learned and we don't need to prove it against Wales because since then we have performed really well.

"In Cardiff we went down by a few scores and capitulated, but if you look at our subsequent games against New Zealand and France, we conceded a lot of points but then fought our way back into it. So the lesson has been learned.

"I'm very aware that there's a massive rivalry between England and Wales, and it's very historical. As a barometer this is a good game for us."