Six Nations 2016: Wales captain Sam Warburton demands extra against England
- Published
Six Nations: England v Wales |
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Date: Saturday, 12 March Venue: Twickenham Stadium Kick-off: 16:00 GMT |
Coverage: Live on S4C & online, live radio commentary on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary. Highlights on Scrum V Sunday on BBC Two Wales |
Captain Sam Warburton wants a "10% improvement" in Wales' possible Six Nations title showdown against England after their "ugly" win over France.
England have won their opening two Six Nations games and face Ireland at home on Saturday before Wales' pivotal visit to Twickenham on 12 March.
"We're undefeated in three games and it sets it up a massive game for two weeks time in Twickenham," said Warburton.
"Everyone knows what is on that match. It's a match the fans want to see."
London calling
Wales, who are chasing their fifth Six Nations Championship since 2005, are hoping for their their first back-to-back wins over England at Twickenham since 1978.
Wales won their first game at Twickenham in 20 years in Warren Gatland's first game in charge in 2008, external before winning the 2012 Triple Crown at English rugby's home in 2012.
And British and Irish Lions skipper Warburton added: "We got a victory there last year in the World Cup. We went there in 2012 with this same bunch of boys and won so we've had good experiences at Twickenham."
George North's try and 14 points from Dan Biggar's boot eased Wales to victory over France in Cardiff, adding to their opening draw against Ireland and win over Scotland.
After helping to send England out of the 2015 World Cup by beating them at Twickenham, Wales return there hoping for the first back-to-back wins since 1976 and 1978 Five Nations triumphs in west London.
Love thy neighbour
"The England games are honestly some of the toughest Test matches I've been involved in," said Warburton.
"Twickenham is one of my favourite places to play rugby. It'll be a fantastic atmosphere and the England players will be highly motivated.
"You haven't seen the best of us and I don't think you have seen the best of any side in the Six Nations this season."
"Pretty boring" game
Warburton admitted the match was so boring he expected a Mexican wave to break out in the stands
"I remember thinking on the pitch 'the fans are going to start a Mexican wave in a minute - it's pretty boring'," said the Cardiff Blues flanker.
"Jamie Roberts just said to me walking on the pitch 'it was an ugly way to win at Test match'.
"Defences are getting better and better every year. We're trying to score nice wide tries."
"It's what we work on in training week in week out, but it's one thing doing it on the training pitch and another doing it in front of a highly skilled, motivated international team.
"There's not much space on the field any more and it's sometimes down to individual brilliance."
"It was brilliant" - Gatland
But while Warburton felt the game was "boring", coach Gatland was "happy" with the win.
Gatland said: "I thought it was brilliant. It's what Test rugby is all about. We defended brilliantly in the second half.
"Things we had worked on looked really good for us."
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