Wales v England - How the teams square up

The sides first met in 1881 at Blackheath. They changed at a local pub before walking a mile or so to the quaintly named Mr Richardson's Field.

There, England hammered Wales by seven goals, six tries and a dropped goal to nil in the days before scoring by points was introduced. All told, the nations have met 106 times. The first Welsh win did not come until 1890 at Dewsbury, but they now lead the series by 49 wins to 45.

The nations first met in Cardiff in 1893. Wales sneaked home 12-11 that day thanks to a late penalty goal - the first ever landed in an international. Wales have won 23 matches against England in Cardiff, drawn two and lost 10. England went 28 years (between 1963 and 1991) without a Cardiff victory, but have won three times there in the past decade.

England's best wins over Wales were 60-26 at Twickenham in 1998 and 46-12 last year. Their best Cardiff result was the 34-13 win in 1997 in the last international staged at the Arms Park.

Neil Jenkins holds the record for the most points in a match between the two countries. He scored 22 for Wales at Wembley two years ago.