Wales vs England: how to watch Six Nations fixture on UK TV - live stream, KO time and squad news

After a week of deliberation, it has been confirmed that the England and Wales Six Nations fixture will go ahead despite calls from the Welsh players to strike.

The Welsh players had been threatening to take strike action against the Welsh Rugby Union due to contractual concerns and while talks have been ongoing between the governing body and the country’s four regions over a new budgetary deal, no concrete agreements have yet been made.

Yesterday, Wednesday 22 February, after lengthy meetings between all parties, a decision had not yet been agreed but it was confirmed that Wales would be hosting England this weekend. The Welsh captain, Ken Owens said on the matter: “We are obviously happy. There has been huge frustration over the last number of months, and it is disappointing that it got to this stage.

“We felt we had to make a stand, but the conversations that have taken place over the last 10 days or so have shown that some positive resolutions can be found, and we can continue to do that in the future, and we don’t end up in a position like this in the future.

“The players are satisfied, hence why the game is on Saturday.”

England will be hoping to make it two wins from two, after losing the first round to Scotland while Wales are still searching for their first win of the tournament. They were knocked back by Ireland in the first round to then lose 35-7 to Scotland in Murrayfield two weeks ago.

Here is all you need to know ahead of Wales and England’s Six Nations fixture...

When is Wales vs England

The two sides will meet on Saturday 25 February 2023 with kick-off scheduled for 4.45pm GMT, following Italy’s match against Ireland. England will travel to Cardiff’s Prinicipality Stadium for the fixture where a sell-out crowd is expected.

How to watch Wales vs England

ITV and BBC have been sharing coverage of the Guiness Six Nations but BBC will show the action from Cardiff. BBC One will begin their coverage of the fixture at 4pm ahead of the 4.45pm kick-off and fans can live stream the fixture through BBC iPlayer. A free account is needed in order to access the coverage and highlights will then be available on BBC.

Head-to-Head

England and Wales have met in 138 occasions in Rugby Union matches with England winning on 66 occasions and Wales coming out victorious on 60 occasions. In their past five competitive matches, England have won three times, the most recent being in last year’s Six Nations. The end result in Twickenham was 23-19. The last time Wales won was in the Six Nations 2021 when Wales beat England 40-24.

Squads

England:

• Forwards: Chessum, Cole, B Curry, Dombrandt, Genge, George, Isiekwe, Itoje, Lawes, Ludlam, Sinckler, M Vunipola, Walker, Willis.
• Backs: Arundell, Farrell, Lawrence, Malins, Marchant, Mitchell, Murley, Slade, Smith, Steward, Van Poortvliet, Watson.

Wales: Halfpenny, Adams, Grady, Hawkins, Rees-Zammit, O Williams, T Williams, G Thomas, Owens, Francis, Beard, AW Jones, Tshiunza, Tipuric, Faletau (Replacements: Roberts, Carre, Lewis, Jenkins, Reffell, Hardy, Biggar, Tompkins)