New protagonists ready to bring Six Nations rivalry back to the boil

Ellis Genge, Elliot Daly and Danny Care share a joke on the Twickenham pitch on the eve of England’s clash with Wales. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images/Reuters

Have you felt it too? Maybe just once or twice throughout the week, perhaps only for the briefest of moments but inescapable nonetheless – the need to remind yourself that England and Wales renew hostilities on Saturday. For while there have been half-hearted attempts to fan flames, to stir pots and to begin wars of words, it is hard to remember a more anodyne buildup to this historic fixture.

There will be plenty for whom that is no problem at all and come kick-off you wouldn’t know it. Twickenham has sold out, there will be time to pause and remember two Welsh greats of yesteryear in Barry John and JPR Williams, there will be stirring renditions of the anthems and there will be tears. But strip out the noise, the narrative and the sense of theatre and what are we left with? Two second-tier Six Nations teams setting out at the start of their World Cup cycles. Given he appeared in 15 straight iterations of this fixture in the Six Nations, if Alun Wyn Jones isn’t playing does it even count?

Jones did not play in this match two years ago either but his is not the only absence keenly felt. Owen Farrell, Dan Biggar, Liam Williams and Kyle Sinckler are just a handful of names synonymous with this tussle, for good reasons and bad, of late. Joe Marler, England’s agent provocateur is in action, but you sense that, whatever his motivations for grabbing Jones’s genitals four years ago, he will not be compelled to do anything similar again. It just wouldn’t be the same and you felt Jamie George wasn’t entirely joking when he said: “I think I’ll certainly miss Alun Wyn!”

Not long ago, Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland were in their element in weeks like this. Watching them take turns to lob grenades was not everyone’s cup of tea but both understood their responsibility to entertain during a seven-week window when a sport that exists in football’s shadow has a chance to shine. This week, however, the Six Nations bingo cards remain empty. Wales had their roof furore last week, no one has mentioned the Brynglas tunnels and it is a safe bet the team buses will not be headbutted.

All of which raises the question of whether ancient rivalries are still relevant in these more sanitised times, when no one has taken anyone’s coal, water or steel. As the Wales captain Dafydd Jenkins, who counts opponents Henry Slade, Ethan Roots and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso as clubmates at Exeter, acknowledged this week, there is a familiarity among the players. Friendships even.

There was a time when England supporters would have bitten your hand for a 3-0 win over Wales but Twickenham goers expect more bang for their buck these days – unsurprising when tickets are fetching considerably more than £150 – and Steve Borthwick’s side have found keeping their followers happy a tricky feat of late. Playing at home has become a burden to the extent that they have won just three of their last 10 matches at Twickenham and so it makes sense that arresting that form all the while rekindling their connection with supporters has been top of their agenda this week rather than overblown talk of slaying the Welsh dragon.

Rivalries find a way to endure, however. Gatland again recalled his conversation with Neil Jenkins about Cardiff-born Feyi-Waboso’s decision to choose England over Wales this week. Gatland had previously revealed Jenkins was not too pleased with the young winger’s decision and on Thursday he picked up the theme. “I love that, I just think that’s how proud you are to be Welsh,” he said. “If you don’t want to be Welsh then piss off.” It is not quite pointing out what these bastards have done to Wales but it taps into the national pride that sustains this fixture.

And it endures for Borthwick, too. “My first game at Twickenham was in 1996,” he recalled. “It was England schoolboys under-16s v Wales schoolboys. That rivalry started then. I remember England-Wales, last game of the Six Nations at under-18 level. It was in Narberth on a pitch which had quite a slope. We won the grand slam that year with a drop goal. I remember the referee was looking into the sun and he couldn’t see it. But the Wales full back swore so he knew it had gone through the posts, kicked by Jonny to win the grand slam.

“From a young age, the players play against each other and there is that incredible rivalry. And with the sad passing of such an incredible legend of Welsh rugby this week, you see the great history that is within this game and this is the next step of it. We have a young team who will take the next step in the history of the game.”

In other words, this rivalry will always endure. The stage is set. Time for new protagonists to step forward.