KEY BATTLES: England v Wales

After impressive starts to their respective 2018 Six Nations campaigns, England and Wales will clash in a titanic battle at Twickenham this weekend.

Wales claimed an emphatic victory over Scotland, while England comfortable disposed of a determined Italian side.

With both sides showing early form the ability of either side to win the smaller battles could determine the result of the match.

The Battle up front

England head into the match with a pack not too far from their first choice, with Billy Vunipola being the only major absentee. That being said Vunipola's replacement, Sam Simmonds, was one of the top performers of round one.

Wales pack has been hit far more injuries than England's but as they showed last week they are no pushover.

The experience of British and Irish Lions Ken Owens and Alun-Wyn Jones leading the pack will surely help the Welsh cause, while fellow Lions Ross Moriarty looks to have gotten over his injury concern and will look to be his usual busy self. 

Both benches are also stacked with quality players who will give their respective sides a major boast in the latter stages of the match. 

Prediction: On paper, the two sides are evenly matched up front and it will all be up to a collective performance on the day to win this battle. 

The Battle of the Halfbacks

England will be without their starting scrumhalf Ben Youngs who has been ruled out for the remainder of the competition, meanwhile, Wales are also without Rhys Webb who is also struggling with an injury.

Luckily enough for both side they have excellent replacements in Gareth Davies and Danny Care with the latter set to become England's most capped scrumhalf. 

George Ford has retained the starting 10 jersey and will face off against Wales Rhys Patchell - who according to Eddie Jones is Wales 3rd choice flyhalf.

Jones applied the pressure on the Welsh 10 in the build-up to the match and has identified him as potential weak point in the Wales backline. 

Patchell was outstanding against Scotland will look to improve on his performance against England despite Jones' comments.

Prediction: This is a particularly interesting battle with England boasting a much more experienced pairing and therefore we are backing them to win this battle. 

The Battle of the Boot

With not much separating the two sides before the match, the result could come down to the ability of the placekickers to convert their opportunities. 

Leigh Halfpenny converted all 6 of his attempts at goal against and is one of the best place kickers in World Rugby.

Owen Farrell had an off day - by his high standards - from the kicking tee against Italy as he was only able to convert 5 of his 8 shots at goal.

The battle of the boot will not only be from the tee but from the hand as well as the two sides that have looked very attacking in the opening round will still look to gain a territorial advantage or get themselves out of the danger zone.

Prediction: A betting man would not bet against Leigh Halfpenny missing from the tee, while England have plenty of kicking options from hand. This battle is incredibly close and will most likely be tied.

The Impact from the Bench

As mentioned before this match is likely to be extremely close and the use of the substitutions could prove to be the deciding factor in the clash.

England dropped Ben Te'o to the bench and the big centre could break through a tired Welsh defence, while Jack Nowell will provide a burst of energy off the bench. George Kruis, Jamie George and George Kruis provide Eddie Jones with a tireless work rate of the bench, while Richard Wigglesworth will look to claim the 3rd scrumhalf spot in the England squad with an impressive cameo off the bench.

George North, like Te'o, will provide a strong ball-carrying option against a tired defence, while Gareth Anscombe flat running at first reciever could turn the game on it's head in the latter stages of the match. 

Justin Tipuric's strong ball carriers and accurate tackling will lift the Welsh pack late on, while Bradley Davies will look to build on a strong cameo against Scotland. 

Prediction: The timing of the substitutions will be key to winning this battle and with the depth on England's bench we have backed the home side to take this battle.