England challenge excites Wales boss

Wales coach Warren Gatland can’t wait to return to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs when he takes his Triple Crown contenders to Twickenham to play England later this month.

World Cup semi-finalists Wales will head to London on the back of a convincing 27-13 win over Scotland that has set them up for the Triple Crown trophy – the prize one of the four ‘Home Nations’ gets for a clean sweep of all the others in a single Six Nations season.

The defeat of Scotland followed Wales’s 23-21 win away to Ireland in Dublin.

Gatland’s first game in charge of Wales saw them beat England 26-19 at Twickenham in 2008 – the start of what turned out to be a Grand Slam season – and the New Zealander was relishing the prospect of playing a Red Rose side who’ve also won their opening two matches in this season’s Six Nations.

“It’s always nice when you go into your third game and you are playing for a Triple Crown,” Gatland said after Wales beat Scotland at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday.

“If you can’t get motivated to go to Twickenham and play for a Triple Crown against England, well then you shouldn’t be putting the jersey on.”