England must “smash everything in red”, maintain cool heads and silence a raucous Millennium Stadium crowd when they meet Wales in their Six Nations championship opener in Cardiff today, England World Cup winner Neil Back said.

Stuart Lancaster’s side suffered a humiliating 30-3 defeat on their last visit to the Welsh capital in 2013, a painful loss that ended their grand slam hopes and handed Warren Gatland’s side a second successive title.

“England have got to silence the Welsh crowd. That’s their job,” Back, an integral part of England’s 2003 World Cup-winning side, told Reuters.

“The first 15 minutes of each half will be absolutely critical to England’s aspirations in this game.

“Drive the Welsh into their half, get on the scoreboard and smash everything that is in red. If they can create a quiet Millennium Stadium that will be a truly beautiful thing.”

Today’s blockbuster is a precursor to their World Cup pool meeting on September 26 and Back said it was vital for England to land a “psychological blow”.

But the former flanker is concerned about England’s preparations for the Six Nations, the number of injuries that have forced Lancaster’s selection hand and the lack of settled players in key positions.

“England’s major concerns at the moment are not necessarily with the level of injuries because we have quite a depth of players, better than anyone else,” said the former British and Irish Lion.

“It is not a settled team – particularly that midfield partnership.

“They are up against a more settled Welsh backline.”

Programme

Today: 21.05 Wales vs England.

Tomorrow: 15.30 Italy vs Ireland; 18.00 France vs Scotland.