Saturday 26 September 2015 20:08, UK
Sky Sports' Jonathan Davies says games between Wales and England provide an unmatched intensity.
The game of professional rugby has various levels to it. You start off playing schoolboy rugby, then progress to age-group representative rugby, then club rugby, before you move on to international rugby.
Each time you move up a level, you can feel a lift in speed, power and skill, but more than that - you notice an increase in intensity.
When you play in an international at the Millennium Stadium and you can almost feel the atmosphere on top of you and around you - as a Welshman, there's nothing more engulfing.
Until you play England.
Hearing Land of my Fathers ringing around the stands at Twickenham was a brilliant feeling, but even better is not hearing Swing Low.
My first game against England was during the 2011 Six Nations. We lost to them in Cardiff on a Friday night, and I still can't quite shake the feeling from after the game - it's something you remember for a long time. If intensity has a pyramid of different levels in rugby, so does losing.
Losing is horrible to endure at the best of times, but losing to England in Cardiff is on another level. There's nothing worse for a Welsh rugby player.
But for every negative emotion there is a positive one, and the chance to do the same to England at Twickenham will excite every member of the Welsh squad.
A game against our neighbours always has an added ingredient that you can't quite replicate elsewhere, but playing them at Twickenham for a potential place in the quarter-finals of a World Cup - that kind of intensity is tough to match.
I will be on the sidelines for the game, and I'm pretty sure if someone handed me a magic wand before kick-off, I'd forget about that house in Florida, the millions in the bank and the early retirement - I'd wave it over my knee and run straight on!
That said, I have every faith in the side that Warren Gatland has selected and have no doubt they are more than capable of stopping England in front of the home faithful.
I played England at Twickenham in the 2012 Six Nations and we managed to win that game by a score - again, something I remember well. Hearing Land of my Fathers ringing around the stands at Twickenham was a brilliant feeling, but even better is not hearing Swing Low.
A silent crowd is what you want because England are a very tough side to beat at Twickenham and the crowd plays their part in that.
There's been a lot of talk in the build-up to this match - as though it needed building up - with the focus mainly on Sam Burgess and Scott Williams. I don't think there's much in there to be honest; Scott was asked a question and he responded with an honest answer.
He wouldn't have meant it as a slight to Burgess, but of course, in a game as big as this, there will be even more eyes and ears on anything said by a member of each 23.
I'm certain the game itself will live up to the expectation. It's going to be one of those old-fashioned arm wrestles that the purist enjoy more than the casual fan. Both sides have really impressive defences, which means scoring points will be tough, so the game will be in the balance until the end.
Talking about it makes me really jealous that I can't take part this week, even in the fitness sessions! When you're injured it's sort of like you're peering through the dressing room window. You want to be involved but you're surplus to requirements for the match and you have to take a backward step to allow the team to get on with their preparation.
I have been in touch with a few of the guys throughout the week but I've also tried to keep things fairly light. In a week as big as this there is a lot of pressure on them and sometimes the last thing you feel like doing is chatting about rugby with people outside the camp.
But I have been keeping myself busy outside this game with a few trips. After a nice little holiday to New York with my brother and father I will be in London for the weekend, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm doing some work for the game so I can't fully relax and enjoy it as a fan, but I'll still take a moment to enjoy the occasion.
After months and months of preparation and conversations it's time for the rugby and the players to take the stage. Good luck to both sets of teams and fans, but particularly the Welsh ones!
Let's hope for an amazing game, one that we will all remember for a long time.
