Phil Vickery reckons the Wales front row that will line up against England at Twickenham on Saturday is the best in the business.
England facing awesome challenge up front
Phil Vickery reckons the Wales front row that will line up against England at Twickenham on Saturday is the best in the business.
With Vickery and Andrew Sheridan out injured, the only two capped props in England's squad are Wasps loose-head Tim Payne, with 15 international appearances behind him, and Bath tight-head David Wilson, who has just four.
In contrast, Wales are set to arrive at Twickenham with a front row of Adam Jones, Matthew Rees and Gethin Jenkins, who boast a combined total of 162 caps and are the same unit which demolished South Africa's scrum in last summer's second Lions Test.
Vickery played with all three Welsh players on that Lions tour and he cannot see a unit in the world game to match them.
"Gethin, Adam and Reesy are the best front row in the competition, if not the best front row in world rugby," said Vickery.
Engine
"Gethin has an engine and a heart the size of a double decker bus. Matthew's throwing in and his scrummaging are strong and he will work all day long for you. Adam will just keep going.
"For me, it is not just about the player but about the person. I don't really see anyone better.
"England will come up against the best Welsh team there has been for a long time."
Jones replaced Vickery in the Lions Test team against South Africa and cemented his reputation as a world-class prop as he tamed the Springboks loose-head Tendai 'The Beast' Mtawarira.
But Vickery backed England's largely untried unit to stand up to the challenge -and he was particularly passionate in his defence of Payne.
Vickery added: "A lot of people talk about Tim Payne. He has been one of the top loose-heads in this country for a long time. He doesn't suddenly become a bad player.
"You can go two ways when you face a front row like Wales' - and the England boys are more than capable of taking them on. I don't see why they should fear it. They must go out there and get stuck in."
