 Dwayne Peel is raring to go after recovering from an ankle injury |
Dwayne Peel is not daunted by the prospect of playing at Twickenham on Saturday, even though Wales have not won there against England since 1988. After all, in the autumn Wales beat Australia for the first time since 1987 so the Wales and Lions scrum-half believes anything is possible.
"I don't think there is a Twickenham bogey to be honest," Peel said.
"England have got a great record, but they are not unbeatable there and a lot of sides have gone there and won."
The last time Wales won in west London it was part of a Triple Crown success, but now they arrive as RBS Six Nations champions with a Grand Slam to defend.
"I don't think we should go up there and be afraid of performing, and that is something we have talked about this week," Peel added.
"People say there is a lot of expectation on the England side but I can't speak for them.
"We are just concentrating on ourselves and doing our homework. I think we have been doing that pretty well and we can look forward to going there.
"The atmosphere is good in the camp, everyone is confident about things and training has gone well.
"So we are full of beans going up to Twickenham. We will be going out there to win the game and everyone is excited and raring to go."
Peel missed the autumn internationals with an ankle injury but is almost certain to start in the number nine jersey for Saturday's showdown.
"I was really disappointed to miss the autumn games because it was the first injury when I've had a long lay-off," Peel said.
"When you look at someone like Mark Jones, who has been out for two years, it was nothing really but I'm just delighted to be back."
Scarlets wing Jones has not played since the 2003 World Cup quarter-final against England, having undergone reconstruction surgery on both knees.
But Jones is tipped to start at Twickenham and his team-mate Peel knows what he has been through.
"To see what he has been through over the last couple of years has been really hard on him.
"He has shown great spirit and determination to come back from that.
"To be fair to Mark he has never really complained and has got on with getting fit again rather than dwelling too much on the injuries."
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
