Not really the way he's been playing at Wasps though Bullit. He's even been offloading and running at space instead of opposition players, shock! I'm not saying he's a great player, as he's not really, but he's the best option we have to provide good go-forward ball, something Ryan Jones and Jon Thomas haven't been doing all that much recently. Warburton will also be key to his possible success, as he's simply awesome at getting to every ruck first and supporting the guy with the ball. He prooved it against the two best opensides in the world in McCaw and Pockok in the AI's, and I think he'll proove it again in this match. Lydiate aint half bad at doing the same thing either, so expect plenty of support for Powell who can concentrate on what he does best, running with the ball.

 

If it doesn't work out, there are two players capable of replacing him on the bench. The risk of starting Powell is worth it imo, and the new interpretations at the breakdown suit his gamestyle.

 

Lineouts may be one of the biggest things to determine the winner of this match. Neither side are certain of going well in this aspect of the game with both Hartley and Rees prone to displays of poor throwing. England have lost Lawes and Croft, their main two jumpers, whilst Wales' jumpers tend to have plenty of problems in most matches. Both teams may perform fine here (Wales showed that their lineout can perform v SA in the Autumn), but both could be useless aswell.