England Students in action against Portugal

On the back of their 31-28 defeat against Portugal in Lisbon last month, Colwell feels that the squad is moving in the right direction with Wales next on the agenda.

He said: "We are looking to move forward from our defeat against Portugal – we are very proud of the way the team played and it gives us confidence moving into the fixture against Wales. We’ve worked extremely hard all week and can’t wait until Friday evening.”

Full back Tom O’Toole, who started the game against Portugal, but will be looking to make an impact from the bench against Wales, added: “We played a good brand of rugby against Portugal, we scored four tries to two, but in the end the penalty count against us cost us.

“The good thing is that the coaches say ‘if you see a hole, go for it’. There is a structure, but when you think it’s on, it’s on. There’s a lot of pace and skill in this side, Tom Shiel and Daniel Bibby have both played Sevens, and they love to throw the ball around. So we’ll try and go around the Welsh when we can, but I’m sure they’ll be up for it too and I can’t wait to get onto the pitch.”

England Students side to face Wales

1) Richard Barrington (UWE Hartpury)
2) Richard Townsend (UWE Hartpury)
3) Jordan Saunder (UWIC)
4) Phil Hoy (UWE Hartpury)
5) Jamie Collins (Bath)
6) Josh Beaumont (Durham)
7) Tom Sargeant (C) (Exeter)
8) Graeme Lawler (UWE Hartpury)

9) Andrew McCulla (Durham)
10) Mike Ward (VC) (Durham)
11) Sam Miller (Bath)
12) Louis Messer (UWIC)
13) Tom Shiel (Durham)
14) Ryan Edwards (UWE)
15) Daniel Bibby (UWIC)

Replacements:

16) Tom Meatyard (Bath)
17) Mungo Strachan (Newcastle)
18) Anthony Maka (Bishop Burton)
19) Liam Wilkinson (UWE)
20) Donald Blake (Cambridge)
21) Zak Winnicombe (Bath)
22) Tom O’Toole (Cambridge)