Six Nations: Robin McBryde backs pack to hold up England

Assistant coach Robin McBryde has backed the Wales pack to cope with a set-piece onslaught from their England counterparts in tonight's RBS Six Nations opener at the Millennium Stadium.

The power of the Welsh scrum was one of the major plus points of what was a difficult and winless autumn for the home side, but they have been dealt cruel injury blows ahead of tonight's showdown with British and Irish Lions props Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones ruled out through their respective toe and elbow injuries.

Their places will be taken by Ospreys duo Paul James and Craig Mitchell, with the latter making his first Six Nations appearance, as the hosts look to match the daunting scrummaging prowess of Andrew Sheridan and Dan Cole in the English front row.

The popular belief is that Martin Johnson's side will have the edge in the scrum, but McBryde believes the hard work put in by the Wales eight this week will pay off when it matters.

"If you look at the team England have picked they have put a lot of emphasis on the scrum," he said. "We have worked as hard as we possibly can, and the back five in our pack are aware of the support they need to give to our front row.

"I would imagine they will target us there and we will need to be up for it, but the work we have done should give us the confidence for tomorrow night's battle."

The visitors are not without injury troubles of their own, having lost captain Lewis Moody and the dynamic duo of Courtney Lawes and Tom Croft from their pack.

The absence of Leicester back-rower Croft sees Northampton's Tom Wood handed his first cap, with the 6ft 4in Saints man likely to play a key role at the line-out.

That area of the game will be the focus of plenty of attention in the wake of Wales coach Warren Gatland's assertion that England hooker Dylan Hartley had "gone to pieces" when playing for Northampton against Leicester in a recent Premiership game.

And McBryde expects England to take a direct route on their own throw. He said: "Wood will take over Croft's role at the line-out and I expect they will drive one or two against us.

"It's a challenge. We went well up front in the autumn and we hope to carry that on into the Six Nations."

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