Gethin Jenkins admits England will have a large hole to fill in the absence of fellow British & Irish Lion Dan Cole through injury.
Wales face England this weekend looking to claim a third successive win over Stuart Lancaster’s troops.
Cole, who came off the bench in all three Lions Tests against Australia this summer, has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a bulging disc in his neck.
That means that Davey Wilson and Henry Thomas have to fill the Leicester Tiger’s boots at tighthead and Jenkins is relishing going up against Cole’s understudies.
“He's [Cole] been a big player for them, he's coming towards 50 caps but Wilson is very experienced, he's been around the block quite a few times, he's doing very well at Bath,” Jenkins said.
“They've got some good scrummagers in England and some good front-five forwards coming through as well.
“Usually there's not much of a margin between us. They're quite a young, fit team – similar to us really.
“So it's going to be a very physical game and we really have to be up to speed to make sure we can try and get that victory."
