Adam Beard says to get one up against England is definitely on the bucket list for any Welsh player

You have to go back seven years for the last Welsh victory at Twickenham. In 2015, Dan Biggar was the Wales hero. 

No Welsh fan will ever forget the shuffling kicking routine which made Biggar a viral sensation and also helped him to a 23-point haul against England.

While Biggar was putting the boot into his country’s oldest and bitterest rivals and sounding the death knell on England’s own World Cup, nearly 200 miles away a young Adam Beard was sinking pints at Birchgrove Rugby Club near Swansea. 

Biggar celebrates Wales’s last win at Twickenham back in 2015 after his heroic performance

Back then, Beard was merely dreaming of Test rugby.

Now, he is Wales skipper Biggar’s right-hand man as vice-captain, a British & Irish Lion, and a growing presence as a lock forward with the great Alun Wyn Jones absent injured.

‘I definitely remember those Wales and England games. There are a few that stand out,’ Beard said.

‘To get one up against England is definitely on the bucket list for any Welsh player. In 2015, I was actually out at my local rugby club having a couple of beers with the boys.

‘I remember that day and it’ll go down as one of the greatest victories for Wales. It’s every young Welsh boy’s dream to be a Wales international.

‘To actually fulfil that dream makes me immensely proud. It’s an amazing achievement.’ 

Biggar and Beard are the men in charge of Wayne Pivac’s next generation of Welsh talent. Eddie Jones has talked about a ‘new England.’ This is also a new Wales.

Biggar and Adam Beard (pictured) are the men in charge of Wales’ next generation of talent

Head coach Pivac has been forced to look at the next generation of Welsh talent, partly due to injury to a host of his senior Lions, but also because the golden generation of the past can’t go on forever.

Only five players who beat England in 2015 will feature for Wales on Saturday.

‘Twickenham is a very difficult place to go and win, but what we’ve got in our group at the minute is a lot of players who don’t fear going there,’ Biggar said. 

‘It’s positive a few of us have managed to win at Twickenham, but we are under no illusions it’s a very different squad.’ 

Biggar says it’s tough for any team to go away and win at a tough place like Twickenham

Biggar knew the question about 2015 was coming and added: ‘For any team to go away and win at a tough place like Twickenham, you’ve got to really roll your sleeves up at some point.

‘We’re going to have to do very similar to get a result.’ 

The memories of 2015 still burn bright for Welsh fans, but you have to go back even further – to 2012 – for a Wales Six Nations win at Twickenham. It has been 10 long years.

Wales’ chances of ending that hoodoo are slim, but their 20-17 win over Scotland in round two means at least they travelled to London on Thursday with confidence.

Pivac’s decision to drop golden boy Louis Rees-Zammit suggests he does have a hard edge and the return of Lions Josh Adams and Taulupe Faletau – on the wing and at No 8 respectively – is a big fillip.

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has choosen to drop golden boy Louis Rees-Zammit (right)

Instead of featuring at Twickenham, Rees-Zammit is on the bench for Gloucester at Premiership leaders Leicester Saturday afternoon.

Wales will also have been hugely relieved to have seen England centre Manu Tuilagi withdraw with a hamstring issue.

‘You can’t have any fears or any thoughts in the back of your head that we are going out there to lose,’ said Beard. 

‘These youngsters have got to be confident, they’ve got to push their chest out, and go out there and give the best account of themselves they can.’ 

To stand a chance against England, Wales’ forwards must repeat the strong showing they produced against Scotland. 

The return of Courtney Lawes as England captain will make their task harder.

The return of Courtney Lawes (pictured) for England will make Wales task even tougher

Respective skippers Lawes and Biggar are both Northampton Saints employees.

Saturday’s game will be just the sixth in Five or Six Nations history where both captains have come from the same club.

‘It’s a very proud moment for the club in terms of us both captaining in a huge game,’ said Biggar.

‘I am actually on the scrounge for a couple of tickets. Courts will be able to get a few more than me!’ 

Wales know their Six Nations title defence will be over unless they down England.

To do so, they must not fall behind early which is exactly what they did in their round one humbling in Ireland. It is also a trait which has characterised all of their Six Nations trips to Twickenham.

Wales fell behind early to Ireland in a humbling 29-7 defeat in the Six Nations round one 

Of those 11 games, Wales have never led at half time. Biggar knows that must change.

‘We started OK against Scotland and went into a 6-0 lead, but against Ireland we were well off the pace,’ he admitted. 

‘The biggest difference for us from the Ireland week to the Scotland week was our emotional levels. We can’t put our finger on why we didn’t get up there for Ireland.

‘But we’ve said we can’t just have that at Principality Stadium. We need to make sure when we go away to tough places like Twickenham, we have to start well.

‘There is absolutely no doubt it’s a huge fixture. For me, if I’m brutally honest, it matters this weekend because it’s such a pivotal weekend in the Championship.

‘Games in the Six Nations when your Championship and momentum is on the line have a huge significance. For the fans, they really want to beat England.’