The world champions suffered their first Twickenham defeat in 23 matches on March 6 when the Irish produced a barnstorming performance to earn a 19-13 victory in the RBS 6 Nations Championship.

The result has left Englands title hopes in the balance with France now in the driving seat.

But Carling, who led England to 44 victories in his 59 Tests as captain between 1988 and 1996, expects Lawrence Dallaglio's side to come out fighting against the Welsh.

Carling said: I don't think many people expected a defeat to come so quickly after the World Cup or at Twickenham. Wales can play exciting rugby but I think England will have been hurt too much to lose twice.

England are still an incredible team full of world-class players and I think they'll bounce back.

They'll get their heads together and their minds right.

They've been massively hurt by losing and I think we'll see quite an interesting display on Saturday.

Despite his confidence ahead of England's fourth RBS 6 Nations fixture, Carling admitted he was shocked by the manner of their defeat against Ireland.

The Irish played incredibly well, he added. They've got a brilliant line-out and had worked out England's.

They put England under a lot of pressure and England didn't seem to have a lot of options. That was the most worrying aspect.