The second-row veteran, 36 next month, is unique among Wales RBS 6 Nations Championship squad in that he has experienced the feeling of beating England in Cardiff.

Llewellyn was three weeks short of his 24th birthday when England were last toppled on Welsh soil.

Ieuan Evans break-out try, scored after his opposite number Rory Underwood famously went awol in defence, underpinned a 10-9 Welsh success and stunned a star-studded England team containing such household names as Will Carling, Jeremy Guscott, Rob Andrew, Jason Leonard and Peter Winterbottom.

I remember Ieuans try, obviously, and I remember just being under the cosh for the whole of the second half, defending for 40 minutes, said Llewellyn, who won his 13th cap that February afternoon.

Twelve years on, almost to the day, he is set for a 93rd Test match appearance, firmly established as Wales most-capped player.

I remember Brian Moore trying to get the ball on the touchline to take a throw-in to a line-out, and Nigel Meek (Wales hooker) harassing him, then the referee grabbed the ball and blew the final whistle. Everyone went mad.

It was brilliant, and at that time they never used to stop the crowds running on the pitch. We had a pitch invasion, and it all went a bit crazy.

I have probably never started a game against England as a favourite - Ive had one win from 10 or 11 games, whatever it is - and you would probably want a better return than that, he added.

We went through some fairly flat patches in the mid-1990s, but the last five years have been excellent. Weve really started to improve as a team, and we know where we are going and what we are trying to do when we are on the field.

Llewellyns remarkable durability is testament to his attitude and fitness, but also another simple factor - enjoyment.

This is the best group of players Ive been involved with, by far, probably the most talented and organised group, said Llewellyn, who is 14 years older than one of his current Welsh squad second-row colleagues, Newport Gwent Dragons lock Luke Charteris.

I love playing rugby and I enjoy the friendship of the players. At the start of my career, I never dreamt I would be still be playing at 35, but as sport has become more and more professional, you see people in their mid-30s achieving things like gold medals.

It would be nice to beat them (England), but you cant really look at it like that, added the Narbonne forward.

Its more about the progression of this group of players that has been together for the last three or four years, and whether weve come far enough now so we are actually good enough to do the job.