In France, a dogged performance was rewarded with victory following George North's late try before Italy were the next to succumb to the Wales road show.

Arriving in Scotland with both sides knowing victory would keep their title hopes alive, it was Leigh Halfpenny who won the battle of the boots with Greig Laidlaw - Wales sealing a 28-18 victory to ensure they would have a fighting chance of back-to-back titles against England.

They would have no doubt expected England's 18-11 win over Italy to be of a greater margin however, but Sergio Parisse's spirited side ensured all is still to play for on Super Saturday.

Wales will kick off knowing that a victory by eight points or more would see them defend the title while a win by seven would also see Howley's men retain their crown, provided they maintain their advantage, currently two, in the try-scoring stakes.

And after the outlook was bleak for Wales after starting the competition with an eighth straight defeat, Howley is now relishing the chance to derail England's Grand Slam pursuit at the Millennium Stadium.

"They will have a nice warm welcome at the Millennium Stadium," said Howley.

"England are a very good side and it's great it has come down to the last game of the championship.

"We are delighted we have been able to refocus and gain momentum in a championship which is so important after the disappointment of the first-half display against Ireland.

"To come away from the last three games, which were away from home, and win is a credit to the players and the coaching team."

Wales have made just two changes to the side that defeated Scotland - Justin Tipuric coming into the side at openside with Sam Warburton shifting to blindside in place of the injured Ryan Jones.

And Gethin Jenkins returns to the front row in place of Paul James and captain the side in Jones' absence, winning his 98th cap in the process.

After England won the first five encounters with Wales following Italy's inception into the Championship in 2000, the sides have been far more evenly matched in recent years.

Wales have won last year's clash, a thrilling 19-12 triumph at Twickenham last year, England triumphed 26-19 at the Millennium Stadium two years ago.

They also won handsomely in 2003, the last time they claimed the Grand Slam, and as impressive as England have been in victories over Scotland, Ireland and France, head coach Stuart Lancaster admits his side must improve on their most recent outing against Italy.

From that match, Lancaster has recalled Joe Marler as well as half-back pairing Ben Youngs and Owen Farrell, who has recovered from a thigh problem, while Tom Croft also starts his first England match for a year.

"In the second half I don't think there's any doubt that it was poor," said Lancaster.

"We weren't quite accurate enough in the second half, I thought we were still in control but in the second half we let them back into it and they pushed us right to the end.

"We're going to have to improve on that performance to get the Grand Slam.

"I don't think there's any doubt about that. At half-time, we weren't quite accurate enough but still felt we were in control.

"We know we have to improve our performance going into the Wales game. Nobody was punching the air in the changing room. We know we can do better.

"We know we have got to play better, we know Wales are playing well but equally we know what we need to do to fix things up and we are confident in the players we've got.

"We've still got a young team and we need to be a little bit more composed in key areas. That composure will be tested at the highest level on Saturday."