It’s a knockout: England adopt ‘quarter-final’ mentality in Six Nations

England enter Saturday’s pivotal Guinness Six Nations match against Wales with the mindset that they are now playing knockout rugby.

Each side has won one and lost one of their opening two fixtures, turning the Twickenham collision into a must-win encounter if they are to remain in title contention.

Once Wales have been negotiated, England must face Ireland and France and attack coach Martin Gleeson knows there is no margin for error.

“It’s a big game and we’re treating it like a quarter-final. We have to target three wins. It’s knockout stages for us. If we don’t get the result on Saturday, we’re out,” Gleeson said.

“We know Wales fight really hard and will make it really difficult for us, so we’ve got to go into this with a quarter-final mentality and go after Wales. We’re going after them.”