Two years ago England travelled over the Severn Bridge with their eyes on a grand slam but on an unforgettable night they were crushed 30-3 after failing utterly to deal with the intensity and atmosphere of the Millennium Stadium.
England have exorcised their demons somewhat since by beating Wales at Twickenham and then back in Cardiff earlier this year but Saturday’s clash gives them the chance for the ultimate revenge.
Victory for the hosts will hugely boost their chances of progressing from the tournament's toughest pool and leave Wales facing a formidable task, probably needing to beat Australia, to join them.
"A game against Wales is like no other in terms of intensity, you realise what it means to both sets of fans and you can lay on another 10 percent, or 100 percent because of the World Cup, Lancaster said on Thursday.
"It comes from 2013 and the pain they inflicted on us. That's one of those games that will always stay with you. It was a hostile environment that day and hopefully we can recreate that at Twickenham."
With Australia waiting in the wings, that is the backdrop to the first of what should be three seismic Twickenham encounters between the big beasts of Pool A over the next three weekends.
The game will be the 128th Anglo-Welsh meeting spanning 124 years and many observers are describing it as the most important of the lot.
The teams have met twice previously in the World Cup, with a win apiece. Wales triumphed comfortably in the quarter-finals of the first tournament in 1987 while England, after a scare, won at the same stage in 2003 en route to winning the Webb Ellis Cup.
That was knockout rugby and though Saturday's match will not eliminate the loser, it certainly piles on the pressure.
England start favourites, primarily through home advantage, though there will be thousands more Wales fans than is usual for a Twickenham match.
The hosts have opted to front up to Wales’s power-based attack by selecting Owen Farrell at flyhalf and mighty rugby league convert Sam Burgess alongside tackling colossus Brad Barritt in a brick-wall midfield.
Trying to smash his way through it will be centre Jamie Roberts, on whose broad shoulders so much of his country’s hopes ride in the wake of the rash of injuries that have undermined their preparation.
Despite that, Wales can still have a host of British and Irish Lions in their squad and will be superbly drilled, as always by coach Warren Gatland in a game the rugby world has been looking forward to since the draw was made three years ago.
Teams:
England: 1-Joe Marler, 2-Tom Youngs, 3-Dan Cole, 4-Geoff Parling, 5-Courtney Lawes, 6-Tom Wood, 7-Chris Robshaw (captain), 8-Billy Vunipola, 9-Ben Youngs, 10-Owen Farrell, 11-Jonny May, 12-Sam Burgess, 13-Brad Barritt, 14-Anthony Watson, 15-Mike Brown.
Replacements: 16-Rob Webber, 17-Mako Vunipola, 18-Kieran Brookes, 19-Joe Launchbury, 20-James Haskell, 21-Richard Wigglesworth, 22-George Ford, 23-Alex Goode
Wales: 1-Gethin Jenkins, 2-Scott Baldwin, 3-Tom Francis,
4-Bradley Davies, 5-Alun Wyn Jones, 6-Dan Lydiate, 7-Sam Warburton (captain), 8-Toby Faletau; 9-Gareth Davies, 10-Dan Biggar, 11-Hallam Amos, 12-Jamie Roberts, 13-Scott Williams, 14-George North, 15-Liam Williams
Replacements: 16-Ken Owens, 17-Aaron Jarvis, 18-Samson Lee, 19-Luke Charteris, 20-Justin Tipuric, 21-Lloyd Williams, 22-Rhys Priestland, 23-Alex Cuthbert.
(Editing by Justin Palmer)
