England v Wales: Stuart Lancaster's side can silence critics, says Phil Dowson "Chargedown Charlie" Hodgson has been responsible for both of England's tries in this year's tournament, with line breaks - let alone scoring opportunities - at a premium. And while grit and grunt was the order of the day in Scotland and Italy, the visit of Wales, with their irresistible backline, puts pressure on England's own attack. It is a pressure, however, that inspires this side. The coach has invited had a number of differing figures in to speak to us, from serving soldiers to sports figure like Kevin Sinfield and Gary Neville. As a Newcastle fan it pains me to say it, but he [Neville] spoke a lot of sense about leadership. He made the point that he took a leadership role at Old Trafford despite not being one of the best players, and despite, at times, being in and out of the team. He talked about the culture that you need to succeed, and that's something that's very important to us all. Dowson knows Lancaster better than most through his time with the Saxons. Refreshingly, he reports that the coach's style has remained as blunt and honest with the senior side as it always was with the Saxons, and he doesn't expect that to change as the pressure increases. The approach is the same, but obviously the amount of time and effort he is putting into this role know is fairly awesome to see. He [Lancaster] is excellent at involving the players, and encouraging a situation where we set our own standards for the group. The players are very involved. Charlie will lead on attack, for example, and there are meetings for the forwards, the halfbacks and the "generals" [players who make decisions]. The captain has reinforced the message that this is just the start, and the atmosphere in the squad has been really encouraging and honest. Six of England's starting XV have not played a Six Nations Test at Twickenham. And as if that is not motivation enough, they have been revved up even further this week by the comments of former Wales fly-half Jonathan Davies, who said this England side could be "smashed" by Warren Gatland's side. "Yes, of course we saw those comments," laughs Dowson. He's paid to give his opinions and that is fair enough, but I suspects there are some players and coaches in the Wales set-up who wouldn't have been too pleased because it obviously gives our players some extra motivation. We're keen to prove our critics wrong, and what better way to start than by beating Wales at Twickenham.