WALES centre Nick Tompkins insists he will be fuelled by the desire to show he belongs on the Test stage rather than proving England boss Eddie Jones wrong at Twickenham this evening.

The Saracens back made his international debut in the Six Nations opener against Italy and his performance earned a promotion from the bench for the clashes against Ireland and France.

The 25-year-old accepted an approach from the land of his grandmother despite being born in a London suburb and winning the World Rugby U20 Championship with England before going on to play for England Saxons.

This afternoon he will head to the away changing room and pull on a red jersey after Jones turned to others to slot into his midfield.

When asked if he wants to prove to England that they missed out, Tompkins said: "Yes, but the stronger emotion is to prove why I'm here.

"I want to show people why I'm here. I want them to see that, yes, he deserves to be here. That's stronger than any 'you missed out'."

Free Press Series:

Tompkins remained a club player while watching his teammates go on to become Test regulars with England, and also found his route to the XV at Sarries blocked by internationals.

"I'd say that was one of the hardest things I had to go through," he said. "You see all these guys, they make it and the opportunities they've had, they've taken it.

"You question why you're not getting the opportunities, but I think it clicked later on that there were things I needed to do to and I wasn't doing them.

"From about two years ago, it kind of clicked. I was probably blaming other people, making up excuses for why I wasn't doing what I should have been doing.

"It is tough as a young kid being at a good club with players like Brad (Barritt) and Duncan (Taylor) who are so good. You have to be patient.

"I realise looking back that everybody's got their own path, it takes people different times to figure out what you need to do to step up.

"I wasn't ready then, I'm ready now, but I don't know if I would have been ready if I'd been thrust in at 22, 23."

Free Press Series:

Tompkins' club future will be decided after the Six Nations with the centre tipped to head to the Scarlets because of Saracens' relegation after salary cap breaches.

"We're looking at opportunities and to see what the future holds," he said. "I'm with Saracens, I'm there long-term and what's going to happen, I don't know.

"There are possibilities. I want to be playing at the highest standard, so we'll see what I'm going to have to do in terms of that, but I'm with Sarries long-term."

Dragons back row forward Ross Moriarty starts at blindside while his Rodney Parade teammate Leon Brown is on the bench.

England: E Daly (Saracens); A Watson (Bath), M Tuilagi (Leicester), O Farrell (Saracens, captain), J May (Leicester); G Ford (Leicester), B Youngs (Leicester); J Marler (Harlequins), J George (Saracens), K Sinckler (Harlequins), M Itoje (Saracens), G Kruis (Saracens), C Lawes (Northampton), M Wilson (Sale Sharks), T Curry (Sale Sharks).

Replacements: L Cowan-Dickie (Exeter), E Genge (Leicester), W Stuart (Bath), J Launchbury (Wasps), C Ewels (Bath), B Earl (Saracens), W Heinz (Gloucester), H Slade (Exeter).

Wales: L Halfpenny (Scarlets); G North (Ospreys), N Tompkins (Saracens), H Parkes (Scarlets), L Williams (Scarlets); D Biggar (Northampton), T Williams (Cardiff Blues); R Evans (Scarlets), K Owens (Scarlets), D Lewis (Cardiff Blues), J Ball (Scarlets), A W Jones (Ospreys, captain), R Moriarty (Dragons), J Tipuric (Ospreys), J Navidi (Cardiff Blues).

Replacements: R Elias (Scarlets), R Carre (Saracens), L Brown (Dragons), A Shingler (Scarlets), T Faletau (Bath), R Webb (Bath), J Evans (Cardiff Blues), J McNicholl (Scarlets).

Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand).