Wales will be looking to steal a jump in Sunday's Six Nations encounter against England at Twickenham, a match both sides need to win to remain in contention for the title, by not kicking the ball to touch.
England have used their driving maul to telling effect this season, vexing even New Zealand, but Wales, the defending champions, aim to neutralise one of their opponents' strengths by not kicking the ball out of play and keeping their penalty count to a minimum.
Home advantage has proved key in this year's Six Nations with matches involving the top four sides yet to produce an away victory. Wales were heavily beaten by Ireland in Dublin, their first defeat on the road in the tournament since 2011, on their one venture away from Cardiff.
"We gave penalties away in Ireland and they used lineouts to drive mauls," said the Wales defence coach, Shaun Edwards. "They scored 17 of their points that way and they did not play much rugby in a game that only produced 35-40 rucks: you can't turn over ball if it is flying over your head and the opposition are driving through lineouts.
"One of our aims on Sunday is not to give England any lineouts: the fewer there are the better it will be for us. The main way of doing that is not to give away penalties. I remember a game against England when they had only four lineouts and, if we can keep them to that number again, great."
Edwards takes pride in the development of one of England's second-rows and pivotal players, Joe Launchbury, who made his debut at Wasps when Edwards was the club's head coach. "I was looking at my notes from years ago after his debut and I predicted that he was going to play for England," he said.
"Joe does not get the plaudits like some other players but I think he epitomises this England team: they are hard-working and honest with young players who have broken into the big time. We realise they have a vast array of threats, particularly the half-backs. I have great admiration for those two guys."
Wales have not conceded a try against England in their past three meetings, the first a warm-up before the 2011 World Cup in Cardiff. They have won two of their three Six Nations matches at Twickenham since the current management took over at the beginning of 2008 and their next visit to the ground after Sunday will be in next year's World Cup.
"I am fortunate because I work with players who are excited not only when they have the ball but when it is in the hands of the opposition," said Edwards.
"In fact, I think some of them prefer not to have it at times. My job is to ensure that we keep their points' tally down and my English background does not come into it. I am just coaching against an opponent.
"I do not think our recent record at Twickenham has a bearing this weekend. Each game is different, with its own momentum shifts. It does help if you have played at a stadium before and been in the dressing room, but what I feel is significant for us is that most of our players have played in a lot of big matches and I hope that experience helps on Sunday."
Wales name their side on Wednesday. The centre Jonathan Davies, who has not appeared for Wales since suffering an arm and chest injury during the opening autumn international against South Africa, and Alun Wyn Jones are available for selection and the champions may start with 12 of the team that took the Twickenham field two years ago, a number that would rise by one if Mike Phillips regains his place at scrum-half from Rhys Webb.
"Ideally Jon would have been playing week in, week out but it is not always like that," said Edwards, when asked if Davies was likely to start. "Sometimes you make special exceptions for special players.
"The dilemma at scrum-half is a great one to have: you have one No9 who has won a number of trophies in his international career and has just come off a winning Lions team and you have another who is a young kid coming off the back of an exceptional first start against France. It is the kind of headache you want."
