JONATHAN Davies believes Wales can use the spirit of the underdog and bring Twickenham to a standstill at the World Cup later this year – by smothering England with their defence, writes Chris Bailey.

Warren Gatland needs all the resources he can get in a group that contains Australia and World Cup hosts England, who hold the bragging rights after an impressive 21-16 win at the Millennium Stadium.

The English were underdogs that Six Nations night but come September 26 at Twickenham, it may be Wales in search of a backs-to-the-wall victory in front of a deeply partisan crowd.

But they need only draw inspiration from recent history, not least the famous victory on English turf in 2012 as the boot of Leigh Halfpenny sealed the Triple Crown.

Davies was in the side that day but Wales must do without the centre this time around because of knee ligament damage.

With or without the centre Wales know how to keep a team away from the whitewash – in March they stifled Ireland for 45 consecutive phases before completing a rearguard triumph that will go down in folklore.

And Davies has called on his teammates to summon up the same spirit in order to topple the English again.

"When teams come up against Wales they don't tend to play that much rugby," said Davies, speaking at the Cardiff leg of the Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour, where Land Rover was rolling out their mascot recruitment as part of a beach rugby festival, run in conjunction with Cardiff Blues.

"If you look back at the second half against England this year they kicked a lot of ball, and traditionally our defence is very good.

"Teams don't want to take that on as such and they were putting pressure on us through the air, and we created errors and gave them easy opportunities.

"In the first half against we were very good and took a lead into half time, and to be fair to England they came back at us fair and square.

"The boys will remember that and going to Twickenham is a very difficult place to go and win, you've got to make sure everything goes right on the day.

"When we won Grand Slams and Championships in the past it was our defence that was the key factor in negating the threat the teams have.

"To do well in the World Cup that has to be the same and (defence coach) Shaun Edwards will be working them incredibly hard, he puts pressure on us and that brings the best out of us.

"The boys will take a lot of confidence being underdogs, that spirit drives them on, and the whole atmosphere will be amazing to be a part of. They won't worry too much about where it is.

"We won the Triple Crown there in 2012 and though the Millennium is a very special place, when you win at Twickenham that's not too bad as well – I'm sure that we can repeat that."

- Jonathan Davies is a Land Rover ambassador. Land Rover, a Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup 2015, will be recruiting two official Rugby World Cup 2015 mascots at a beach rugby festival on Barry Island on Saturday July 4. Follow @LandRoverRugby #WeDealInReal

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