WALES captain Sam Warburton has no doubt his head-to-head battle with England opposite number Chris Robshaw will be crucial at the World Cup.

Harlequins flanker Robshaw has captained England since 2012, while fellow openside Warburton took the reins for Wales a year earlier.

Warburton believes that winning their head-to-head duel at Twickenham could go some way to deciding a pivotal match.

“I have a massive amount of respect for Chris and he fully deserves the captaincy and what comes with it,” he said. “Hopefully, I will make the team and I can play at Twickenham against him.

“I don’t believe they are the ten-man side that a lot of ill-advised fans will tell you.”

The winner of that clash will take a significant step towards the knockout stages while the loser could be facing an early exit, with Australia, Fiji and Uruguay also in the qualifying group.

Warburton added: “It is a tough pool but we are going to have to beat sides like them if we want to win it. England will be one of the highest-profile games any of us will be involved in.

“Games go back and forth. You win some and you lose some, but because it’s Wales-England it will always have a massive amount of expectation from both sets of fans.”

Sam Warburton 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