The verdict on Wales team to face England as Gatland young guns hoping World Cup history repeats itself

Wales' Rugby World Cup preparations ramp up this weekend with a warm-up Test against England, which follows two gruelling training camps in Switzerland and Turkey.

While most outside of the squad have given Wales little chance of making an impact in France this autumn, internally Warren Gatland will be quietly confident of proving the doubters wrong. Sources close to camp have been telling WalesOnline for the last few weeks the coaches have been hugely impressed with the uncapped players in the squad and many of those have been given an opportunity this weekend.

It'll be no picnic at the Principality Stadium on Saturday with England bound to test Wales physically, and while the pre-World Cup friendlies have always resembled something of a phoney war, Gatland will at the very least expect to see a positive performance as they build towards their Pool C opener against Fiji on September 10.

Steffan Thomas assesses Gatland's latest Wales picks.

A new leader, just like Warburton

Gatland has revealed he will pick a different captain for the other two warm-up games against England at Twickenham, and South Africa in Cardiff, meaning whoever wears the armband could effectively be on trial to land the main role at the World Cup.

It's Ospreys openside Jac Morgan who has been chosen to skipper his country this Saturday, and there is every reason to think it will be a success. The 23-year-old is a natural leader and has previously captained Wales at U20s level.

Many coaches have been impressed with the respect the Amman Valley man receives from the officials while he is very much a player who leads by example. There are clear parallels with Sam Warburton here, who was younger than Morgan when he was named captain for the 2011 tournament in New Zealand.

While the conservative option would be to go with a more experienced skipper such as Dan Biggar or Taulupe Faletau for the World Cup, selecting a younger captain would bring freshness into this Wales squad. Morgan needs to ensure his own individual performance is up to its usual high standards, and it will be interesting to see how his team-mates respond to him.

But it would be a shock to me if selecting Morgan as captain wasn't a success.

Costelow looking to follow Priestland

The talk is young Scarlets playmaker Sam Costelow has been very impressive in camp this summer, but he now has to prove on the field he has what it takes control a game at Test level.

Costelow has a well-rounded game with his decision-making under pressure a real plus point, but it remains to be seen how many outside-halves Gatland selects in his final 33-man squad. The man from Pencoed has a very good running game while his kicking and game management is top notch.

It's only a matter of time before Costelow becomes a regular in this Wales team but the question is whether this World Cup has come too early for him or not. He gets the opportunity to prove his readiness for the big stage this weekend but much will depend on the platform his forwards provide, although it will help his cause having his regional half-back partner Gareth Davies in the number nine shirt.

Looking further ahead Dan Biggar is virtually nailed on the make the final squad while the selection of Gareth Anscombe is likely, so Costelow really has to make the most of this opportunity.

Back in 2011 a young Rhys Priestland was the bolter in Gatland's World Cup squad, impressing so much in a warm-up clash against England he ended up being Wales' first choice 10 in New Zealand.

Stephen Jones was very much viewed as the experienced first-choice back then, with James Hook also in the frame, but Priestland burst through from nowhere.

Could history repeat itself, with Coestelow ousting Biggar and Anscombe from Gatland's starting team?

New look front-row

Even if the result doesn't go in Wales' favour Gatland will at the very least have learnt a lot about his two uncapped props Corey Domachowski and Kieron Assiratti. The players have impressed for Cardiff with a superb scrummaging performance in the Arms Park outfits Challenge Cup victory over Sale Sharks in April standing out.

But Test match rugby is at least a couple of levels up and they will be thoroughly examined at scrum time against what is likely to be a very powerful England pack. Forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys revealed last week Wales are highly likely to take six props to France.

Considering Ospreys pair Gareth Thomas and Nicky Smith have 63 caps between them it is likely to be a shootout between Domachowski and uncapped Scarlet Kemsley Mathias for the final loosehead berth. Domachowski needs to prove he can transfer his regional form onto the international circuit.

Assiratti is a very talented footballer and an explosive ball carrier but whether his scrummaging can cut it at this level remains to be seen. With England's scrum among the best around Gatland will find out how far away from being genuine international class scrummagers the Cardiff duo are.

Halfpenny the centurion

If any player deserves to win 100 caps for his country it's Leigh Halfpenny. It's hard to think of a more reliable and technically proficient player to have worn the red jersey than the man from Gorseinon.

Since making his debut against South Africa back in 2008 Halfpenny has played on the wing and at full-back while he has established a reputation as one of the best goal kickers in the world game. But there are many who doubt whether Halfpenny, at 34, still has what it takes to excel at Test level with his pace often being questioned.

Gatland has always had the utmost respect for Halfpenny, and he has a golden opportunity to prove can still cut it this weekend. Halfpenny may not have the same pace he possessed in his younger days but his positional play remains flawless.

Given the intense competition in the back-three Halfpenny really need to put in a big performance on Saturday.

Centre pairing

In previous World Cups Wales have had established centre partnerships going into the tournament but that's not the case this time around. There are many who believe George North should be moved back to the wing but Wales lack so much experience in midfield the Ospreys man is likely to stay where he is for now.

The more interesting selection is the uncapped Max Llewellyn with the Gloucester bound centre possessing the size and the power Gatland has always preferred in the number 12 jersey. Llewellyn is another who impressed for Cardiff during the latter part of the season getting the better of England powerhouse Manu Tuilagi in a Challenge Cup tie against Sale.

The 24-year-old is explosive, can get over the gain-line, while he also has a subtle passing game which can unlock defences. With there being few established centres in the squad a big performance from Llewellyn will catapult him to the front of the queue when it comes to the World Cup selection.