WARREN Gatland says it's essential that both Wales and England play with the handbrake off if they are to upset the odds Down Under next month.

Gatland takes his side back to Twickenham on Sunday for a tune-up for the three-Test tour to New Zealand while the hosts will blow away the cobwebs ahead of their clashes with Australia.

The Wales head coach hopes that the London encounter – which he stressed came about for rugby reasons after discussions with then counterpart Stuart Lancaster rather than purely financial reasons – will not see either side playing it safe.

Gatland said: "Because there's not the pressure or hype of the Six Nations I think both of us will go out there and, if weather conditions play their part, look to be positive and play some rugby because we will have to in the southern hemisphere.

"You can't go there, try to play 10-man rugby and try and shut up shop. To compete against Australia and New Zealand you have got to be able to back your ability and skills to score tries.

"Go to those countries with a negative frame of mind and you are wasting your time. You have to be prepared to get into a battle physically, up front and at the set piece, but also you've got to play rugby."

While Sunday is about preparation for the All Blacks, it's also about winning a famous fixture.

"There's no way that we want to undervalue how important it is when Wales play England because it such a traditional game and over the years there is very little in the win-loss ratio," said Gatland, with Wales trailing 59-57 in the head-to-head.

Alun Wyn Jones will play for the first time since the Six Nations loss at Twickenham after recovering from a foot injury.

"We expect Alun Wyn to hopefully get 40 minutes," said Gatland. "He hasn't played any rugby for a long time and there was a debate about whether we put him on the bench but we decided to start him.

"I said to him 'if that means you blow up after 25, 30 minutes and we take you off, then we will do that'. You never know how a game goes, he might get 40 minutes or 50 minutes. We will play it by ear."

Scott Williams is also likely to be replaced around the hour mark as his preparations have been disrupted by a tight hamstring and fellow centre Tyler Morgan has been recovering from ankle ligament damage, a problem that now has the all-clear.

That is likely to lead to Dragons wing Hallam Amos getting the full 80 minutes with George North moving to midfield, Gareth Anscombe coming on at full-back and Liam Williams shifting out wide.

Gatland said that Clermont centre Jonathan Davies and Racing 92 lock Luke Charteris may not be with the rest of the party on the plane to New Zealand on Monday because of Top 14 commitments but he expects them to be ready to play a full part in preparations for the first Test a week on Monday.