England have been training at their Pennyhill Park base with Welsh song “Hymns and Arias” playing over the loudspeakers to emulate the atmosphere awaiting at the Millennium Stadium for tomorrow nights Six Nations opener with Wales, head coach Stuart Lancaster confirmed yesterday.

“It’s a way of trying to replicate for the players who haven’t been there examples of sounds they’ll hear around the stadium but also how clear your communication needs to be,” Lancaster said.

“We’ve not done it all week because we don’t have the eardrums for that.”

The Millennium Stadium roof will almost certainly be kept open during tomorrow’s match, despite Wales head coach Warren Gatland already stating that he wants it closed. But it is England who will determine what happens.

“We have a decision to make by the end of the day but with the conditions set fair, we’ll probably want it open,” Lancaster said.

An experienced Wales team is populated by British and Irish Lions but Lancaster is happy with the 23 he has selected for tomorrow night.

“If you go through the pack there are a lot of guys who were unavailable in the autumn who have come back into the equation,” Lancaster said.

“Dan Cole has been great in training. He’s such an experienced player. When you go to Cardiff, experience counts and that tipped the decision in his favour.

“We have less experience in the backs but certainly lots of exciting talent. We have a really good balance across the board.”

Lancaster named Danny Cipriani and Nick Easter on the bench for the opener against Wales.

Cipriani provides fly-half cover for George Ford while Easter, more traditionally a number eight, has been asked to deputise for the second row with his experience deemed invaluable for the Millennium Stadium showdown.

A new centre partnership is formed by Jonathan Joseph and Luther Burrell and Dan Cole returns at tighthead prop having recovered from a foot problem in his first Test appearance for almost a year.

“Jonathan has been one of the form centres in the country. He and Luther have trained well together and this is a big opportunity for both of them,” Lancaster said.

England’s injury crisis means there are only nine survivors from the starting XV that toppled Australia in the climax to the autumn and just five from the 30-3 rout in Cardiff two years ago.