When Wales head for Twickenham the odds on a passive, entirely silent pre-match buildup usually range between slim and none. This year has proved no exception and calculated references by Eddie Jones to the “cocky” Welsh and the torrid welcome awaiting the visiting fly-half Rhys Patchell have added further kerosene to the already combustible Six Nations contest on Saturday.

If Jones’s pointed analysis is any indicator, a red-hot encounter is all but guaranteed with Patchell a particular target for attention. The Scarlets’ fly-half has been wonderfully influential for both region and country over the past month but England clearly feel he can be rattled. “Every time Rhys Patchell gets the ball he’s going to see Jonathan Joseph’s head in his way,” said Jones, having confirmed a starting XV with Joseph at outside centre in place of Ben Te’o.

“JJ’s a good-looking bloke but you don’t want that as you go to pass the ball. He’s either going to have to go over him or kick through. And then they give us the ball back. He’s a young guy, he’s inexperienced and is their third-choice 10. He will have to find guys around him to help because he’ll be under some heat. I’d imagine that when Alun Wyn Jones and the guys go down for breakfast on Saturday morning, they’ll be looking at him thinking: can this kid handle the pressure today? He’s got to get the ball wide and that’s going to be a big job. It will be different to playing against Scotland. It’s a big ask … one hell of an experience for the kid. I hope he has the bottle on Saturday.”

This is not the first time during his England tenure that Jones has publicly queried the mindset of an opposition 10. During the 2016 championship he singled out Ireland’s Johnny Sexton before a pivotal Twickenham game that the hosts won 21-10. England, it would seem, have seen enough of the 24-year-old Patchell in recent weeks to be faintly uneasy about what Dan Biggar’s understudy can instigate if granted sufficient time and space.

Having sat and listened to the “noise” coming out of the Vale of Glamorgan on the subject of Wales’s superior fitness, what team he would select and the rising confidence of Warren Gatland’s squad, Jones is also clearly itching for his team to deliver a brusque response in other areas. “Warren’s been talking a lot this week … they [Wales] are definitely confident and cocky. They believe in the way they are playing but it will be different on Saturday in front of 82,000 people at Twickenham. They will make a hell of a difference.

“Everyone has been telling them how well they played last week [but] they are playing against a side that loves to play at Twickenham. It is easy to play when the ball is on the front foot and going from side to side. But when it gets a bit cut and thrust and nip and tuck we will see [who] has the bottle to handle it. This will be a proper Test match.”

There is also the small matter of England’s lengthy unbeaten home record in the Six Nations, which dates back to 2012. Wales were memorably victorious in the 2015 World Cup pool stages but Jones believes his squad have progressed since then: “I think it will take a seriously good side to beat England full stop. It doesn’t matter where we are playing; on the Pennyhill Park golf course, at Milton Keynes – any ground we play on, we play tough and we play hard. We’ve heard how fit Wales are – if it was a cross-fit game then I’d understand why fitness was so important.”

Beneath the verbal sparring, however, Jones’s own big game selection instincts remain razor sharp. The decision to relegate Te’o to the bench was based less on merit than his past observations of top players returning from injury. “My experience with big players – and he’s a big player – is that when they’ve had a long injury, their second game back is always the most difficult … they’re always a little bit off.”

Quick Guide England men's team to face Wales Show Backs 15 Mike Brown (Harlequins 65 caps)

14 Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby 29 caps)

13 Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby 36 caps)

12 Owen Farrell (Saracens 54 caps)

11 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers 30 caps)

10 George Ford (Leicester Tigers 41 caps)

9 Danny Care (Harlequins 77 caps) Forward 1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens 45 caps)

2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints 90 caps)

3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers 78 caps)

4 Joe Launchbury (Wasps 48 caps)

5 Maro Itoje (Saracens 15 caps)

6 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints 62 caps)

7 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins 60 caps)

8 Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs 4 caps) Substitutes 16 Jamie George (Saracens 21 caps)

17 Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs 1 cap)

18 Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs 6 caps)

19 George Kruis (Saracens 22 caps)

20 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby 4 caps)

21 Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens 27 caps)

22 Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors 9 caps)

23 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs 24 caps) Photograph: Adam Davy/PA

Unleashing a motivated Joseph is the other half of the equation: “If we want to be the best in the world, and be good enough to beat Wales, we don’t want to get our pants pulled down. We’ve got to get the players to keep improving.”

With Danny Care replacing the injured Ben Youngs and poised to displace Matt Dawson as England’s most-capped scrum-half, there is plenty of incentive across Jones’s squad. Jones did mischievously suggest Gatland would be his first Welsh pick if he had to sign anyone up for England – “he used to be a very good hooker … he was a better player than me” – but the Australian says he will not lose sleep over Saturday’s outcome. “All I know is that I’ll sleep well on Friday night. Because I know the boys are prepared to play well on Saturday.”

Even by the ding-dong standards of Anglo-Welsh summit meetings, this one could be lively.