WARREN Gatland is jealous of England's strength in depth but feels Wales will benefit from tried and tested combinations unlike their World Cup group of death rivals, writes Chris Kirwan.

The head coach named his 31-strong squad for England 2015 on Monday afternoon and while there were some surprises – just two hookers and five specialist locks to cover Alun Wyn Jones' knee injury – it largely picked itself.

Gatland's XV for the clash with the tournament hosts on the second weekend of the tournament is predictable yet opposite number Stuart Lancaster has plenty more calls to make.

"We are much more settled. England have got the problem of which way they want to play and who they want to play," said Gatland.

"Who are they going to play at 9 and 10? Who are they going to play in midfield? What's the make-up of their back row? They need (Geoff) Parling to call their lineouts, who is his partner and who comes off the bench?

"We are a little bit more settled and more comfortable with the experience and combinations that we've got.

"Obviously they've got some world class players and the depth that I'd love to have but they are not 100 per cent sure of where they are going."

Gatland believes that England will longer possess the same oomph in the closing stages while questioned the decision to omit Northampton centre Luther Burrell to fit in rugby league convert Sam Burgess.

"I would like to have the luxury of leaving out Burrell because I think he is a quality player who has caused us problems in the past and I think they will miss Dylan Hartley.

"What England have been good at is their impact coming off the bench, with the likes of Tom Youngs, but I am not sure they are going to have that luxury within the makeup of their squad now."

The Wales management, who name their side for Saturday's final warm-up with Italy on Thursday morning, have to weight up their approach to the World Cup opener. They will ease past Uruguay but could do with racking up the points against the group whipping boys.