IT doesn't get any better than this, says Newport Gwent Dragons threequarter Hal Luscombe who makes his Six Nations debut against world champions England in the cauldron of the Millennium Stadium tomorrow.

It will be Luscombe's eighth cap since he qualified for Wales after arriving from South Africa five years ago, but despite already playing against his native country, this one tops the lot.

The fleet-footed 6ft 3ins outside centre by preference wings in for Wales where he will mark the dangerous Josh Lewsey, one of only five survivors from England's World Cup winning team of 15 months ago.

"I couldn't really ask for a bigger game than this at the Millennium Stadium," he said. And though a relative newcomer to this country he is well aware of the feverish excitement surrounding this particular game.

"I've never come across anything like it," he admitted. "I've pretty much realised the enormity of the game between England and Wales, though I've never actually been on the inside.

"Obviously I wasn't here when Wales last beat England in Cardiff 12 years ago. But you've got to keep yourself focused on the game, it's easy to get caught up in the hype.

"Josh Lewsey has done it all, he's won the World Cup with England and the European Cup with Wasps. He's a very strong runner, very quick and obviously a strong guy.

"He's pretty good defensively, he reads their structure very well and makes the right decisions. He's got a lot of Test match experience, and I can't wait to test myself against him."

Luscombe and his fellow Welsh backs have been studying vidoes of their English opposition, though they have been encouraged by innovative backs coach Scott Johnson to interchange heavily.

"Scott doesn't say we're a wing or a full back, but a back three. He wants us popping up all over the place," he said.

"A lot has been said about what the Welsh backline can do, there's been a lot of talk about it. Basically everyone comes at every angle.

"We've played against Newcastle twice and England centres Matthew Tait and Jamie Noon, so we've got a good idea of how they play and what they're like defensively. They're good attackers and pretty sound defensively."

Luscombe echoes the view that Wales have to achieve a major scalp if they are to turn promise into the reality of arriving on the world stage.

"It's very important to kick on now if we want to grow," he said. "We need to get this win over a big country and there's no better time or opposition than now.

"Our forwards are working hard and if we get the ball we will create problems."