Riki Flutey knows that whatever the Welsh crowd throws at him during Saturday's crucial Six Nations clash in Cardiff, it is unlikely to include beer bottles and fruit.

The England centre is making his debut at the Millennium Stadium where 80,000 Welsh fans, combined with a closed roof, produce one of the most intimidating atmosphere's any player will face on the international stage.

For Flutey, there is genuine excitement about winning his sixth cap in these circumstances and past experiences in big-time rugby will ensure he is prepared for anything that comes his way.

The New Zealander, who qualified for England in September on residency grounds, said he will rely on Mike Tindall, his hugely experienced centre partner, to help deal with the challenge posed by Wales.

"I am not too sure what to expect but I have had experience of some hostile places, including Ellis Park in Johannesburg in the Super 14 tournament playing for the Hurricanes - when I was sitting on the replacements bench dodging bottles the crowd were throwing at us," he revealed.

"The Afrikaners over there were pretty verbal and got into your face and they were also aiming fruit at us. I have heard a lot about the impact the Cardiff crowd can make but we are all professionals and will focus on what needs to be done against Wales on Saturday."

Flutey came into the England team to solve the recurring problem at inside centre, set by the retirement of Will Greenwood, a player who offered deft ball handling skills, good distribution and a knack of scoring tries - particularly against the Welsh.

It was Flutey's form with Wasps that convinced England to make him one of their own and alongside team-mate Danny Cipriani, the Kiwi was one of the most potent threats in English rugby last season.

Cipriani was a casualty of England's trio of southern hemisphere hammerings last autumn, which left Flutey with a new midfield partnership to form with outside half Andy Goode and Tindall - and it was halted before it had even begun.

Tindall injured his back lifting weights which brought Jamie Noon into the centre alongside Flutey last Saturday at Twickenham. Although England defeated Italy 36-11, with Flutey grabbing a first international try, the back division failed to function thanks to a both a lack of practice time together and individual errors by those who were supposed to be feeding them quality possession.

Now, Tindall is fit and Flutey has to learn to play alongside a new partner and the pair must gel quickly as Wales possess genuine power and pace in attack. When he gets his own chance to attack, Flutey will have to find a way through a defence that has been put together by Shaun Edwards, his head coach at London Wasps.

It all adds up to a huge test of his mental and physical skills but Flutey is positively up for the challenge. He said: "At this level everyone has to have something special and we faced world-class players in those Autumn internationals and I know what is required at this level.

"We have hardly put anything out onto the pitch in terms of our attacking play yet and that's exciting and we may need more depth against a defence coached by Shaun.

"He sends me messages and texts before games, but I don't expect to hear from him in the lead up to Saturday."