Wales full-back Lee Byrne said he was glad to be preparing for a rugby match rather than a disciplinary hearing after being selected to play against England in Saturday's Six Nations opener.

The 29-year-old will take the field at Twickenham this weekend after winning an appeal on Tuesday against a two-week ban imposed on him following his brief appearance as an illegal 16th player during Ospreys' European Cup victory over Leicester.

Wales coach Warren Gatland selected the British and Irish Lion on Wednesday.

"I'm absolutely over the moon to be honest," Byrne said.

"I'm just glad to put the last four or five days behind me and be back on familiar ground preparing for a game of rugby rather than thinking about an appeal hearing.

"I've missed one training session in getting to Glasgow (for the appeal hearing), but we are at the business end of the training week and all my focus now must be on Twickenham."

Byrne's try in the corresponding fixture two years ago led to a Wales second-half rally that saw them beat England and spark a grand slam.

"I've really got to go on record thanking Roger Lewis and the WRU's (Welsh Rugby Union) solicitors Hugh James for all that they did for me," he said.

"I found myself in a difficult position, but I'm just glad it's all over now."

Gatland delayed his team announcement until after Byrne's appeal hearing.

"There's no pressure on me now to perform at the weekend is there... after all the effort everyone has put in on my behalf?," joked Byrne, who has been capped 27 times.

"The support out there for me has been amazing, from random people coming up to me at the airport to wish me luck before I flew out to Glasgow to all the texts and phone messages I've had since the result has been out.

"It's quite humbling to know you have that kind of support out there, I just hope I can repay everyone with a performance.

"It's just going to be great to get back to international rugby, it feels like I've been away for ages after missing out on the Autumn internationals due to the injury I picked up with the Lions.

"I'm really looking forward to getting back on the field at Twickenham and there's nothing like starting back with the big one against England in a centenary game (Twickenham's first Test was the 1910 England-Wales match).

"We started the campaign in 2008 with a win against them at Twickenham for the first time in 20 years and look what happened then, it's all about winning that first game and then building some momentum."

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