Make no mistake. When you go away from home in international rugby, the host team will do what they can to disrupt your preparation.
All sorts of funny business goes on. I saw it so many times in my era as England head coach and I’ve no doubt it still takes place today.
I’ve always said the mark of a good international team is whether it can win in Bloemfontein, Melbourne and Wellington. I say that because at Test level, certainly in my time coaching, those were the three toughest places to go and play.
Wins at those venues were rare and special. They were tough, hard places to travel to. The atmospheres would be febrile and the quality of the opposition was first class.
The England team I coached won in all three of those venues. That made me realise the quality of the side I was working with.
It’s all very well winning regularly at home. But tasting victory on the road in tough places is another thing entirely. If you can do that, the confidence it can give to a team is huge.
My England team celebrate beating New Zealand 15-13 in Wellington in 2003
Mike Catt and Martin Johnson embrace after we knocked over South Africa there in 2000
Winning in Melbourne in 2003, just five months before we won the World Cup Down Under
That’s the challenge for England’s class of 2025 this weekend when they travel to Cardiff for their Six Nations finale with Wales.
For any England team, Wales away is a special, yet daunting fixture. The Principality Stadium, however, is a wonderful place to play. It’s undoubtedly one of the best stadiums in world rugby, if not the best. England must be prepared for anything the Welsh will bring. And that’s on and off the field.
When I talk about funny business, I remember one year we went to Cardiff and we arrived at Principality Stadium for the team run before the game.
When we walked into the away changing room, there were cardboard cutouts of all the Wales players and their coach Sir Graham Henry. They were all about 10ft tall. Graham was 5ft 6in on his toes in real life, so to see him in the middle of our changing rooms now 10ft 6in was hilarious.
I think it was a way of trying to intimidate us, but I’m not sure what they expected us to do. Maybe smash them up? In the end, I remember Mike Tindall and Will Greenwood just laughing their heads off and taking pictures. Apparently, they are there for visitors to bring more life to the changing rooms and they forgot to remove them!
We had a great record in Cardiff, racking up some cricket scores over the years. Wales was always a special game for me because I could have played for them.
I went to school in North Wales and went to Welsh Schools trials. I absolutely would have played for them if selected. At that time, my rugby heroes were Welsh – the likes of Barry John. But Gareth Davies and Terry Holmes were picked as half-backs ahead of me and that was that!
I’m biased, obviously, but I’ll always maintain I should have made that side. A year later, I ended up playing against Davies and Holmes for England Colts at Twickenham.
Going to play Wales in Cardiff is always a tough test for any England side
There’s very little that Wales supporters love more than sticking England’s nose in it
Martin Johnson refused to swap sides for the 2003 Six Nations clash in Dublin after a maniac Irishman hammered on our changing room door
Cardiff does hold one bad memory too because it was the venue for my worst game as an England player. We were winning narrowly with minutes to go. I was screaming at my team-mates not to concede any penalties.
But the Welsh scrum-half Brynmor Williams threw a great dummy. I bought it and was caught offside. Penalty Wales. We lose the game. Nightmare. It’s one I’ll never forget. If I had been coaching me, I’d have made sure I never played for England again after that – luckily, my coaches were kinder than I was!
I can honestly say in my time as England coach, I never pulled any tricks on the opposition. But it happened to us all the time, perhaps because of how good a side we had.
Everyone remembers the 2003 Grand Slam game in Ireland and the furore over the lineup for the anthems, when Martin Johnson refused to move sides to accommodate the Irish team, leaving the presentation party to get muddy shoes as they were forced off the carpet laid out for them.
But the real reason that happened was because ahead of kick-off, some maniac Irishman hammered our changing room door demanding we got out on to the field. I nearly hit him and slammed the door on him, telling him in no uncertain terms we would only enter the tunnel when the referee asked us to. I still don’t know who that guy was.
He caused all the problems that day! It was the same bloke who asked Martin to move down the field for the anthems. Martin told him where to go. If the guy had asked nicely and not smashed our changing room door down, we’d probably have moved. But because of his antics, the players stood their ground.
The Scots are the worst. They must have a whole committee about how they can wind up the English.
One year in Edinburgh, we were in the Murrayfield changing rooms 10 minutes before kick-off and I was doing my final team talk. All of a sudden, this highland music started blasting out through the speakers in the changing rooms.
The Scots must have a whole committee dedicated to winding up the English
My England teams never had much trouble dealing with the Murrayfield atmosphere
Martin had the perfect nine-word mantra for dealing with a hostile away atmosphere
On another occasion, I remember telling the referee we would only enter the field if the Scots followed straight away. He promised me that would happen. It didn’t. I walked out and took my seat in the box and the team came out after me. No Scots.
I went absolutely nuts and went back down to the tunnel to see what was going on, only to be met by 100 bagpipers!
We still hammered Scotland that day. And herein lies the key thing.
When you go to daunting places away from home and everything is stacked against you, there is one thing to remember. It’s a very simple message, but one I love. Johnson used to drive it home repeatedly: If everyone does their job, we win the game.
It might sound simple, but it’s one of my favourite quotes and powerful too. England must take heed of it this weekend.
The reason it’s so powerful is because as a player you don’t want to be the one who lets the team down. Wales might have lost 16 Tests in a row, but they’ll be coming for England.
The atmosphere is going to be intense. Wales have shown spirit in their last two fixtures, enough to guarantee a fired up Welsh crowd willing their young side on for an upset.
But, the reality is England have the better team. So, if they execute their game plan, play at pace, get their basics correct and everyone does their job, they should win.
Wales won’t be an easy game but if all England players do their jobs, they should win
If I were coach, my focus would be on the first 10 minutes – start fast and silence the crowd
If I were coach, all my focus this week would be on the first 10 minutes. Start fast and silence the crowd. That’s what France did in Dublin last weekend. That’s what made their victory over Ireland so impressive.
A win in Cardiff on Saturday would be another step forward for this England team. It might not be enough to win them the Six Nations. But a victory is a must. Defeat would represent a significant step back after a Championship of progress.
Before the 2003 World Cup, I demanded the England team I coached won in Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. I wanted to get those results to prove we could win that year’s World Cup away from the luxury of Twickenham. That’s exactly what we did and those experiences undoubtedly helped when the big pressure moments came.
It can be the same with this England team. They have to take the Cardiff atmosphere on board and thrive on it.
Do your job. Silence the crowd. Win the game. That applies as much to the coach as the players. Steve Borthwick’s selection will be key.
For high-pressure away games, I always asked myself if I could trust the players I picked to do their job under the utmost pressure and not lose their cool or do anything daft.
I won’t name names, but some of the most talented England players didn’t make my team for the biggest matches away from home, predominantly because I could not trust them not to make a big mistake like concede a penalty or receive a yellow or red card.
Professional sport is brilliant but in equal measure horrible and brutal. But that’s what it’s all about. You have to make big calls like that to get success.
England must silence the Wales crowd by staying cool amid the pressure in Cardiff
The England team have to take the Cardiff atmosphere on board and thrive on it
Ahead of big away matches, you want your players staying cool amid the pressure. You can’t get too worked up too early, certainly not the day before or even on the morning of the game.
I think England do have cool heads. For example, Fin Smith at No 10 seems to me the sort of guy who will thrive and not be cowed by the Principality Stadium atmosphere.
These sorts of games are the ones you want to be involved in. They are the whole reason why you play or coach at the highest level. If everyone does their job properly, England win this weekend.
I just hope Borthwick and his players don’t have any giant cardboard cutouts waiting for them this year!
