Owen Farrell has called on his side to embrace the hostility as England seek a first win against Wales in Cardiff since 2017. England are anticipating a warm welcome from fired-up Welsh fans after a week in which Saturday’s fixture was thrown into doubt but captain Farrell wants his team to rise to the challenge.
Farrell and co were comfortably beaten 40-24 on their last trip to Cardiff two years ago when the pandemic prevented supporters from attending. The return of crowds means England can expect hostilities to begin en route to the Principality Stadium, with Farrell recalling one previous incident when a supporter headbutted the team bus.
Farrell, however, is relishing the chance to run the gauntlet again after miserable memories of empty stadiums and disappointing defeats, having lost his cool two years ago in the face of two controversial refereeing decisions by Pascal Gaüzère. “The way in is brilliant, you go straight through the centre of Cardiff and have a nice welcome,” said Farrell.
“The bus goes through a whole load of people and disappears under the stadium. It is an iconic place to play and see the atmosphere there and see the love of rugby they have got, it is brilliant and we are looking forward to it.
“Along with that, they’ve got a team with a lot of recent history – in this competition especially. And we’ve had some tough days there before but we’re looking forward to what is going to be a brilliant challenge.”
Asked if the previous threat of industrial action could raise the temperature even further, Farrell said: “Maybe, but you would do well to fire them up even more. It is always a brilliant atmosphere and always a place that looks pretty fired up to me. We have got to concentrate on the game of rugby being played inside it. It’s an unbelievable atmosphere, a special place to play.”
England are seeking a second win under Steve Borthwick after comfortably defeating Italy but defeat would leave them staring down the barrel with fixtures against France and Ireland to come.
Wales have lost both their matches so far, including their opener at home to Ireland, and the England No 8 Alex Dombrandt believes silencing the crowd can be key to his side’s chances of success.
“When the atmosphere is as loud as it can be when they’re on top, if the crowd are quiet or not as loud as they usually are, then it means you’re doing something right,” Dombrandt said. “So the more we can nullify their threats and be on top, you’d like to think maybe they’ll be a bit quieter.”
