England ’s rookies are ready and raring to take on Scotland at a hostile Murrayfield on Saturday in their eagerly anticipated Six Nations opener.
Nearly half of the England setup heading into the clash with the Scots have never appeared in the championship, as Eddie Jones looks to rebuild his team that slumped at last year’s Six Nations.
With experience no doubt lacking in the squad, England’s rookies face the tough test of heading north of the border to take on their old rivals with a hostile home crowd expected.
One man who has featured in the tournament, but never in front of a crowd - due to the COVID-19 pandemic - is Saracens man Max Malins.
Ahead of this week’s Calcutta Cup clash Malins revealed that some of England’s more experienced heads have given insight into their Murrayfield experiences to prepare some of Jones’ newbies.
He told the PA news agency: “Last week a few blokes shared their experiences of travelling to away games and to Murrayfield in particular.
“They spoke about how it’s a hostile crowd as soon as you get off the bus and that even when you’re on the bus you can feel it.
“When you’re walking into the changing rooms you’ll get whatever chat, so you have to be ready for that. It’s got to be water off a duck’s back.
“It’s important for those who haven’t played there to have an idea of what’s coming in those environments.”
The 25-year-old did admit though that despite the pressures of the booming Scottish crowd, their main focus will of course be on themselves.
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He continued: “Of course we want to focus on ourselves, but we don’t want to be overcome by the whole occasion of it.
“It’s important to get an idea of what we’re going into, not to freeze us up or create fear but to actually create excitement around the group.
“We want to set our stall out and our body language is going to prove that we’re ready for them as soon as we step off that bus.
“You don’t want to be overcome by the situation and everyone will react differently to it, but as a whole we’ll come together. We’ve created a united group here so we’ll stand together and walk in together.”
Whilst Malins lacks international experience in front of a bumper crowd due to the effects of the pandemic, the 25-year-old revealed that atmospheres he has played in during his time in the Premiership will prove important when it comes to Saturday’s clash.
“You don't take any atmosphere personally,” he continued.
“On the day I listen to it and sort of enjoy it. It’s why we like playing the game, these are the experiences you want.
“I remember playing at Gloucester in one of my first Premiership games. I was on the bench and as we went to warm up behind the dead ball area, people were ramming things into the hoardings and chucking beer. I was thinking ‘what’s going on here?’
“And then there’s The Shed….every high ball that goes up you hear it. It was a fascinating early insight into what it can be like playing away from home.
“There will always be noise, but as soon as you start thinking about external factors or pressures that’s when you don’t start thinking about your job.”
