In recent years the experience of going to Twickenham for supporters has mirrored what we have seen on the pitch. It has lacked energy at times, it is not the most ferocious of crowds and it has almost taken a setback for England or a spark to ignite them. The goal has to be that the baseline level at Twickenham is fever-pitch excitement and the players and the supporters have a role to play in that.
It may be a radical suggestion but I would love one of the stands at Twickenham to become something like an England fan debenture zone. The price of tickets would be capped at around £50, you would sign up, pay a subscription fee, get early access to tickets and the result would be a concentrated area for the hardcore, diehard fans. I would love Twickenham to have that one stand to act as the catalyst. You think of all the most atmospheric grounds around the world and they all have that epicentre. I think of the Kop at Anfield, the Yellow Wall at Borussia Dortmund’s stadium, the single-tier South Stand at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium - they all create the atmosphere that reverberates around the ground. Rugby can be a staccato sport at times so having that kind of catalyst would make a huge difference.
I remember taking Eddie Jones to Anfield for Liverpool’s 4-0 win against Barcelona in 2019. Eddie was like a little kid during the first half, spending as much time soaking up the atmosphere around the ground, the noise, the energy, as he did the actual football. I said to him after the match that if you could create an atmosphere anything like that at Twickenham, England would never lose.
It is a symbiotic relationship between a team and their fans and as much as Saturday’s match against Wales is a challenge for a new-look England side, it is also a challenge for supporters. I remember recently, Jürgen Klopp telling Liverpool fans to “stay at home” if they didn’t have the necessary energy. England would never say that, they would say that the onus is on them to provide the catalyst but I do think supporters have a responsibility this weekend. During the World Cup, in Marseille, we saw and we heard what England support can sound like and recreating that at home is the next step.
England’s last match at Twickenham was the defeat against Fiji, nothing short of a disaster, and they’re on a pretty dreadful run of only three wins in their last 10 matches. A lot of this side are not wearing those scars though. It is a fresh start, a clean slate and one that they can feel positively about. Having spoken to Jamie George, the intent to reconnect with fans is not a new thing. It’s something England have been working towards for the last three or four years but I’m excited about this team and believe that supporters should be too because there seems to be a freedom about them. Of course you want to limit mistakes but there appears to be a willingness to test themselves a bit more rather than playing with a constrictive game plan which may limit the amount of errors they make but also limit their opportunities and their potential.
Against Wales, the opening 20 minutes are going to be telling. There’s a balance to strike between playing with freedom and not being afraid to make mistakes and getting the crowd onside early. England have to prepare to face the best version of Wales – the side who performed so well in the second half against Scotland rather than that which failed to turn up in the first half. It’s not about waiting to find about which Wales team turns up, it’s about implementing your game on to the pitch as quickly as possible.
They didn’t get that right against Italy, they were 10-0 down early on, and this is a massive step up, so it’s a huge challenge for a number of those players who have never played at Twickenham or in a Test match of this magnitude. Manny Feyi-Waboso is one of those players and someone I’ve watched a lot this season. I believe he has all the raw attributes to be a top quality international wing. He has so much natural ability and coming into a high-performance environment will demand so much from him and he’ll demand so much from himself.
He’s so dynamic, he pops up everywhere and when you possess that much power, you can be as threatening out wide as you can in the middle of the field. Damian Penaud and Mark Telea aren’t lazy wings, waiting for the game to come to them and Manny is similar in that regard. I love how at this early stage in his career, he’s not someone who just holds his wing. He’s showing rugby IQ in that sense.
There has been a lot spoken about him but I don’t think it fazes him. He’s not the first person to have dual nationality and ultimately you go with how you feel. It’s not about coaches selling you a dream. If you feel English you play for England and that’s what he’s decided and if I were him I’d take some of the anger from Wales as a compliment. They wouldn’t care if he wasn’t such a talented player so it is clear to me that England have a gem on their hands.
