With his team huddled around him in the dressing room of Cardiff’s National Stadium, Wales’ captain Phil Bennett delivered a speech that has gone down in rugby folklore. Stoking the fires of Welsh pride and pressing the pressure point of national insecurity, he called on his fellow patriots to perform their civic duty and teach their better resourced neighbours a lesson.
This rousing call worked. With their blood sufficiently heated, Wales won the match – contested on 5 March 1977 – 14-9. On Saturday, another captain wearing a red jersey with 10 on his back will be tasked with motivating his charges before facing their fiercest foes.
“Sometimes very little is needed to be said,” said Dan Biggar, downplaying the importance of a pre-planned speech. “It’s very much down to the individual. I’d like to think that in a pivotal weekend in the Six Nations against England at Twickenham there won’t be too much needed said from an emotional level to get us going.”
Biggar, who lives in England and plays club rugby with Northampton, was cautious about using the same belligerent language as his predecessor Bennett. Even though he sought to dampen the jingoism he conceded that this game is one that Welsh fans most look forward to when the fixtures are released. For them, the significance of beating England transcends log positions and the context of the Six Nations Championship.
But beating England and beating England at Twickenham are two different prospects. Wales have not won there since the momentous 2015 World Cup group match when Biggar’s late penalty was the difference. In four of their five subsequent defeats, a worrying pattern has emerged.
In the 2016 Six Nations, Antony Watson’s 30th-minute converted try opened a 16-0 lead for England. In 2018 all 12 of England’s points were scored by the 20th minute with Wales only managing six from the remaining hour. In a World Cup warm-up match in 2019 England scored 14 unanswered points in as many minutes. In the 2020 Championship, Watson’s fourth minute try meant Wales were chasing the game before their heart rates were up. When Bundee Aki dotted down after just three minutes in the 29-7 defeat in Dublin, Wales’ leadership group began to wonder if this was a systemic problem within the camp.
To their credit, Biggar’s team rallied and beat a more fancied Scottish outfit a week later. Both the captain and his coach Wayne Pivac have credited a frothing Principality crowd for lifting their performance but Biggar insists that the onus is on them to rise for the occasion no matter the venue.
“We need to make sure that when we go away to tough places, like the Aviva, like Twickenham, we start well,” Biggar said. “It’s important we don’t give them a start. It’s such a difficult task. Even if you get yourself back in the game, one more score for England takes you out. They’ve got some serious strength in depth and they’re a very good side.”
England’s selection of Harry Randall at scrum-half has not gone unnoticed and Biggar believes this is a clear warning that Eddie Jones intends on playing a high tempo game. Not that Wales will mind that. They too will be looking to keep the ball in hand. When Biggar is in possession and is forced to kick he will more often than not look to avoid touch, starving England’s powerful maul the opportunity to rumble up field.
The reintroduction of Taulupe Faletau, playing his first Test in six months after sustaining an ankle injury with the British and Irish Lions in South Africa, will encourage Wales’ attacking strategy. “Toby is world class,” his skipper said. “It’s great to have him back. To have a bit more muscle but also that ball playing ability that he brings.”
Manu Tuilagi’s injury doesn’t swing the pendulum entirely in Wales’ favour but his absence will further embolden the visitors who must now feel that they’re closer to parity in the collision. But this is an area of the game that isn’t necessarily won by the bigger or faster man. Character counts as much stature.
“At some point you have to roll your sleeves up,” Biggar said, referencing the spirit his team showed in 2015 to overturn a 19-9 deficit. “Gethin Jenkins spoke really well at half-time [against Scotland]. He asked what sort of feeling do we want in the dressing room when we come back in. Do we want to be enjoying a beer after putting everything in and enjoying the result? Or do we want to feel that we haven’t given it our all and are really quite disappointed with how we played and let the country down?”
Biggar may try to convince you that this is just another rugby match. Don’t believe a word of it.
