England have been preparing in an unusual manner for their opening Six Nations game this Friday night against Wales. They have apparently been bringing loudspeakers to training and pumping them up to full volume, to allow the players to practice communicating when they can barely hear each other.
If the move sounds a bit bizarre, it is apparently a reaction to what happened last time England played in Cardiff – the fateful 30-3 loss to Wales in 2013. Several players who featured that day have spoken of the difficulty they had in communicating against the backdrop of noise from Welsh fans.
“We’ve spoken about the noise already. I think they’ll be getting speakers in there and putting it as loud as it can go,” said fly-half George Ford in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph. “I think it’s important because communication in the game is vital. We’ve spoken about that already. I wasn’t there last time, but the noise was a big factor by accounts. If you can’t hear each other it could potentially have a big impact.
“So we need to make sure we cover everything off in terms of that aspect. We’re trying to come up with a game plan and a strategy which is crystal clear and that everyone understands and is on the same page. It’s pretty simple.”
Ford also revealed that England’s attacking gameplan won’t be a case of reinventing the wheel, likely to rely heavily on an intelligent kicking game and winning the territorial battle.
“If it is hard to hear each other, we have other ways of communicating which will hopefully help us make the right plays. Without giving too much away we are going to have a set way we are going to play in offence. It’s going to be pretty simple, I think. The communication and between the nine, 10 and full-back and wingers is going to be pretty important.
“We’re the guys as half-backs who are running the game. So if it is too loud and we can’t hear each other, we might have to go about things a different way – putting the hand out for example, just to say we want the ball.”
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
9 replies on “England’s unorthodox preparation for Cardiff pressure-cooker”
Wow, that’s ridiculous. SL and his Clive-lite machinations again. Over an 80 min game of noise they couldn’t work out that communicating was hard and do things like shout louder, use hand signals, run up to each other to discuss plays or just get on with it? Training with loud speakers will really make that much difference? It’s taken 24 months to put a strategy in place for dealing with supporting fans?
I suspect it won’t be the same this year anyway – I’d be amazed if Sir Clive, I mean Stuart would concede to the roof being shut.
If he does agree to the roof being shut he’s absolute idiot. SL should seek to minimise any advantage Wales will get from playing at home, especially as most of the team will not have experienced playing under a roof. Hard enough to expect some of these (quasi) debutants to adapt seemlessly to test rugby without making it more difficult for them.
Agree with you about the roof Benjit but getting a bit bored about the media focus on this – as if the only reason we won that game was the noise/roof/stadium. Let’s not forget we played some blistering rugby in will have to do so again to win, regardless of the atmosphere.
I’m sure it was the roof that cost England. It had nothing to do with Welsh play, poor England selection and preparation. It was the roof. Just the roof. Damn roof.
In seriousness, no of course it would not have made a difference, but SCW was all about the 1% increments, so surely you should try and neutralise any advantages the opposition have, no matter how minimal.
I have to agree with you again Brighty and I’m English. Clive – lite. Bang on.The naivety that still surrounds the England camp by turns pisses me off and sends me into pits of despair.
As I said once before over another issue it seems that when the players join up with the national set up then all the things they would do without a second thought at club level suddenly become completely alien to them.
I mean ,who’d have thought that The Millennium stadium would have been packed with absolutely rabid Welshmen and women? It’s just not cricket!!
Is this not a bit of a non-story?
It seems to me that if communication was an issue last time around, then one should take steps to prepare for it this time around.
To Brighty’s last point, I am sure that England are also preparing to play a team that plays “blistering” rugby as well. Specifically, a form of blistering rugby that mirrors the Welsh game.
Must admit I was thinking the same thing – all seems like a non-story.
Logical that they have taken these steps if it caused problems last time. I’m sure that they are also aware that this wasn’t the sole reason why they lost last time.
Wales, the way they played that day, would have wiped the floor with anyone in front of them. If we catch them in that kind of form again, we will lose.
Saying that – looking at the sides on paper I’m expecting us to lose by 10 or so.
I scared witless.Wales is a highly experienced settled team with proven combinations.We are a team thrown together in last 2 weeks lacking experience and familiarity with each other.If the game was at Twickenham I reckon Wales would still be favourites so at Cardiff we will do very well to get close
Whilst I think an England win unlikely, some of SLs best wins were when England were unfancied. I imagine England will have spent the whole camp concentrating on defence, hoping that Youngs, Ford and May can conjure something from nothing.
Probably not enough to win but am hopeful we’ll be competitive.