Eddie’s underdogs can bite French

THE debate over favourites and underdogs has become cliched but that’s because it can be vitally important how you position yourself psychologically. It’s all about mindset and how to handle expectation and pressure, which is why, despite an extremely poor six Nations thus far, I’m tipping England to beat France by the narrowest margin at Twickenham today. England under Eddie Jones have never been happy with being favourites. They much prefer to come in as underdogs when the consequences of losing are not so serious. This is possibly endemic in British sport. Only a few stellar individuals and teams thrive on being favourites. world-class teams must not only be comfortable as favourites, they must thrive on it. They take their performance to another level when the pressure is on. England must learn to flourish as favourites. sir alex Ferguson and Manchester United in their pomp, sir Chris Hoy and sir Ben ainslie, they never shied away from that tag. sir Lewis Hamilton loves being the driver everybody wants to beat. You’d never catch serena williams, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal or Novak Djokovic admitting they might be underdogs. For all these sporting giants, being the favourite is a huge weapon. sometimes the pressure got to the all Blacks — they had a run of poor performances in big world Cup games — but for long periods they have been galvanised and empowered by being perpetual favourites. I would argue their ability to convince themselves they were favourites earned them more victories than the underdog routine. Claiming wins as underdogs is great but it’s not a sustainable model. Look no further than Greece winning football’s Euro 2004. England, with all their resources and talent, can only be underdogs for short periods of time. Claiming great wins as the favourites is the real art to becoming best in the world. which is why today is so interesting. For all my admiration for France’s development, this is an issue they must confront tonight. In my view, France are favourites and that doesn’t happen often at Twickenham. How they handle it will be fascinating. Up to now, everything has been a bonus for the new-look French as they steadily improve, blood their young guns and re-energise and re-educate some of their more experienced players. The occasional setback is part of the learning process but this is a match France and their media will think they should win. To lose would definitely be a disappointment. If they are victorious, it will be full steam ahead for this Championship and the 2023 world Cup. Back-to-back wins, as favourites, in Dublin and London would send out a strong message.