Pre-match rituals and assessing the mood of the England dressing room

On match day, I am up early, around 5.30am, and I have a long workout. I push myself a little bit harder than I normally would. I usually follow it with a long steam bath. So, I’m basically wrung out by about 9am. There is no space for any tension then.

I either go off for a coffee or return to the room and have a cup of tea. I then go over my notes for the game and check all my thoughts about the individual players and coaches. We’ll have a mid-morning meeting and I’ll share my key notes with everyone.

I’m usually back in my room from about 12 and it’s a quiet time for me then. I will read whichever book I’m immersed in and I will jot down any points of inspiration which will help my thought patterns for the day. Before we meet up again to head for the stadium, I will have another steam bath to keep myself calm.

I am usually pretty good because we have prepared hard and I feel we’re ready. I have also learnt how to keep control of my emotions. It’s vital to be composed in front of the players. I think a lot of rugby fans have got the wrong impression of the modern dressing room before a big Test.

There is a much more measured atmosphere in the England dressing room than people think. However, before the third Test against Australia in 2016 I had a balloon filled with water in the dressing room in Sydney.

About 80 minutes before kick-off, the players were ready to hear my pre-game speech. Instead of launching into a long talk, I threw the balloon against the wall. It made a huge splash as the water gushed out and the empty balloon sank slowly to the floor. “There you go,” I said. “That’s Australian passion.”

The Wallabies were desperate not to lose a home series 3–0. So, they would come at us with a torrent of passion. We had to cope with the raging onslaught for a while and

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Sometimes those intense and fiery dressing-room speeches are still needed if the players are a bit flat. But 90 per cent of the time everything is calm.

We allow the players to prepare in their own way. Some like to listen to music on their headphones, while others prefer getting ready by following their own quieter, private rituals.

The players hear around 35 or 40 pre-game speeches a year. So, it’s just not going to work to spike their emotion every time. You need to find different ways to help them get ready.

I actually think the pre-game speech begins right after the previous match, when you start planting ideas in their head. Then you talk to them all week leading to the match. It’s continuous, and sometimes the emotional spike can come early in the week rather than right before a game.

Before most games, I say very little that is startling. The preparation has all been done. It’s just a case of reminding them of the key points.