The cost of winding up Scotland
LEWIS REVEALS PRICE OF WINDING UP SCOTS
LEWIS LUDLAM has spoken for the first time about what it was like to be caught in the eye of a Calcutta Cup storm.
England and Scotland renew hostilities a week tomorrow for the first time since the Northampton flanker lit the fuse on last year’s clash ahead of his Six Nations full debut.
The 25-year-old predicted “war” and called for his team to be “brutal” and not give the Scots “an inch to breathe”.
Twelve months on, the rivalry is as spicy as ever with Scotland captain Stuart Hogg telling team-mates: “If we get in their faces it makes it confrontational and a tasty encounter.”
Ludlam does not back away from what he said before a match Eddie Jones’ men had to win, and did, to stop the rot caused by bruising defeats by South Africa in the World Cup final and France in the championship opener. But he now admits: “I played the game emotionally before I actually played the game.
“I learned massively from that week. It was the most difficult preparation I’ve had for a game.
“There was a lot of noise around the fixture and what it meant to both sides. I’m at my best when I take the pressure off and remind myself it is just a game of rugby against 15 other blokes.
“That week I came out of a team meeting with Eddie which was emotionally driven and straight into a press conference, which probably wasn’t the best move. I was pumped up in that moment. I wouldn’t say I regret what I said, but a lot of emotion came through.
“Every night that week I went to sleep thinking about first collisions and what I would do in the contact. Do that and before you know it you’ve played the game in your head.
“You get to the Saturday and realise you haven’t spoken to anyone all week.You’ve been in your room over-thinking things.
“You haven’t called your girlfriend, she knows you’re stressed. Your dad, he knows you’re stressed. Everyone does. You forget about ‘normal life’ because you’ve built up the game and you’re playing it out in your head.”
Ludlam has not appeared for England since Murrayfield, yet this week was named in a shadow squad into which Jones will dip in the event of injury or illness.
Saints’ back-row star has not had it easy in the intervening period. Dropped from the national team, part of a club side unable to buy a win for much of the year and affected by a Covid-19 outbreak.
But the pandemic has allowed him to reset. The smile is back on the face of one of England’s brightest talents, he is a year older and a good deal wiser.
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