Why perfecting your national anthem can make the difference
Do: Learn the words
Scotland and England kick off at 4.45pm today, but for the players the emotional peak will come about 10 minutes before, during the singing of the national anthems. I always believed the anthems played a key role in setting you up for the match. If they go well, you feel pumped and ready – if not you are flat and off colour. An obvious starting point to ensure things go well is to learn the words! That is easy with shorter anthems such as God Save the
Queen. If you get the words wrong live on television, it can mess up your concentration.
Don’t: Forget who you should be standing next to
The order players stand in is not random. Some might want to stand next to their best mate, but I stood with my back-row colleagues because I felt the anthems were a time to bring us closer together. You start off with your arms around each others’ waists, but as the song builds you find that grip tightening and you can get so carried away you lift each other off your feet. It builds the sense of togetherness – and when you do not have that, you really can tell.
That is why I always find it strange in sports such as football where they do not wrap their arms around each other for the anthems. For me, that is where teams build that bond. The anthem genuinely is an indicator for performance.
Do: Cry like you mean it
Most people would balk at the idea of blubbing in front of a television audience of millions, but I think rugby players get a free pass during the anthems. I just about avoided doing so – my trick was to focus on a flag in the crowd, as I knew catching the eye of someone might set me off – but my teammate Rocky Clark would bawl away every time. I loved that – it shows how much you care.
Another tip: do not worry if you cannot sing. I stood close to Sarah Hunter and Katy Daley-mclean and they were terrible – but they belted it out with the best of them.
My favourite anthem is the Italian one, and I love how they approach it. They roar the words, around half of them are in tears and they almost fall over at the end as they try to rip each others’ shirts from their backs. It is glorious!
Don’t: Expend all your emotional energy
This is the tricky bit. I have seen players get themselves too pumped up during the anthems, and by the time the whistle blows they have already emptied the tank. It is particularly tough when you face the haka, because you have to sit through the opposition’s anthem and then their war dance, all the while trying to keep your emotions in check. That is partly why players wear tracksuits for the anthems – the simple act of taking them off takes 30 seconds or so, and you feel like you regain your equilibrium and focus.
Another trick that helped me was to hum along to the opposition’s anthem. It gave me something to focus on and kept me calm. If you are away from home, as England are today, I found it helped to look at the crowd and see the opposition flags flying. It gives you the sense you are facing a nation, and that inspired me.
When you get the anthem right it feels incredible. I still get shivers down my spine thinking about our anthems before we played New Zealand in the 2010 World Cup. So come about 4.40 this afternoon, I reckon you will be able to look at the two teams and get a sense of who will win.
The anthems really can make all the difference in deciding a big game like today’s.