Under pressure

It's going to be fascinating to see in the opening exchanges how both teams approach today's match. Wales are defending champions and last year played England in exactly the same situation as England finds itself in today. That game went down to the wire and Wales held out to win the Grand Slam.

By the nature of their loss against Ireland at home, Wales go into this match some say with the pressure off them. The Grand Slam is not up for grabs for them and though the tournament can still be won, the pressure for getting the perfect record is off. One must applaud the Welsh for even being in this position as that abject first half display sent alarm bells ringing and never had they lost so many times consecutively at home. You could see it in the body language of the senior players and to pick themselves up from that and get through the rest of their matches and come out on top speaks a lot to the character of the players and for that they must be congratulated.

For England, it is a different story. Apart from a gritty display against the Irish and a French side that was competing admirably for about 60 minutes, they haven't been placed under too much pressure. Against Italy they were their biggest enemies and if Wales can get early points and get the home crowd involved, it'll be interesting to see how the English players will react. How will the discipline or errors play a factor if they feel under the pump and the scoreboard ticking over against their favour? This is something they haven't had to deal with much in this tournament. The England players will be looking to take the crowd out of the game and get off to a good start. This Welsh defence though has proved to be robust since that first half against Ireland and the Welsh scrum in particular looks very strong. The breakdown will be an intriguing battle with Wales and England entering the match with a couple of pilferers in the back row.

England approach this match knowing that a loss will undo all of their hard work throughout the tournament. When you have a Grand Slam in your grasp, you don't want to let that opportunity slip. That can be a motivating factor as well as a curse. Motivating as you hit those rucks with venom and look to dominate the breakdown and get your backs front foot ball. A curse in that if you fall behind on the scoreboard it's easy to lose your composure. You're not just behind on the scoreboard but the Grand Slam is slipping away from you. When it means so much to you, it can blind you to what you'd normally do. That's when mistakes can creep in and your opponents can capitalise on that.

So we are blessed that this game has something on the line for both opponents. For England, an unbeaten run and a Grand Slam that has been conspicuous in its absence for quite some time. For Wales, a chance to back up their win and perform that rare feat in the 6N: a consecutive victory. Both teams would have pressure on them to perform even if these things weren't on the line as it's a local derby with obvious emotion and feeling attached to it. We've all been aware of the comments in the lead up to this match. But place these other factors on top of the occasion and some teams perform better for having those extra incentives and some teams crack. It's going to be intriguing to watch the physical exchanges but I am always mindful of the mental battles that are going on out on the pitch. Which team will handle the occasion well when it matters from a mental perspective. Will tempers flare or will there be cool heads? Will uncharacteristic mistakes creep in or will the error count remain low? Rugby is a physical game but all too often the top two inches count for everything when the game demands it.

When the players came out onto the pitch, you could sense that this was a huge occasion. Wales started with a hiss and a roar and there seemed to be a belief by England supporters that they could weather the storm and use their fitness in the end to get home.

England failed to get the crowd out of the equation and lost the breakdown area. Tupiric was immense and deservedly won the man of the match.

All credit to Wales who turned around their season after that abject first half display against Ireland. They knuckled down and did what they needed to do and you could sense their hunger to claim the title and deprive England of a Grand Slam. You have to applaud that. For England it seems unfair that they end their season on such a low note after doing what they needed to win in all their other matches but this is an experience that they can learn from and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

It's a shame there are no matches for Wales and England against the SH in June because I think for both sides there would've been huge impetus to perform based on today's results.

Well done Wales and heads up England. You both only lost one match. The trick now is to move on from today and look for ways of improving your game. The good sides never rest on their laurels or linger too much over their losses. The trick is to come back hungrier in the next match and look to build on your performance.

Well written and spot on mate.