Rugby Comment: Wales are the benchmark, it’s time to step up
WALES pride themselves on their rugby. For them, playing against England on Sunday is a huge game, their biggest.
They’ve become a top team over the last three years and have probably become the benchmark, so for us, it’s a massive test.
There are other teams at the top that can still win the Six Nations – Ireland and France – but this is a victory we really want and need ahead of the trip to Rome on the last weekend. We can’t think about that yet, though; it will take care of itself when the time comes.
We both have good defences, so the kicking game could be the key to victory at Twickenham. We saw when Ireland played Wales that they got on top of them, so if we can do that we’ll go a long way to winning the game.
I played in last year’s match at the Millennium Stadium where we were soundly beaten and consequently lost the title. But we’ve become a better team because of that experience. We need to make the most of the chances we get this time and I’m quietly confident.
I’m starting on the bench with Mike Brown having impressed at 15 so far. Fair play to him, he’s taken the shirt and put in big performances. All I can do is make sure I’m playing well when I get the opportunity.
NERVE-WRACKING
The championship can be a long eight-week period if you’re on the bench all the time and not playing. Against Ireland myself and George Ford, for example, didn’t get game time as things panned out, so it was good to have the chance to go away last weekend and play for our clubs.
I had been preparing to play at full-back against Bath all week, but with about a minute to go until kick-off I was asked to switch to fly-half as our No10 Charlie Hodgson was unwell.
It was nerve-wracking for about a minute, but I made the most of it and things went well. That was down to my team-mates as much as anything and it was one of those nights when all the kicks went over.
Alex Goode plays for Saracens and England. Saracens face Harlequins at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 22 March. For tickets see saracens.com or call 0844 847 1876.