Mind games: England waited in tunnel for Wales

England captain Chris Robshaw responded to Welsh mind games in the tunnel moments before Friday’s night’s 21-16 RBS 6 Nations victory in Cardiff by ordering his team-mates to stand their ground.

Mind games: England waited in tunnel for Wales

England captain Chris Robshaw responded to Welsh mind games in the tunnel moments before Friday’s night’s 21-16 RBS 6 Nations victory in Cardiff by ordering his team-mates to stand their ground.

Stuart Lancaster’s men had been told to run out on to the pitch but with Wales still in their changing room, they knew they would be kept waiting on a bitterly cold night at the Millennium Stadium.

In scenes that evoked memories of Martin Johnson’s refusal to move his England team at Ireland’s request as they lined up before completing a Grand Slam in Dublin 12 years ago, Robshaw told his players to remain in the tunnel.

“We wanted to have a bit of control. We didn’t want to be out there. You saw when we actually were out there the lights were off,” Robshaw said.

“I’m sure Wales would have made us wait for five minutes in the field. There was a little bit of that, but we stood our ground and went out when the referee said we needed to.

“We just didn’t want to go out on to the pitch 10 minutes before they came out, it’s as simple as that

“We didn’t want to play any tricks or mind games, we just wanted to go out when they did.

“The referee didn’t make us go out. We didn’t want to wait and play sportsman’s tricks, so we waited in the changing room and then in the tunnel together for as long as possible.

“When the referee said it was time to go, we went. He came out with us. We weren’t going to be told to go out 10 or 15 minutes before they came out.”

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