England need a 'gladiatorial statement' against Wales to win back fans, says Rob Vickerman

Voices new and old have been coming out in the build-up to a pivotal Six Nations showdown with Wales saying it is incumbent on the players to get the fans back on side.

A healthy travelling army journeyed with them to Rome last week for the tournament opener with Italy after following them around France in the autumn, but back at headquarters it has been a different story. Worn down by a kicking game and a transitional period from Eddie Jones to Steve Borthwick, Twickenham devotees had been overtaken by apathy by last summer and the mood in the stadium – never one to rival the emotion in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium even at the height of its delirium – has been funereal at times.

To change that mood, as well as winning, England need to find an identity and for seasoned observer and former England Sevens captain Rob Vickerman, they need to show a bit of good old fashioned blood, sweat and tears.

“Having now been around the world watching rugby looking specifically at how teams create atmospheres in stadiums, I don’t think there particularly is a great one at Twickenham at times,” says Vickerman, the former Leeds Carnegie player who now travels planet rugby as a Sevens commentator.

“It’s slightly hamstrung by the fact it’s such an expensive day out and you’re looking at a slight different demographic of fan. You’re not going to get your tribal rugby league supporters, you’re not going to get your partisan football fan.

“You very much get fans who are on a day out, or it’s an annual thing for them. It’s not that typical fandom that you see in other places.

“The World Cup saw a very partisan atmosphere across the whole tournament, so I do think there’s something there to build on.

“But at the same time your fans react to what they see on the pitch and if every single player gives it their all to the point they’re leaving the pitch crawling and covered in blood, that’s what you respect. You need that gladiatorial statement. That starts with the players and not the fans.”

Continuing to develop a new identity in the clash with Wales today will help the relationship between team and supporters. England won in Rome, but just barely against an Italy side they have never lost to in the Six Nations and who themselves are undergoing a makeover.

“The potential was there, they didn’t necessarily deliver in Rome, they were still a bit lacklustre,” admits Vickerman. “But you could see they were trying different things, specifically in defence. In any type of defensive system you’re not going to get everything right the first week, maybe not even the first year. So I was actually quite enthused by that, that it was different.”

A year ago Borthwick inherited an England team shorn of confidence and cohesion and after a difficult Six Nations and summer, he at least put together a gameplan to beat a path to the World Cup semi-final in France.

How does he now develop that?

Vickerman replies: “Attack is still the big question. Defensively you can say they’ve changed their shape, they’re flying off the line, okay they left a few holes against Italy but they were trying something different.

“Attacking-wise, for me they looked a bit rusty but that comes from trying to align a number of different playing styles into one across a short space of time, that’s a difficult prospect.

“I think they need to utilise their key players more and work around their strengths. They’ve basically got four centres, the playmakers that can interject in different areas, that has always been for me the template of a really good backline – versatility, into which you can interject your massive back row and those ball carriers.

“That wasn’t the game plan against Italy and I really hope it is against Wales, otherwise it could be a painful game to watch. Italy managed to do it. If you’re looking at teams that are coming up with new systems it’s do-able and Warren Gatland will know this, and they’ll be saying that in the Wales camp, this England team hasn’t got their identity yet so let’s try and exploit that.”

The swathe of new faces in the team offers hope, particularly the contingent from Northampton Saints. “Whenever there’s success domestically with a team that tends to provide the backbone for the international team,” says Vickerman.

Encouragingly though, the opening weekend built on the excitement of the World Cup. There were dramatic games in Paris, Rome and Cardiff, which sets the scene nicely for the second weekend in Edinburgh, Dublin and London.

“That bonkers game in Cardiff,” laughs Vickerman of Wales’ rallying from 27-0 to lose to Scotland by a point. “I can’t see how any team can come out of that with any confidence.

“What always underpins a Welsh team at Twickenham is that they love to get stuck into the English. Wales are vulnerable, but England have never been more beatable.”