Lawrence Dallaglio and Shane Williams: Clare Balding Show

Lawrence discusses his thoughts on the upcoming RBS 6 Nations and England squad under new coach Eddie Jones while Shane recalls being punched in the face by Mike Phillips before his wedding day.

Shane Williams

Being punched in the face by Mike Phillips: Me and Mike are close mates, he is one of my best friends in rugby and we were playing a local derby, Ospreys against the Blues and it was a Friday night game and I was getting married on the Sunday.  My wife was petrified I was going to play this game obviously and taking account that most of the players on both teams were going to be at the wedding, at the kick-off I thought right, and I only make about two tackles a game anyway so I thought I’ll chase this kick, make a tackle so that’s one tackle out the way, I’ve only got to make one in 79 other minutes. I chased the kick and Mike Phillips catches it. Now he’s a big lad and I thought right, I’ve got to close this guy down quick, so I tackle him, I actually put him on the floor and the I’m trying to get the ball.  Mike starts talking to me and he goes, ‘Shane, are you all right’ Yes, yes.  He goes, ‘Do me a favour, have this for you wedding’ and he just comes up and punches me flat out in the eye, gave me a little black eye.  My wife went absolutely nuts.  So that’s Mike Phillips for you really.  After the game we had a drink together and we were best friends again but that’s rugby union for you.

Who Wales like beating most: It was always the teams that people didn’t expect you to beat.  I’d beaten England only a few times, I beat them in Twickenham and that’s always a massive scalp.  We did it in ’08 and went on to win the Grand Slam, now that was a big game for us, not playing particularly well the first half but coming back and winning the game in that fashion, so that’s always a big scalp.  Ireland, who probably consistently over the last few years have been the best European side, so if you can beat them that’s a big scalp as well and always a massive one to win but I think the rivalry between England and Wales was always a big one and if you can beat them you know you’ve played well.  

Lawrence Dallaglio

The RBS Six Nations: It is an amazing championship, it’s the sort of sporting event that every year takes us from winter into spring, everyone has got incredible memories of watching the tournament.  After a World Cup it’s always an interesting tournament because it’s a natural changing of the guard, we’re seeing new coaches, France has got a new coach, England has got of course Eddie Jones, the first foreign coach. There are often a number of new players coming into the championship for the first time as well so it’s going to make it probably as open a tournament as it’s been for a long time.  Some pressure on some teams, perhaps not as much pressure on the other teams.  We saw during the World Cup some amazing rugby being played, it’ll be interesting to see if the Six Nations is able to play with that same attacking intent, that same level of ambition.  Obviously the weather conditions will be very different.  Ireland are the champions from last year on points difference, Wales probably start for me as the slight favourites for the tournament, just based on their performance during the World Cup and the quality and experience they’ve got in their squad.

Who England like beating most: You just want to get out and win every game. I think that there’s obviously huge rivalries between all the countries and you learn very quickly when you play for England that, as you say, everyone wants to beat you.  If they lose every game but they beat England, they tend to have a good season.  It’s not like that anymore, it’s much more evenly matched in that sense but yes, there’s no doubt there are huge amount of rivalries.  As an England player, the games against Scotland and Wales particularly I think we’re very enjoyable in the sense that  you just wanted to go out there and win. 

Eddie Jones and Dylan Hartley: I think you’ve got to play with an edge haven’t you?  Dylan is obviously a fantastic player, he’s given him the captaincy.  Often he’s played with an edge and it’s boiled over but not in an England shirt, it’s tended to be more in a club shirt.  Eddie Jones is a very good coach, he’s won a lot around the world, he’s coached international level Australia, Japan, he’s been assistant coach South Africa so he will certainly get the best out of the players.  Clearly he wants to add a real style and an attacking game to England but the game of rugby union is about the foundations and the structures first and you can’t do anything, without having a strong pack, without having a forward platform and that’s what I think he wants to see which is why he has named someone in the front row as his captain.  When you know a player might be challenged by the opposition because he’s got a short temper, a short fuse, the best way to really get in behind that is to make sure that you support them and make sure it’s not about him as an individual but it’s about the whole pack and the whole team.

The new look England team: Eddie Jones has picked a team, he’s picked a squad full of young players and clearly there are a lot of people that want to see some of the young players coming through but playing away from home in Scotland will be a difficult challenge for this England team so he has also picked experience in the likes of retaining Chris Robshaw, James Haskell on the flank and Dylan Hartley because he knows things will go wrong in Scotland and it’s a bit of a puzzle and the players will have to find out the answers to that.  So we talk about the Six Nations and who’s going to win it, it’s all about momentum.  It’s a short tournament, five games in the space of seven or eight weeks, you’ve got to get off to a winning start, that first weekend is so, so crucial and the teams that do that will set themselves up for the rest of the tournament.  If you lose the first game conversely you are sort of under pressure very quickly, the whole nation is suddenly worried about what will happen and so the first game, the first couple of games are really important.