by England are determined to win back the Twickenham crowd when they face Wales at the weekend as they look to banish any memories of a dismal summer.
Steve Borthwick’s side return to action for the first time since August, when they went down 30-22 to Fiji in a World Cup warm-up. At best, the atmosphere on the day could be described as indifferent towards the hosts, with applause and jeers marking the final whistle.
Although the defeat has not been mentioned during England’s preparations for the weekend, it is clear that the experience has still hurt. Freddie Steward insisted that a brand new squad, with a new captain in Jamie George, “has drawn a line in the sand”.
Steward started the Fiji game at full-back and will make his 33rd cap appearance on Saturday. He has labeled the England fans as the “heartbeat” of the team and is keen to earn the same level of support as in the World Cup semi-final against South Africa.
“As players, when you play for England you expect to win,” said Steward. “When you don’t win, it’s understandable that the fans aren’t on your side and there was a bit of that in the forerunners.
“During the World Cup, when we got to the semi-final, it felt like: ‘This is what it could be’. As players, we want that all the time but we have to put in the performances on the pitch to earn it. They are the heart of what we do.
“We want Twickenham to sparkle and we want it to be a place where we want to go and play in front of our fans and represent them. I would never blame the fans, and say they need to step up. They do that on the back of what we do, so the responsibility is on us.”
England inflicted their first ever World Cup defeat on Fiji, knocking out the Pacific nation in a tight quarter-final. Richard Wigglesworth, England’s attacking coach, now hopes to build on Saturday’s win over Italy with another committed performance that will engage those in attendance.
“Twickenham is a great place to play as England players,” he said. “That context of that [Fiji] This one is a very different game. Twickenham will be a great place for our players to play, and we all know that playing well and winning games gets everyone behind that cause, playing with incredible passion, which just shows what it means to play for England.
“Fans from this group away from home in Rome will have seen that. Will it always be perfect? Are we anywhere near where we want to end up? But here’s a team you can get behind, because of how they go about their business on and off the field.”
Smith’s Six Nations campaign remains in the balance
Meanwhile, England remain hopeful Ellis Genge will recover from a foot injury to face Wales and hope to welcome Ollie Lawrence back to training this week.
Lawrence, who was ruled out for the start of this Six Nations due to a hip issue, will not be available for this weekend. He and George Martin are focusing on the Calcutta Cup match against Scotland on February 24.
That game will come too soon for Marcus Smith, however, whose prospects in these Six Nations look bleak.
“Ellis took part in training today and we are hopeful he will be available for the weekend,” said Wigglesworth. “But obviously we have to get through the rest of the week.”
“George Martin is in camp with us this week to rehabilitate and is not available for the weekend,” he said. “Ollie Lawrence could come in at the end of this week, maybe next week. Again, not available this weekend.”
Smith’s campaign is still in the balance because of the problem of the calves that the plane picked up in Girona. “It looks like he’s going to be longer back in the competition – if we get him back,” Wigglesworth said. “It won’t be in a few weeks.”
Wigglesworth believes Cardiff-born winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who has represented Wales Under-18s, would relish the chance to take on Warren Gatland’s charges. Feyi-Waboso’s Test debut came in the form of a brief cameo from the bench at the Stadio Olimpico, which was enough to demonstrate his carrying power and willingness to put pressure on opponents in defence.
Borthwick has pledged to support Feyi-Waboso and Wigglesworth has indicated that they would be happy to select him in Saturday’s squad.
“I do [think he would relish it],” he said. “You don’t know what’s going on inside someone’s head but that’s just the air he’s letting out. This is another week he’s going to train and maybe he’ll be involved England.
“It’s one of those things when it’s taken, [you’re thinking] ‘Am I going to try to find something that I wouldn’t have been looking for the week before?’. And even in that, we see nothing. He was good today, he’s been good all week so he’s taken it very well.”
