Joe Worsley wary of hostile atmosphere

Published on Friday 12 March 2010 23:05

VETERAN flanker Joe Worsley warned England need to be "mentally tough" to handle the wall of hostility that will hit them in Scotland today.

Despite former coach Jim Telfer urging Scots to stop defining themselves by their anti-Englishness, there is nothing that fires up the public more than the arrival of the Auld Enemy.

England have been unnerved by the Murrayfield factor in recent years and have lost on each of their last two visits to Scotland without scoring a try.

Worsley was also part of the England team that saw their Grand Slam ambitions wrecked at Murrayfield in 2000 so he knows just what to expect – on and off the field. "We're trying to instil in the younger guys that the atmosphere and hostility they will encounter up there is tangible before the game," he said. "We have tried to tell them how to deal with that. A lot of players have played in harsh environments before.

"You get to this level and you have to be able to deal with those types of things. You have to be mentally tough. The atmosphere in the air, the atmosphere of the whole city of Edinburgh towards you is very strong. You can feel it. That's true of most places in the world but Scotland is right up there with most of them."

Twenty years ago, Murrayfield was a hotbed of national passion as Scotland overturned the odds to beat England 13-7 in a showdown for the Grand Slam.

"The pitch has been heavy the last few times we've played there but that's no reason for losing. Fundamentally they've done better than us," he said. "They've been the better side. You can't blame the weather or anything else. It's up to you as an individual to look at yourself."

"The back row battle is key but they've got more than one weapon available to them. You can't just cut that out and expect them to fall over," added Worsley.

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