After a week of brinkmanship, a mental challenge awaits the two teams in Cardiff as much as a physical one
There is a doctoral thesis to be written on the psychology of Wales v England rugby fixtures in Cardiff. Hope, anxiety, fear, claustrophobia … and that’s just the cross-border trek to the Principality Stadium on big match days. Contractual small print and player power may have grabbed this week’s headlines but Wales’s fattest bonus should probably go to anybody who can finally sort out the Brynglas tunnels.
Then again, at least there is still a live game to attend. Imagine, for a moment, if the threatened Welsh players’ strike had gone ahead? Tumbleweed blowing down Westgate Street, sad empty pubs, Valley Girl T-shirts back in the wardrobe … it would have been an utter financial and PR catastrophe. The Six Nations has weathered various storms over the years but nothing to compare with the bleak symbolism of Wales declining to lace up their boots to play the English.
