Rugby World Cup 2015: Wallabies ready and able to storm fortress Twickenham

SELF-belief and a road map for when the thunder strikes are Michael Cheika’s keys for Wallabies success at the home of English rugby this weekend.

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 27: Michael Cheika, Head Coach of Australia talks to his players prior to the 2015 Rugby World Cup Pool A match between Australia and Uruguay at Villa Park on September 27, 2015 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

SELF-belief and a road map for when the thunder strikes.

Those are Michael Cheika’s keys for the Wallabies to succeed at arguably the most imposing venue in world rugby — Twickenham.

The Wallabies’ clash with England in London on Sunday is taking on epic proportions with the hosts under enormous pressure to win, or else be knocked out of their own World Cup in the pool stages.

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It has labelled England’s “World Cup final” by Clive Woodward and assistant England coach Andy Farrell said yesterday players were in “fight mode” and the Australia clash was the biggest of their lives.

The England team have their backs to the wall and they’ll lean heavily on the support of a vocal home crowd at Twickenham. The 82,000-seat venue is long sold out; organisers had 650,000 applications for tickets to England’s match with Australia.

The majority of English media and expert pundits have slamming the England team this week after their loss against Wales but it’s the Twickenham factor that has Cheika still claiming firm ownership of the underdog tag.

“Playing at your home ground is a massive advantage, there’s no doubt about it. Especially in this tournament,” Cheika said.

England enjoy a strong record at their home ground; having beaten Australia there seven times in their last 10 Tests. They’ve had a 70-plus per cent winning record there for the last three decades.

A big part of that is sheer volume of noise that lifts England and often swamps rivals.

Cheika said the Wallabies had worked on techniques to deal with the moments where the home crowd pressure threatens to overwhelm.

“We have been trying to prepare for that for a long time by building our own self-belief,” Cheika said

“When the thunder of Twickenham comes, that we have the answers for that. That’s what we have been working on — those moments.

“Things will always go against you, there will a few mistakes and any type of break, they will get behind. I was there for the first game and the atmosphere will be quite big.

“For players who know what they’re about, know their role in the team and then can re-focus in those moments, they’re the ones who will succeed. That’s something we knew we would be encountering, so we have tried, as best we can because you can’t simulate it, to prepare a map to get out of the situations.

“It is probably an area in the past where we haven’t been as strong because we have lacked a bit of belief in ourselves, to get out of the situation. It is just about not fearing failure and backing what you have prepared and going to it. Daring yourself to be good enough and putting it on the line.”

The Wallabies will have to deal with 80 minutes of Twickenham pressure but the English side are facing a week of intense expectation and pressure from all corners of their nation.

It has the potential to either galvanise England or burden them.

But asked if that pressure could work in Australia’s favour, Cheika continued to sidestep discussing England’s plight.

“We’ve been treating every game like a World Cup final, that’s the way we’ve approached it,” Cheika said.

“To be honest, I am looking to earn everything we get. I am not looking to have someone be in trouble for us to succeed. I am looking to earn success, through the way we play and how we present ourselves.

I don’t want to fluke it because someone wasn’t on their game.”

Originally published as Rugby World Cup 2015: Wallabies ready and able to storm fortress Twickenham