Sam Warburton believes Steve Borthwick can learn a lesson from Warren Gatland after defeat by Scotland last week
Sam Warburton and Warren Gatland
Sam Warburton has highlighted the importance of a head coach in times of adversity and believes a trick Warren Gatland once used for his deflated Wales players could be a lesson for England in this Six Nations.
Writing in The Times, former Wales captain Warburton has recalled the moment in 2013 when Wales’ title defence appeared to be unravelling after a chastening 30-22 defeat to Ireland in Cardiff, a game in which they had trailed 30-3.
The following Monday morning, the squad gathered for breakfast fearing the worst. On the whiteboard in the team room were the words: “NCE 10am.”
NCE, the National Centre of Excellence, was the training barn at the team’s Vale hotel base. The players assumed they were about to be punished.
“This looked as if it was going to be some sort of physical punishment for what had happened at the weekend,” Warburton said.
Instead, they walked into something entirely unexpected.
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The lights were dimmed. A DJ stood in the middle of the gym. Disco lights flashed around the room.
“Right, let’s forget about that loss,” Gatland told them. “This is going to be a beach weights session just to pick the mood back up. You can take your tops off if you want.”
The transformation in atmosphere was immediate.
“Suddenly the mood was lifted. Everyone was shouting and high-fiving,” Warburton wrote.
“At one stage I remember looking over during a particularly rousing song and seeing Gatland standing on one of the weights benches punching his fist in the air to the beat. It was incredible. It was brilliant man-management from Gatland.”
Apparently, that psychological reset worked.
Back in the team room, Warburton gathered the squad and delivered a simple message to the team, that the championship was still alive.
“Grand Slams are rare. Not everyone wins the championship with a Grand Slam. This is still on,” he told his team-mates.
Wales went on to claim the 2013 Six Nations title, sealing it in emphatic fashion with a 30-3 demolition of England in Cardiff to deny their rivals a Grand Slam.
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Warburton says the episode underlines the importance of leadership and belief amid the chaos of the Six Nations, where momentum can swing dramatically from one weekend to the next.
Reflecting on England’s recent defeat at Murrayfield, he insisted it would be “extremely naïve” to rule them out of the title race, stressing that leaders must remain relentlessly positive.
“As a leader you need to be positive at all times,” he wrote.
Speaking about England’s upcoming clash with Ireland, Warburton added: “I’m glad that Borthwick has stuck with Henry Arundell.
“It would have been the obvious decision to drop him after his red card. Borthwick knows that Arundell has an unusually high ceiling as a player and he is backing him, just as he must back his players to believe they can still win the championship.”
Warburton also pointed to the tactical lessons from Scotland’s victory over England, praising how they nullified England’s physical edge and exposed weaknesses out wide. But the broader message remained clear: one defeat does not define a campaign.