Ollie Chessum is ready for any stick Welsh fans can throw at him ahead of England’s Six Nations clash in Cardiff and he loves it. And the lock has told Wales followers the brickbats and abuse will only fire him up for the encounter with the title still on England’s radar. Chessum’s first experience of getting on the wrong side of the locals, by being an English rugby player in the Welsh capital, came in 2023 when he was part of England’s 20-10 win.
Then, the Leicester man revealed, Wales fans were even getting stuck into the squad when they were on the coach going training on the eve of the match – and it is not just the adults. Chessum said: “It wasn’t even game day. It was the day before we’re driving through, we pull up at a roundabout and a few vans go by and you get the old beep and what have you.
“Then a car pulls up next to us, and mum and grandma are in the front seat, and there’s a kid, can’t have been more than five, Grandma winds down the back window, and the kid just gives us the middle finger.
“We stay out by the quay and work our way into the centre of Cardiff for the game. If you look out the bus window, and you’ll see a young lad with his old man, and he’ll give his dad a tap. His dad gives him the approval, and they turn around, and they both give you the middle finger. That’s the kind of thing that sticks out in my memory.
“There’s no other stadium like it really. Everywhere else is out in the sticks, the Principality’s slap bag in the mixer and they all want to bay at you. It’s special.
“It does rev you up a little bit. For me, it is the best away day as a player that you can have – Cardiff away in the Six Nations and with the nature of the fixture, being in the final round, we are chomping at the bit to get down there.”
England will arrive in Cardiff on Thursday on the back of a seven-try 47-24 win over Italy and still with a long shot at the title.
They need a win, probably with a bonus point, and hope France slip against Scotland in Paris later in the evening.
Wales are on their worst run in history, with 16 defeats on the spin, but have shown some signs of recovery in two games under stand-in head coach Matt Sherratt.
Chessum, 24, added: “We’ve got to go to Cardiff and a play a team that are full of talented individuals who are clearly on the up.
They’ve had a change around in their in their backroom staff. Jamie George said it out in the media about it being a World Cup final, this is a massive game for both of us.
“I think they’d love nothing more than to put a stop to our to our title hopes and beat us in Cardiff.”
Head coach Steve Borthwick is expected to announce his line-up on Wednesday with his major headache being to find a replacement for injured centre Ollie Lawrence. Tommy Freeman, Elliott Daly, Oscar Beard and Henry Slade are all in contention to wear the 13 shirt.
