One Chance by Josh Lewsey

Author:Josh Lewsey
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780753520116
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

The hamstring held out, the trials and tribulations of the previous week had all been worthwhile, and we were in the World Cup final! Pinch yourself time …

Chapter 12

The Final

‘JUST TREAT IT like any normal game …’

Well, it’s not really, is it? Driving around on the Saturday morning to your mates’ houses, persuading them to get their arses out of bed and leave their other halves for a few hours to roll around in the mud and stopping on the way for a pre-match Big Mac isn’t quite the same as a global audience of one billion people!

It was a bizarre week and in the run-up to any major competition the best you can do is to try to live a normal existence. As mentioned, our hotel on Manly Beach was now surrounded by a thousand fans day and night, happy for the slightest chance of seeing/cheering the boys, but especially Johnno, Golden Balls or Sir Clive, as he was now affectionately known amongst them.

On a personal note, I tried to embrace the mentality that had served me so well since my return from the wilderness and had delivered for me earlier in the year – that is, to know my own mind, stay away from the noise and fuss, keep a level head and try to convince myself that I wasn’t bothered what the coaches around me thought of my game, since I was my harshest critic anyway. This was a game to ‘front up’, no matter what else was going on.

In big finals and other tight games, back-three players can, on occasion, have limited impact and involvement. Obviously I’d want to be involved all the time, carrying ball, making tackles and running in tries, but the reality of cup final football isn’t like that. Selfishly, if you judge yourself by how well you’ve played, quite often in the biggest games the back-three players will walk off delighted that their team has won, but feeling somewhat empty or unfulfilled, knowing that they would have liked to contribute more. The point is that at this stage of competition it isn’t about giving everyone a go, or making everyone feel good about their performance; it’s about winning, pure and simple. To that end the game very rarely opens up as the boys out wide would sometimes like, but it is more a case of play in their half and take points whenever they’re on offer. That explains how and why Wasps have peaked so well technically and performed consistently on the final stage and why, as I mentioned earlier, we ended up having such a convincing score-line against Ireland in the Grand Slam decider and eventually against France in the semi.

The other aspect of mental preparation is a very significant but also an incredibly individual one. Everyone is different. Vicks, being the most laid-back individual off the field, likes a nice, calculated build-up; Lawrence, by his own admission, likes (and I quote) to come out ‘bared-up and steaming’; Will is always

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