Tom Palmer: Algarve was chilly but we're ready

10 April 2012

The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff is one of rugby's greatest venues and I am expecting a passionate crowd to be very loud tonight as we attempt to make the best possible start to the Six Nations with a win against Wales.

Everyone knows the Welsh love their rugby and each international is made extra special by their singing - and the level of noise is increased when the English come to Cardiff.

The fact this match is taking place tonight is significant and I know from my experiences with Stade Francais in Paris that night games always seem to have a more intense atmosphere.

It all means something special should unfold and I hope the game lives up to the hype, as sometimes, in high-pressure matches, both teams tend to go into their shells.

It will be a big test for us, as a relatively young side, to see how we perform in a hostile environment. We have to show the maturity to implement our game plan, do the things we've been practising for the last two weeks and not panic if things don't all go our way. We must also to be adaptable and go to plan B if necessary.

Another challenge for us is to make sure we start well, as in the summer and also autumn series we lost our opening match after giving a rusty performance - against Australia in Perth and at Twickenham with the All Blacks. While on both those occasions we went on to play well the following week, if we are going to win the tournament we can't afford to slip up now.

That is why our training camp in Portugal was so important and, in total, we have been together as a squad for two weeks.

The first five days were in the Algarve, where we went for a warm weather training camp. I use the term "warm weather" quite loosely as it rained every day and was chilly!

The first week of training wasn't too intense, all the guys had just played some tough European matches and the emphasis was on tactical understanding.

The first couple of days are always tougher mentally than they are physically. You have to go from club mode straight into England mode, forget all your club's calls and remember the ones you used with your country.

But by the end of the camp we all had a good understanding of the game plan we are going to take into the match tonight.

On the last night of the camp we had an evening out at the marina but Vilamoura is dead at this time of year and everyone was on the bus back to the hotel by 11pm.

James Haskell had befriended a stray dog which followed him onto the coach and had to be shooed off by the team manager. I think the England players from the amateur era would be horrified at our sobriety and that the only female picked up on a night out had four legs and a tail!

This week in training back home we've been fine-tuning the game plan and we're raring to go.

It'll be a tough match but I'm confident we can make the best possible start.

Tom Palmer is a Land Rover ambassador. Land Rover are an Official Partner of England Rugby, to win VIP tickets to an RBS 6 Nations game at Twickenham visit www.landrover.co.uk/rugby

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