Warburton reckons the Wales squad have a huge amount of respect for their English counterparts and their rivalry is a healthy one.
The man charged with keeping Wales’ RBS 6 Nations hopes alive at RFU HQ knows the excitement that surrounds the build up to Wales against England games is particularly special though and he expects his troops to feed off that enthusiasm in South West London.
“Both my mum and dad were born in England so I can’t think that way. People make a bigger thing of it than it is. All the lads who were out on the Lions got on with the English guys great,” said Warburton.
“I don’t think the boys talk about the England games like that. They’re massive games to play but hate is a very strong word.
“They love it because the atmosphere is so good. You sense the anticipation all week from the fans. The fans absolutely love it and we feed off that.”
Wales head across the Severn Bridge with an impressive recent record against England having won their last three encounters since being beaten at Twickenham in the first of two World Cup warm ups in 2011.
Warburton and co haven’t conceded a try across that hat-trick of triumphs and defence is likely to play a major role yet again if that run is to continue at the weekend.
“I only heard that stat early in the week and it surprised me and made me realise how good our defensive structures have worked against them,” added Warburton.
“The last couple of defensive performances we’ve had against England have been massive. I remember there was a massive emphasis on defence before the World Cup warm up game (in Cardiff) as well.
“It’s something that we do try and pride ourselves on. It hurt us against Ireland. Shaun (defence coach Shaun Edwards) will always set us a target in the week and we desperately try and achieve that.”
The most recent meeting between the two teams featured a huge defensive display from Warren Gatland’s men as England were restricted to just a single Owen Farrell penalty in a record-breaking result in Cardiff 12 months ago. But, while revenge has been muted as a factor in the media, Warburton doesn’t expect emotion to play a central role for the home side on Sunday.
“I doubt they are looking at it as revenge. You don’t want to get caught up in all that, you just want to play your normal game and that’s what we’ll be trying to do,” added the Wales skipper.
“We lost to Ireland last year and when we went into this year’s campaign we didn’t think of it as revenge. It’s just another game you have to win. Every game is a must win in the Six Nations.”
