Dawson distancing himself from Slam pressure

Matt Dawson, who is hoping to celebrate his 50th cap by making up for previous Grand Slam disappointments when England take on Ireland in Sunday’s Dublin decider, will stick to his normal routine to ensure the pressure does not get to him.

Dawson, who aims to make it fourth time lucky, knows the importance of walking away from the intensity of the build-up to big games and he has several ways of distancing himself from it.

“Just because there’s a lot at stake I’m not going to change my situation and dwell on past experiences or get nervous,” said Dawson.

“I’ve got to go out for dinner with my girlfriend and speak to my mates on the phone before the game like I usually do just to relax me.

“You have to really get on top of yourself and say I am allocating this time.

“It’s difficult this week because we have to travel, but even out there you have to make time go for a walk, go shopping, go and hit a few golf balls or whatever I feel like doing.

“If I feel like going for a wander or hitting a few golf balls I’ll go away and do it.

““I’ve also got friends from Bermuda coming over to the game and if I can get hold of them I’ll give them a ring and go and chew the fat with them,” he added.

The 30-year-old Northampton scrum-half, who has re-established himself as England coach Clive Woodward’s number one choice, insisted: “That approach is the reason why I’ve been performing this season.”

It also means that he has no intention of dwelling on his 50th cap.

He added: “I can’t say it’s ever been a goal in my England career and now it’s here it’s really like any other cap.

“The boys that have achieved it will tell you the same. Maybe I can look back on my career and appreciate it when I’ve retired.”

He has not even thought about the possibility of being invited to lead the team out at Lansdowne Road in the time honoured manner for someone reaching such a landmark.

“There are far too many important things going on at the moment to worry about that,” said Dawson.

“It involves a lot of preparation, physical and mental, and you’ve got to get the balance right. I’ve got a billion and three moves to think about at the moment.”

Dawson was on the losing England side against Wales in the 1999 decider and captained his country when they suffered further disappointment by falling at the final hurdle against Scotland in 2000, and Ireland in 2001 when the crucial showdown became something of an anti-climax after being held over until the autumn because of the foot and mouth outbreak.

Reflecting on that Dublin defeat, he maintained: “You have to just put that down as an experience, not one of my highest moments. We haven’t dwelt on it in meetings this week.

“Things are just so different, we’re different teams. If it was last week then it’s relevant, or if it was at the beginning of the season, but we’re totally different sides, different style of rugby, it might be different weather, so many different factors.

“It was a big week and mentally, looking back at it, we weren’t quite at the races but I’ve learnt from that.”

Dawson’s only team success came in the British Lions’ triumphant three-match Test series in South Africa in 1997 after he scored the try which was possibly the turning point of the whole campaign in the opening encounter in Cape Town.

“As far as clubs and England are concerned I’ve never really won any competitions,” said Dawson.

“I’ve won the one-off games for trophies but the Lions was the first competition series I’ve been involved in winning,” he added.

But for Dawson and the rest of the England squad it is a time for looking forward and the only focus is Sunday’s match in Dublin.

“It’s fantastic to get an opportunity for the Grand Slam,” he added.

“I might look back at the end of my career and say it’s nice to be involved in one but my psyche nowis that it’s another game of rugby,”