While the media has spent much of the week discussing the magnitude of the Twickenham showdown, Warburton says he hasn’t allowed the emotion to over ride his side’s preparation for the Round 4 encounter across the Severn Bridge.
The Cardiff Blues openside has refused to focus on all the pre-match hype and has instead simply followed his traditional relaxed but hard-working approach to preparations.
“Everybody from the outside tries to play it up as much as possible. As a player it’s kind of the opposite, really,” said Warburton.
“You don’t want to get over aroused and then end up making uncharacteristic mistakes. You’ve got to try and keep a level head and stay calm. That’s how I approach it.
“People were asking me all last week about the game and I said I wasn’t thinking about it. That week you just think about your fitness work and some skills stuff and now this week you start turning your attention to the England game.
“It’s only really on maybe Friday that I’ll really start thinking about it and ramping it up. I think that’s how all the players approach it. You can’t look at it (any other way) because by the time you get to game day you’re mentally exhausted and emotionally exhausted.
“You try stay as relaxed as possible: you end up having a good week’s training then when you’re chilled out. And that’s the way things have gone.”
That doesn’t mean that Warburton and co won’t be fully revved up at the weekend, though, especially as head coach Warren Gatland admits that the result will have an even wider impact than usual given that Wales return to RFU HQ for the World Cup next year.
Wales face both England and Australia at Twickenham in September and October 2015 and Gatland knows that another hard-fought victory at the venue would be a big boost to their own preparations and a solid blow to England’s.
“It’s a big Test for all of us. These big occasions are what we all play and train for and put in the effort that people don’t see,” said Gatland.
“You get excited about playing in a full stadium with a lot at stake. We’re really excited about going there on Sunday as ‘underdogs’.
“It’s a big game psychologically for both teams because we have to go there next year as well. That’s going to be even bigger than this Sunday.
“We have two big games at Twickenham in the World Cup against England and Australia. But, if we can win on Sunday, that’s four in a row against England and if we then win the Six Nations’ as well you (the opposition) will start having a few doubts.”
