"In Proud, my autobiography, I wrote that I hated Matt Dawson, Will Greenwood, Richard Hill and Lawrence Dallaglio when they wore the white shirt of England. They epitomised the arrogance of the Empire.
"If Wales beat England but lose to Australia next week, the nation will be happier than if Wales lose to England and then beat Australia.
"It's not just the historical stuff between England and Wales. It's that this is the game when everyone in Wales comes together. It drove me on as a captain and as a player. I used to try not to use what might be seen as historical injustices to motivate myself and my team. I wanted us to have our own motivation and, speaking for myself, I got it by thinking of what it meant to the country.
"It meant 80 minutes of rugby against one particular team and if we won I knew that would make three million people happy. The reason I played rugby was not only because I enjoyed it, but also because I wanted to make people happy.
"The significance of victory over England was huge. It meant three million people going to work on Monday with a smile on their faces and a skip in their step. It meant that we had given Wales a platform, a voice against the bigger nations and, in England's case, the biggest nation.
"People don't understand Wales, what it stands for. They only understand England. They know London. So to beat England was to give voice to a nation, to create history."
- nzherald.co.nz
