Why 'the middle finger' makes Wales Ollie Chessum's best away day

Ollie Chessum will embrace the hostility of his favourite Guinness Six Nations away fixture when England face Wales in Cardiff on Saturday. Chessum’s only previous appearance at the Principality Stadium came two years ago when England triumphed 20-10 – and the experience left a lasting impression on the Leicester second row.

Fast forward to 2025 and Wales are looking to destroy their fierce rivals’ title challenge and end their own 16-Test losing run, providing ample ammunition to cause an upset in the penultimate fixture of the championship.

“It’s a tough place to go so to win there was memorable because it was the first time I would played there. The hostility – there is nothing quite like it from an English perspective,” he said. “We were there for two days prior to the game and everywhere the bus goes, abuse seems to follow.

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“When you arrive in Cardiff on the day of the game, that last half-mile stretch is just packed with fans. There are a few English dotted around and you can hear them, but the abuse from the Welsh fans is something that will live long in the memory.

“You look out the bus window and you will see a young lad with his old man and he will give his dad a tap. His dad gives him the approval they turn around and they both give you the middle finger.

Six Nations

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

France

4

3

1

0

16

2

England

4

3

1

0

15

3

Ireland

4

3

1

0

14

4

Scotland

4

2

2

0

11

5

Italy

4

1

3

0

4

6

Wales

4

0

4

0

3

“Another one that sticks out in my memory was the day before game day. We were driving through, we pull up at a roundabout, a few vans go by and you get the odd beep.

“A car pulls up next to us, mum and grandma are in the front seat and there is a kid – he can’t have been more than five – his grandma winds down the back window and the kid just gives us the middle finger. I thought ‘that’s brilliant’. I enjoy it. It revs you up a little bit. For me, it’s probably the best away day as a player that you can have.”

The roof will be closed for the game and Chessum insisted there was little point trying to prepare for the atmosphere England would experience.

“I’m not sure it is possible to recreate. Some our lads potentially won’t have experienced something like that before. You have got to acknowledge that because it is a huge weapon for them,” he said.

“You speak about the 16th man or 24th man and that is what that crowd can be for them. When the roof’s shut and the pyros have gone off and the fog descends on the Principality, it’s a pretty special place to play.”

England must topple Wales and hope Scotland stun France in Paris in the climax to the Six Nations if they are to win the title, but Chessum insisted only events in Cardiff were of importance to his side.

“Beating us, I imagine, rights the wrongs of the last 16 games for Wales. Us not winning at the weekend would do the complete opposite for us,” he said. “The magnitude of this game can’t be overlooked and that’s why from our perspective, we’re not looking past 4:45pm on Saturday in Cardiff.”