Johnson enjoying 'spicy' build up

Rugby: England manager Martin Johnson credited Wales for their contribution to a "spicy build-up" ahead of Friday night's RBS 6 Nations showdown, but when the action gets serious at the Millennium Stadium, he believes Warren Gatland's men will be unable to stand the heat.

Johnson's initial response to Gatland's personal criticism of England hooker Dylan Hartley was to suggest they were the actions of a man under pressure and returned to that theme today.

Wales head into the championship without a victory from their last seven Tests and Johnson has urged England to prey on their inevitable self-doubt.

"If you haven't won for a long time, you get that feeling of 'when is the next one going to come from'? We can control that in the game," Johnson said. "We must give them no easy outs, no easy scores. If we get into the last quarter with them behind, that is where we want to be.

"That is the mental side of the game that is very important. I told our squad last week in Portugal that a lot would be said because it's England-Wales and there's a lot of media space to fill over 12 days. They (Wales) have filled most of it. I don't mind. I like a spicy build-up to a game, it gets the blood flowing.

"Then we go and play. A rugby game is about who is playing not about who said what. Our guys are desperate to go and play a game."

England have not won in Cardiff since 2003, when Johnson was captain, but they head into both Friday's game and the Six Nations as favourites. Johnson oversaw an encouraging autumn campaign, which included a record 35-18 home victory over Australia that lifted England up to fourth in the world rankings.

South Africa dished out a brutal lesson in physicality a fortnight later - but Johnson believes that will stand his young side in good stead for the trip to Cardiff, the most hostile Six Nations venue for England.

"There's certainly a different mood in the camp and I think that comes from winning some big games. There's a belief there that we can go and play against anyone and be successful," Johnson said. "There's a certain confidence in the team that you get if you win some big games, or if you lose some as well but go through experiences.

"This is a big game. It's what you grow up watching as a rugby fan, I certainly did. We've got to set our standards very, very high so if we don't quite reach them we're still pretty good. The All Blacks win because their worst performance is still pretty good."

The control Johnson demanded includes discipline and an ability for England to remain focused, despite the pre-match provocation and anything that may be thrown at them after kick-off.

Johnson is confident Hartley can do that, despite Gatland's attempts to provoke a reaction from him.

"You have to keep your discipline and accuracy, that's without a doubt. We have spoken about that. We had our problems a couple of years ago and I think we addressed pretty well," Johnson said. "Dylan plays very aggressively and passionately and that's what we want from him. He's obviously got to be smart, stay under control, not get embroiled in anything.

"I think it will be fast and physical and we've got to harness all that emotion and the whole thing into performance. I said to the players: 'It all comes back to the same thing - controlling what we can control, control the ball, tempo and playing with accuracy'."

Johnson has had to make three changes to his pack from that South Africa game, with key lineout forwards Courtney Lawes and Tom Croft plus captain Lewis Moody all injured. Northampton flanker Tom Wood will make his debut, James Haskell and Louis Deacon both return to the team and Mike Tindall takes over as skipper.

Gatland stirred up the pre-match hype by questioning Hartley's character, based on incidents in Northampton's recent Heineken Cup games against Cardiff Blues, and his temperament under pressure.

Hartley was sin-binned for fighting with Gareth Williams and he was eye-gouged by Richie Rees, which earned the Wales scrum-half a 12-week ban.

"He's always got a lot to say, hasn't he? Let's see what he has got to offer and how he fronts up against us," Gatland said. "He was responsible with some of his evidence for Richie Rees being banned for a long period, and he was not prepared to step outside to the back of the stand with Gareth Williams when invited to do so, so we will see how he fronts up against us."

Gatland's comments were clearly designed to provoke Hartley into losing his cool - but the combative Northampton captain vowed he could handle anything the Welsh throw at him.

"It's given me 10 days to really prepare myself and 10 days to really motivate myself," Hartley said. "It's 10 days' warning of what's to come. I've dealt with it before, people coming after me. Cardiff are a physical team who threw the kitchen sink at me and I'll be prepared for the same again."