Wednesday 30 September 2015 15:42, UK
Sitting on the sidelines was tough, but Sky Sports' Jonathan Davies reveals his immense pride after Wales beat England at Twickenham.
It's always nice to have time in my column to reflect on big sporting occasions and today is no different really.
There was a lot of talk building up to the event and rightly so, but when it comes down to it, as nervous as you are on the sidelines - desperate to find a way to influence the results - there isn't anything you can do to help.
You just have to let go and trust the training that has been put in by others and try to enjoy the moment.
That's how I felt on Wednesday afternoon when my horse raced the 2pm at Chepstow, taking on hurdles in a race for the first time. I'm happy to report that, despite my concerns, it was all plain sailing for Potters Corner at Chepstow who came away with an incredible win!
England will be hurting from that result but their World Cup is far from over - a win for them over Australia keeps the pressure on everyone in the group.
I suppose it's also worth mentioning another sporting occasion where I watched helplessly on from the sidelines, unable to make an impact. I don't think I could get into coaching based on the spread of emotions I felt at Twickenham on Saturday when Wales took on England.
Things weren't quite plain sailing for Wales that day, but they got the win, and what a win it was.
The amount of injuries the guys suffered in that game made for a very tense finish which was tough to watch from afar, but I was immensely proud of the display from each player in the jersey.
It's easy to look back with the benefit of hindsight and pick holes in things that happened so I won't do that, but I will say that decision-making is tough when fatigue sets in, and the fact that Wales were able to execute things accurately right until the 80th minute is directly related to the grueling training camps that were held in the build-up to the World Cup.
Credit to the Welsh boys for coming away with the win but also credit to England for the way they threw everything into the game. England will be hurting from that result but their World Cup is far from over - a win for them over Australia keeps the pressure on everyone in the group.
The atmosphere inside the stadium on Saturday was up there with the best I've ever experienced, and I felt very lucky to be able to be there for it.
I said last week that there's nothing better as a Welshman than to silence an English crowd during a game, but on an occasion as big as that there was no chance of silencing either set of supporters. Both countries were fully behind their teams and it made for a spectacle that will go down as one of the great Wales and England encounters.
I was having breakfast on the morning of the game and could already see red and white shirts getting the festivities started; I hope those people all made it safely to their seats. Given the fact that there weren't many empty seats around the stadium I can only assume they did - so the real heroes of the night were the stewards!
I didn't go into the changing room after the game, I left the guys to it because it was their victory to savour. But I heard that when they arrived back to the hotel in Cardiff it was straight into the cryotherapy at 3am. I'm sure after beating England the lads would have rather chilled some beers than chilled their own bodies, but that's professional sport for you.
In the Six Nations you often have time to decompress mentally from a highly emotional game, as well as recover from the physical fall-out, but in a competition like a World Cup you aren't working within the same time frames. Talk would have moved very quickly to Fiji after the final whistle at Twickenham.
Though it's true that Wales will have approached this World Cup game by game, conversations leading up to the tournament would have centred around the fact that if we had lost to England and Australia the quarter-final place was out of reach.
The win against England is job one, but in a weird way it places even more importance on Thursday's match against Fiji. Lose this one, and all that effort that the boys went through to stand up and fight at Twickenham will just about be for nothing.
Fortunately the guys love a challenge because they will be met by one! There may have been a day when Wales would underestimate Fiji but that day has been and gone.
They've been a side that have caused us trouble in recent times, and they are particularly strong now. They've shored up their set piece and their backs still look like a bunch of forwards got the jerseys mixed up in the dressing room. Add to that their pace out wide and you have a recipe for a very well balanced side.
It is going to be tough to bounce back after five days and deliver another big performance, but I'm backing the guys to do it and come away with the win.
I'd also like to take the time to wish Jean de Villiers all the best in his recovery from injury and retirement from international rugby.
He's one of the great midfielders in the modern era, and one of the nicest guys off the field.
When I suffered the injury that ruled me out of the World Cup he took the time to get in touch with me to offer words of encouragement which I've always appreciated.
I don't want to say too many nice things about him though, in case he ends up signing for a club in Europe. I don't want to have to face him with my own gushing praise ringing in his ears!
Good luck Jean, it's been a pleasure.
