"He just has to keep himself on simmer and not let himself boil over and play the game too early." In this instance Tom Wood, who will captain England on Saturday, was talking about his club team-mate and debutant Calum Clark but it is a sentiment poignant for the whole team.
For some playing against France on Saturday, they know a below average performance will ensure their Rugby World Cup dreams disappear quicker than the English summer. There is a fine line in these warm-up matches between playing your role in the team but also aiming to highlight to the coaches why you are an invaluable cog in the final 31-man party. It is a horrible dichotomy.
"If you go over the edge and cock up, it won't look good," says Geoff Parling, who starts in the locks against France on Saturday. "We had a meeting this morning [Thursday] and during the World Cup they [the referees] are normally stricter about on-field discipline than the Aviva Premiership.
"We are going out there to win as a team. You just focus on playing well and winning, if you do that then there's other stuff that comes with it. We want to get our structures nailed down, get the combinations working again."
It is a view from someone who has been through these processes before. The warm-up matches on the 2013 British & Irish Lions Tests served a similar purpose; his outlook then was similar and it resulted in a start in the third Test against the Wallabies. Trust in the system that has taken you so far, is his outlook.
"People were desperate to get their hands on the ball to prove a point - I think there was a lesson learned" Stuart Lancaster
While he has been through the mill ahead of games like Saturday's, for Henry Slade it is a new experience. Some international careers are built on heartbreak. Chris Robshaw was one of the last to be left behind in 2011 despite being reportedly the best trainer in the run up to the final squad cull and four years on he will be England's captain on home turf.
Slade will hope any involvement in 2019 is built on a successful campaign in this quadrennial event but he is aware of the danger of overplaying his hand.
"It is a fine line, but we want to be team focused and it is all about the win really. The whole pre-season, no one has been selfish. We have forgotten about the fact we are all vying with each other for spots. We have all been working collectively towards a goal, nothing changes this weekend. We just have to focus on the team first, our structure and the way we set up our plays."
The party line is along the lines of 'all for one and one for all'. "The players understand that for individuals to function, the team has to function" was coach Stuart Lancaster's take earlier in the week. "We had a good experience of that a couple of weeks ago in training where we moved away from the shape that we'd been practising because people were desperate to get their hands on the ball to prove a point, and I think there was a lesson learned. We talked about it afterwards and said the shape, the way we play, the way we defend, the way we attack, everyone will get the opportunity if we all are disciplined and stick to our own rules within it.
"I'd rather it happened two weeks ago in training than on Saturday! I'm confident the players will stick to their rules within the team and everyone should get their opportunity."