20 July 2007

As they neared the end of this week’s training camp, rfu.com spoke to some of the England players at the squad’s Bath University training base yesterday.

Mathew Tait was in a relaxed mood and appeared to be enjoying life in the training camp.  “Training’s been going really well. I missed a couple of days in Portugal with a sore ankle but I’m feeling really well and enjoying being part of the squad.

“Everyone’s very relaxed but there’s a real edge underneath it all with cuts to the squad coming up and you can never be confident when it comes to selection.

“One of the things I enjoyed most of all was the time we spent with the Royal Marines when we worked together in different groups and you got to speak and socialise with people you don’t normally do that with.  We learned a lot about ourselves in the mental and physical tasks and working in teams with different leaders solving problems, which meant I was in a group leading older guys like Mike Catt.

“It was a bit of a surprise when we’d been expecting to turn up and go to Portugal but once we got into it we really enjoyed it. The Marines really opened our eyes too about the work they do and the dangers they face and that put our lives and what we’re doing into perspective.”

Jason Robinson was equally positive about the team spirit.  “I've enjoyed being back in training and I practised a lot of kicking today. Because we need to be a bit careful with my knee, Brian Ashton has told everyone that I won't be taking part in any contacts sessions just yet, which suits me fine!

“It means I've been given what the other players in the squad call the 'golden ticket' or as some of the others call it the 'golden wrapper.’ It’s led to a few of the boys calling me 'Willy Wonka' which just underlines how good the banter has been!

"We've all worked hard and so far the sessions have been tough but enjoyable."

Another player relishing his return to the England fold is Tigers’ flanker Lewis Moody.  "We've trained well this week and over the last month but we're all looking forward now to spending some time with our families over the next few days.

“Working with the Royal Marines, and then in Portugal, was hard work for different reasons. The Royal Marines was always going to be a huge challenge for everyone but we enjoyed it.

“Portugal was intense because of the heat, 36 degrees some days, and because we trained in two groups, usually twice a day, both on the pitch and doing weights.
 
"We have all benefitted from the experience but it was good to get back to Bath University at the beginning of last week to continue our preparations for the World Cup.
 
"Once the squad meets up again in Bath on July 29th we will then go straight into three back to back test matches followed by another short break and then it’s the final few days before the start of the RWC itself."