Experts claim two-week break 'won't be an issue' for England
England will not be negatively affected by their extended break when they face Australia in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, according to an expert in strength and conditioning.
With their final Pool C fixture against France, which was scheduled to take place in Yokohama last weekend, cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis, Eddie Jones’ men will head into the last-eight clash against the Wallabies in Oita with two weeks having passed since they last played a match. Australia completed their group games with a 27-8 victory over Georgia last Friday.
Rich Hunwicks, a director at the UK Strength and Conditioning Association, believes there is no danger of England being ‘under-cooked’ for Saturday’s game. Hunwicks said: “My belief, with the experience of Eddie Jones and the staff, is the two-week break won’t be any issue to the team.
“What team staff and the players will do is tailor their training accordingly. The mentality side will be ‘we do what it takes’, and the physiology side of it will be catered for through the different training components they have. I believe they’ll try to simulate match play in some form, exposing players to the right levels but minimise collision to make sure they are recovered, refreshed and ready for the quarter-final.
“The team will train in relatively high-intensity blocks anyway, and Eddie and his staff will replicate match demands that doesn’t exceed that, so allow them to get the exposure they need in-house. They have a squad capable of training fiercely amongst one another. To that end it will be certainly no negative, it will probably be a positive.”
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Hunwicks, who is head of performance at Catalans Dragons, was previously head of human performance for England Rugby League and did strength and conditioning work with George Ford when the England fly-half was a teenager, added: “As an advantage or disadvantage – it is basically turning up to do your job regardless of the circumstance or scenario.
“But one of the things that does come about through competitive matchplay is injury and that’s often through collision. England have had a reduced risk of collision-based injury, which from a medical and a physical performance point of view, the staff will be reasonably pleased with.”
Professor Greg Whyte, an expert in sports and exercise medicine, feels that overall the hiatus is likely to be to England’s benefit. He thinks their only potential problem regarding the extended break is on the psychological front and is confident they are equipped to handle things in that area.
England get the Billy Vunipola update they were looking for https://t.co/2z3GE00Jpv
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Whyte, a former Olympic modern pentathlete who is a professor of applied sport and exercise at Liverpool John Moores University and director of performance at the Centre for Health and Human Performance, said: “You think two weeks between games – that’s no different to the Six Nations, to the autumn series. So to some extent, it’s what they are used to, that would be the normal environment.
“From a physical perspective, additional recovery would actually probably be beneficial. Potentially it works in England’s favour because they [Australia] have fewer days of recovery. That is a positive for England. Technically and tactically, I don’t think it will make any difference at all really. The fact that Australia played on Friday and they (England) got to look at their format and game strategy, again it might even play into England’s hands.
“The only potential downfall could be psychologically – that is that for probably a period of two years plus, the team and support staff have been prepping for a given model of when they’re going to play, and that model has been disrupted.
There will be a massive amount of pressure on this team at the weekend #RWC2019 #ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/RgRUi6WVaA
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“It will come down to how individuals cope with that delay and how the team approach it, whether they can actually respond positively to it. Given the expertise they have on their support staff, you would imagine they have taken care of this.
“It’s about making sure every individual on the team has got the right support they require so they can cope with that change in the schedule. If they take that individualised approach, I would say overall it is of no concern. However, get that wrong, and it could have a profound effect on the pitch.”
Whyte added: “Generally I would say it [the extended break] is a positive, but it will only be a positive if they can cope with it psychologically.
“Psychologically is probably the one area where it could make a (negative) difference, but with a team this well prepared and supported, with the experience they have on the pitch, I would be very surprised if it was a negative influence.”
– Press Association
WATCH: England hold a full-blooded training session to make up for cancelled France game
Comments on RugbyPass
Yes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
33 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to comments