In pictures - England's sweltering pre-season training camp in London
England headcoach Eddie Jones named a 44-man pre-season training squad on Thursday, that have been enduring a training session at the Lensbury Hotel in London today.
With temperatures reaching over 30 degrees, any expectation that this camp might be less physically gruelling than a trip to Portugal will have been quickly dashed.
Chris Ashton was selected having returned to England this summer from playing in France with Toulon. The 31 year-old winger, who scored 19 tries in 39 Tests for England, last played international rugby in 2014.
As well as returning veterans, England coaches will also have a chance to look at a number of new or young players including Gabriel Ibitoye, Joel Kpoku, Jordan Olowofela and Michael Rhodes.
Eddie Jones said: “This is a pre-season camp so a lot of our players, particularly the ones who went on the South African tour, have just started training with their clubs so it’s just a chance to get a group of players together to have a chat about the season ahead and look at the important areas in developing the team. With just over 12 months until the Rugby World Cup, it is an important time.”
“We haven’t selected everyone. There are a number of players we rested from the tour that we have allowed to continue their pre-season with their clubs.
“This camp is all about individual preparation, it’s about looking to see how we can help each of the players improve, how we can help with their selection for the national team because we have 44 players coming in plus another 15 who are strongly in contention for the Quilter Internationals in November.”
On Ashton’s inclusion in the squad Jones said: “Chris is an exceptional player, I think we have seen with his form at Saracens, then at Toulon he has played exceedingly well. He’s come back to England because he wants to play for England so he has got the right desire, the right attitude so it will be good to work with him.”
With three England U20 players in Ibitoye, Kpoku and Olowofela,who featured in the recent World Rugby U20 Championship in France, named in the training squad Jones added: “It is an opportunity for them to show us what they have got. We have identified those guys who can potentially play for England in the future so this is a great opportunity for them.”
Jones added: “We have one day of training at this camp, a September camp, then a week before the South Africa game so every minute counts. We want to make sure we use every minute as productively as we can so that is the target of the camp.”
England’s next training camp will be Sunday 23 September until Tuesday 25 September in Bristol before joining up on Wednesday 24 October to prepare for the Quilter Internationals in November.
Comments on RugbyPass
The best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
2 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
3 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
114 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
2 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
3 Go to commentsThis is the most exciting game of the summer imo, as we really won’t know in advance how both teams are going to play. - Will Robertson just reproduce his Crusaders tactics from last year, or will there be a conscious effort to borrow from the Hurricanes and Blues, and from the aspects of the ABs world cup strategy that worked well? - England under Borthwick have put in some good performances playing attacking rugby, and some good performances playing kick-oriented defensive rugby. Will Borthwick try to merge them together into a single all-court game, or will he continue switching between different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition?
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
9 Go to commentsFinals are always tense affairs for the players so I do not expect this to be a spectacle of running rugby unfortunately.
3 Go to commentsBulls***': Ex-England international calls out Eben Etzebeth… Not to his face but from very far away… after he’d left. Checked to make sure he wasn’t in the building.
114 Go to commentsHopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
3 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to commentsNRL players don’t have anywhere near the number of Tests. Some people would be happy having Rest Homes full if 40 yo ex-players walking, or hobbling more like it, into walls. It’s just a game!
4 Go to commentsNOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
4 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
7 Go to commentsShowed better basic skills than some nz Super sides, who probably would have botched some of those backline moves. This tournament really is too short though. Needs more teams, or have them play two rounds to properly prepare them for the near full-time NH U20 sides.
4 Go to commentsGood grief it’s only six months. Probably just upset it’s not an established kiwi entering their prime they can “project” into green to join the rest.
3 Go to commentsGood player but far from being best in the world. That's an exaggeration. Perhaps Best in world by Northern Hemisphere standards and biasis but certainly not Southern Hemi standards
4 Go to comments