England’s desire to be the fittest squad at this year’s Rugby World Cup has prompted several players to be called in for advance fitness work two weeks before their official training camp starts on 22 June. The Harlequins trio of Chris Robshaw, Joe Marler and Mike Brown, Exeter’s Jack Nowell and Gloucester’s Ben Morgan are among those spending this week at Bagshot rather than on the beach.
For the likes of Morgan there is little time to waste, the big No8 having not played since breaking an ankle for his club against Saracens in January. He had a supporting pin removed from the bone in April and is still hoping to prove his fitness in time for England’s warmup games in August.
Marler missed the tail end of the season after undergoing minor shoulder surgery but expects to be back in full training by the end of July, despite having recently fallen down the stairs at home after tripping over his baby son’s toy snake. Brown has played no rugby since the end of the Six Nations championship after suffering renewed concussion symptoms following his collision with Italy’s Andrea Masi in February.
With several other members of Stuart Lancaster’s wider training squad having not played since the end of the Premiership regular season, it was decided they would benefit from some bespoke pre-camp conditioning work. A team spokesman said they would not be commencing the boot-camp element of the summer early but the likes of Morgan – who has been using an oxygen chamber to speed up his recovery – will be keen to convince the medical staff they are progressing sufficiently fast to be genuine World Cup prospects.
Further players will join the advance guard next week before the entire training squad assembles on 22 June. England will also be travelling to Colorado in July to train at altitude before their three warmup games against France (home and away) and Ireland.
England’s under-20 side, meanwhile, have called up Bath’s Will Homer as a replacement for the Exeter scrum-half Stuart Townsend, who damaged knee ligaments in the 30-16 win over Wales at the weekend.
Leicester’s chief executive ,Simon Cohen, has hit out at USA Rugby’s decision not to sanction their proposed pre-season friendly in Philadelphia this summer. The Tigers were due to have faced Rough Riders but have been informed the fixture will not proceed. “USA Rugby should hang their heads in shame,” said Cohen. “I am sure that the Leicester Tigers playing a game in the United States would have been good for the development of the game and it is a shame the very people charged with protecting the game should have taken this very short-sighted decision.
“Our experience in this case could lead you to question whether USA Rugby is more keen to protect its own commercial interests than to serve and promote the game of rugby as a whole in their country.”
