Emma Raducanu played a guest role in England training on Tuesday as Steve Borthwick’s squad continued preparations for their blockbuster autumn showdown with New Zealand.
The British tennis star, who won the US Open in 2021, visited England’s training base in Surrey where she gave advice on how to deal with pressure ahead of Saturday’s clash at Allianz Stadium.
“Emma watched training today and then we did a few bits after,” rookie prop Fin Baxter said.
“She did a bit of kicking with Marcus (Smith). Maro (Itoje) was chatting to her and we were all drifting off, letting two big dogs of their sports talk.
“Then it was, ‘Fin, Will (Stuart), come on, Emma wants to do a lineout with you’. So we did the lineout. She was very good – and caught the ball.
“Afterwards I was like ‘hi Emma, I’m Fin by the way’. It was a weird way to meet her for the first time. But it was cool to have her in.
“The amount of pressure that she has to go under because of how successful she is is definitely something we can learn from.”
