Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Duncan Bech

England hold full-blooded training session as they prepare for Australia in Rugby World Cup quarter-final

England have sought to overcome any loss of momentum caused by the cancellation of their World Cup group decider by engaging in a full-blooded training session on the day they would have been facing France.

The all-Six Nations clash that was due to be played in Yokohama on Saturday fell victim to Super Typhoon Hagibis and was declared a draw, sending both teams into the quarter-finals.

England will face Australia in Oita and have begun preparations in Miyazaki, the setting for their pre-tournament training camp.

Just a few hours before they had been due to clash with France, all 31 members of the squad except the injured Billy Vunipola and Jack Nowell were involved in a practise session that developed into a game played at full throttle.

"It was a tough session," Saracens hooker Jamie George said.

"All of our game training sessions try to go above and beyond Test match intensity and that was pretty tough in the heat here.

"It was good, the boys looked sharp and we are building nicely towards getting to where we want to be.

"We usually train at this intensity anyway so the fact the France game was off didn't make too much of a difference to us, but it was important to make sure we get a good hit out."

England depart for Oita on Monday with Eddie Jones due to name his team on Thursday.

"These games are hugely exciting - there was a sense of that last week against Argentina and then there was bitter disappointment on the Thursday when we found out we wouldn't be playing France," George said.

"Now there's the opportunity for us to turn that disappointment into excitement leading into Australia.

"It gives us a few extra days to prepare and get our plans into place slightly earlier so that we can fly into the quarter-finals."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.