Jamie George says England’s experience of a cancelled game at last year’s World Cup in Japan has prepared them for the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus, which is threatening Six Nations matches.
Ireland’s meeting with Italy next weekend has been postponed due to the outbreak and the RFU are monitoring the situation in Italy – where plenty of sporting fixtures are being cancelled – ahead of England’s match in Rome on March 14.
Typhoon Hagibis saw England’s game against France at the World Cup become one of three to be cancelled. England used the opportunity to hold a training camp in Miyazaki, out of the Typhoon’s path, and followed it with sensational performances against Australia and New Zealand to reach the tournament’s final.
“We’re aware of it, no one really has any idea what might happen,” George told the BBC. “It’s a difficult one for us at the minute. The most important thing is that we have a game at home against Wales to prepare for.
“We have had to deal with before, obviously in a different way, with the typhoon in Japan. These things happen, it’s pretty out of our control. There’s not a lot we can do about it.
"Eddie [Jones, the head coach] speaks about it a lot, it’s a cliche answer, but focusing on what we can control. The main focus for us is making sure we get better and put ourselves in the best position to beat Wales.”
George said players will take the RFU lead and is confident the right decision will be made about matches. He praised England’s staff for their handling of the situation in Japan.
“Most of the credit has to go to the staff, really,” he said. “We are very lucky in camp to have some of the best backroom staff around. Within an hour or two we were on a plane down to Miyazaki and had a brilliant training camp down there that set us up nicely for a quarter-final and semi-final. Of course we would have preferred to play the game, we love playing against France.
“But we are very blessed to have an amazing staff in general and the playing group responds very well to situations like that. We are confident that we will be as well prepared as we can be if anything does happen.”
