England Men

30 Jul 2019 | 2 min |

England Rugby visit RAF Cranwell

As the England squad continue their preparations for the Rugby World Cup in Japan, part of that has included a number of key off-field experiences.

Squad members undertook a series of tasks designed to test their ability to work under pressure and make decisions while under stress.

England head coach Eddie Jones feels the experience could be crucial for the players over the coming months, with the World Cup on the horizon.

“Following the visit we had down to Cornwall with the squad we decided to take a smaller group of players up to RAF Cranwell just for some more specialised education in decision making under pressure, so the players did a range of activities and certainly we feel those activities will be of benefit in the future,” explained Jones.

He added: “It is just learning a different way of being under pressure and make decisions under pressure. Our games are a little different to what the RAF do, but the similarities are we have got to make decisions under pressure.

“That is not an easy thing to do and the more you learn about how other groups do it, the better.”

England will play Wales (11 August) and Ireland (24 August) at Twickenham Stadium and Italy (6 September) in Newcastle as part of the Quilter Internationals as well as an away fixture against Wales (17 August) in Cardiff.

Jones side will begin their Rugby World Cup campaign in Japan against Tonga in Sapporo (22 September, KO 11:15am UK time) before playing USA Rugby in Kobe (26 September, KO 11:45am UK time), Argentina in Tokyo (5 October, KO 09:00am UK time) and France in Yokohama (12 October, KO 09:15am UK time).