England’s Rugby Team tried something very different before the autumn internationals!
Eddie Jones’ Red Rose tried their hand at martial arts in order to prepare for the competition!
In case you don’t know Eddie Jones is an Australian rugby union coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the England national rugby union team. He has previously coached the Australian national team during the 2003 Rugby World Cup and also coached the Japanese national team for three years leading up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
He’s also convinced researching and spending time with teams from all sorts of sports will give the English team the edge necessary for achieving triumph.
The England squad take to the mat to learn the art of Judo. pic.twitter.com/BBHrWLTAF9
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) October 4, 2016
The team tried their hand at Judo (sans Gi) , with former world champ Kate Howey and Jean-Paul Bell showing their skills that helped Sally Conway win Olympic bronze in Rio.
Prop Mako Vunipola, his Saracens team-mate, is hoping that he fares better today then he did when he last was obliged to try his hand at judo.
“I nearly passed out when I did it before,” said Vunipola to Telegraph. “I did it at an England U18s camp. That was my first and only experience of it. We had to roll backwards and forwards all the time. I was heavier back in the day, 136kg, so by the seventh or eighth roll I was nearly passing out so they made me stop.”
Northampton prop Paul Hill is looking to force his way into the reckoning even if his judo expertise is limited.
“I did three sessions when I was 15 and this bloke who was 20kg lighter than me turned me into a knot and twisted me inside out,” said Hill. “You can see the connections though between judo and clearing out a ruck.”
