Boxers can train with one hand tied behind their back, snooker players can practise with smaller pockets and golfers can hit heavier balls on the range but they’d all claim that nothing really prepares you for a true test in the white heat of battle.
It explains why the eyes of England’s head coach, Simon Middleton, light up when discussing his side’s grand slam decider in France, when they will put a 22-match winning run on the line against the last team to beat them in the Six Nations, four years ago.
