Steve Borthwick has turned the heat up on England’s Rugby World Cup preparations by having them train in Europe’s hottest spot.
Temperatures hit 104 degrees in northern Italy where the 41-man squad were put through their paces under a burning sun.
Borthwick’s job is to transform England from Six Nations also-rans to World Cup contenders in a matter of weeks.
To do so he believes they must be physically and mentally able to perform in the most testing environments.
Which is why England are in Verona where anticyclone Cerberus has brought the first major heatwave to hit Italy this year.
“There are extreme moments within a game and Test matches are so tight,” Borthwick said as his players headed out into the late afternoon sun.
“If you are not conditioned for those moments, those are the ones which can break you. You might concede the crucial score in a game or make a poor decision.
“But if you are conditioned better than the opposition for those extreme moments, you get the crucial score.
“We need to be conditioned so we are equipped to play how we want to play in the toughest circumstances in a Test match.”
To that end, Borthwick has recruited from his old club Leicester strength and conditioning guru Aled Walters - who steered South Africa to World Cup glory last time round.
England’s head coach is under no illusions that to win the tournament in France this autumn his team has to be amongst the fittest.
He was unhappy with levels at the end of the Six Nations, in which England finished a mile behind Ireland and France.
Four months on he is considerably happier. Asked if he expects them to rival the favourites for physical conditioning he smiled.
“We have Aled leading that section of our programme and he coached a team in 2019 who were very, very fit,” Borthwick said.
“And the person who led the England conditioning programme in 2019, Tom Tombleson, is assisting Aled now. So I have trust in those two guys there, that they understand how to prepare a team.”
There was immediate cause for encouragement with the sight of Premiership player of the year Ollie Lawrence out on the training field.
The burly Bath centre is on the comeback trail from knee injury and was considered touch and go for World Cup selection due to the small window of recovery time.
But Borthwick now reckons the 23-year old will be fit to play a part in the second of England’s four warm-up games next month, against Wales at Twickenham on August 12.
