The first team at Ealing Trailfinders enjoyed a double header of training sessions from the England staff earlier this week.
On Monday and Tuesday the likes of Eddie Jones, John Mitchell and Matt Proudfoot hosted training as they began to prepare for the conclusion of the Guinness Six Nations.
Jones, who was coaching for the first time since lockdown, had nothing but praise for the Trailfinders after allowing them to visit Trailfinders Sports Club.
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— Ealing Trailfinders (@ealingtfrugby) September 3, 2020
Hear from @EalingTF_Brunel star Declan Raubenheimer after he trained alongside the first team with the England coaches 🌹 pic.twitter.com/L7xlXMugVF
“It’s great to be back here as we were kindly allowed to come and take training. We are really appreciative to the coaches here, it allows us to see what is happening in the Championship and hopefully the players benefited.
“There is a real buzz around the squad here. We’ve been here four or five times and this is the best side I’ve seen at Ealing in terms of the quality.
“Once again we want to thank the coaches and hopefully we can continue to visit moving forward.”
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LIST | 5 England players who could swap nations for 2023 World Cup
Sir Bill Beaumont has hit back in the World Rugby election race and revealed he wants to create a law change that would allow Manu Tuilagi and other England stars to end their Test career playing for other nations.
The former England captain raised the possibility in his re-election manifesto ahead of next month’s contest with former Argentina scrum-half Agustin Pichot.
In it he promises a review of Regulation 8 which covers eligibility to play for national teams “to see how we can support the longevity of players’ international careers”.
Based on this, we’ve looked at some other current England stars who could head to the 2023 Rugby World Cup to represent other nations.
We’ve not included Billy Vunipola, as we think he is likely to be still in the reckoning for England in three years time.
1. Manu Tuilagi (Samoa)
- Current number of caps: 41
- Age at the start of RWC 2023: 32
- Did you know: He was named Manusamoa, after the name of the Samoan national team
The England centre, who was born in Fogapoa and came to the UK at the age of 13, is one of a clutch of Pacific Island players whose eligibility status could change if the restrictions are relaxed. He is the younger brother of Freddie, Henry, Alesana, Anitelea and Sanele Vavae Tuilagi, all of whom are Samoan internationals and also played for Leicester. It would be fantastic for the powerhouse to complete the set.