Tennis star visits training camp to share experiences
Steve Borthwick’s side take on New Zealand on Saturday
England’s preparations for their crunch clash with the All Blacks on Saturday have been boosted by some words of wisdom from the former US Open tennis champion Emma Raducanu, who visited their Bagshot training base on Tuesday.
Raducanu took to the training field with Steve Borthwick’s squad, taking part in lineout practice and kicking drills with Marcus Smith before sharing insights with the captain, Maro Itoje. Borthwick also invited the Brighton manager, Fabian Hürzeler, to address the squad this week.
Eddie Jones was vilified in 2021 when he appeared to criticise the British No 1 women’s tennis player, using the 22-year-old to illustrate the pitfalls of off-field distractions when saying: “There’s a reason why the young girl who won the US Open hasn’t done so well afterwards.” As revealed by the Guardian, Raducanu then skipped an invitation from the Rugby Football Union to attend a match at Twickenham later that autumn.
