Amy Hunt Drops In on England's Rugby Camp Before Australia Test
Great Britain sprinter Amy Hunt spent Wednesday at England's rugby union training base, watching a session and eating lunch with the squad. The visit came days before England's Nations Championship match against Australia on Sunday.
Rugby union is the 15-a-side game where players fight for the ball on the ground after a tackle, a contest known as a ruck. England's men have plenty to prepare for. BBC Sport reports that Hunt, who is 24, won four gold medals at the European Championships in Birmingham last summer. She also holds a degree from Cambridge University.
Back-row forward Ben Earl, who plays in the loose-forward positions that link the pack to the backs, told BBC Sport that Hunt seemed buzzing to be at the England camp. Hunt is not the first famous name to drop in. Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open tennis champion, visited the squad before England's win over New Zealand last autumn. Thomas Tuchel, England's men's football manager, and Olympic skeleton champion Matt Weston visited the Pennyhill Park base during this year's Six Nations.
The camp has a cross-code flavour too. Leeds Rhinos assistant coaches Chev Walker and Scott Grix met Steve Borthwick and his staff on Wednesday, alongside UK Armed Forces players and coaches. Rugby league is the 13-a-side code, and Walker knows both games well. He played for Bath after briefly switching codes in 2006.
The Armed Forces side has its own date to keep. They play Belgium at Kingsholm in Gloucester on 11 November, a Remembrance Day fixture. Borthwick and assistant Joe El-Abd will run a training session for the Armed Forces team at Sandhurst on Thursday.
On the field, England are cautiously optimistic that fly-half Fin Smith will be fit to face Australia, according to The Independent. The fly-half runs the attack and usually takes the kicks at goal.
The Australia match is the first of four November weekend games for England. It kicks off at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, at 15:10 GMT on Sunday 8 November and will be shown live on ITV. Japan and New Zealand follow, then a play-off opponent that has yet to be decided.
For anyone new to the sport, the test is a useful first look. Each side wants the ball, and each wants to win it back quickly after a tackle. Hunt's visit is a reminder that elite preparation often draws on help from outside the game.
