Browns is in its 20th year as a sports training resort specialised in hosting sports teams of all levels and disciplines, it’s a “one stop shop, which is important for players on a camp because they don’t have to get on a bus so we can train hard, recover well and the food here is fantastic. So it’s a very relaxing setting that allows the players not only to focus on their work but also relax in an appropriate way” Eddie Jones, head coach of the England national team, previously told Browns.
On 2 February England will be in the Stade de France, in Paris, to face France as their first opponent in round one of the Guinness Six Nations Championship, a team that England considers “a fairly useful squad”. “I am just excited to be in the camp and my focus is France, nothing else. I think the whole team is the same” stated Manu Tuilagi in an interview with The Portugal News.
In the same interview, Steve Borthwick, England assistant coach, praised the team and the motivation they are showing during their time in Portugal “I think that the energy, enthusiasm and determination of the players is the best I have seen at this point. They are coming here and they’re bursting to go on the field. The mix of players that went to the world cup and the guys that haven’t been around this much, the new guys that come in, it adds a different character, different element to the group, so it has been brilliant to be with the guys this last week.”
The Portugal News also had the opportunity to talk to scrum half Willi Heinz, who is back in the squad after an injury in the semi-final win over New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup. “After the World Cup, picking up the injury, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but was massively motivated to try and get back in the squad again, and I am just massively excited to be here” said the New Zealand born sportsman, adding that he thinks they “laid some pretty good foundations throughout the world cup and before the world cup and that is something that senior players have talked about already.
“Coming in to Portugal, we can’t waste days at the start of these camps and we need to hit the ground running and it’s up to the new players to get up to speed with the help of the guys that have been around and we need to get them on board as quick as possible with what we are doing. So I don’t think it is about reinventing the wheel or anything like that, it is about building on what we’ve got and making it better and better all the time.”