Rugby League World Cup 2013: England camp is full of hard work – and laughter

As a player, your days are very busy. An early start at 7.30 for breakfast,

followed by a series of physical tests, including a urine test to see how

hydrated you are. The day is always weighted with some form of physicality,

whether it be tackle technique, or a little wrestling. That gets a little

heated from time to time. Then lunch, which is followed by a meeting and

video session, and then on the field for an hour and a half.

Most evenings the lads will have a bit of free time. A lot of that has been

spent watching the other World Cup games as a group. Generally, we are well

looked after. People talk about how much more you eat when you are in a

hotel, and the quality of the food at Loughborough is out of this world.

Your weight is monitored to make sure you are not eating too much, but there

are always one or two who overindulge. Usually the staff.

A near sell-out is expected at Hull on Saturday afternoon, despite the fact

that the other England rugby side are kicking off at Twickenham at the same

time. Personally, I would have preferred to see us playing at different

times, which would have given people an opportunity to enjoy both codes. I

know Stuart Lancaster quite well and swap texts with Chris Robshaw, and

there has always been a healthy respect between us. I wish them well.

With the group stage concluding on Monday, it is a good time to assess the

event. Australia and New Zealand have been strong. Samoa have gelled as a

team, and really impressed us against Papua New Guinea. Scotland did well to

beat Tonga and the United States. It has been a fantastic competition so

far, and the fact that the stadiums are full shows that people are really

embracing it.

It was important we got off the board at Huddersfield. We knew Ireland would

throw a lot at us, and we played some decent stuff. Not conceding a point is

perhaps the biggest positive we can take from that game. At this level, that

is very difficult to do. Out of 10, I would probably give us six, maybe 6½.

There is a lot to work on.

Article source: http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland/top-stories/former-scotland-rugby-international-on-rape-charge-1-3150028

Rugby League World Cup 2013: England camp is full of hard work – and laughter