England have been drawing on the expertise of Emma Raducanu as they gear up for the visit of New Zealand this weekend.
Raducanu, the 2021 US Open winner, was in camp with Steve Borthwick’s squad at their Bagshot training base on Tuesday, providing insight from her tennis career as England prepare to take on the All Blacks at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler, the youngest manager in the Premier League, has also been in over the last couple of days sharing his insights. Visitors from other sports are relatively common into international rugby camps, while Borthwick and his staff met up with cricketing counterparts including Brendon McCullum ahead of the autumn.
“She watched training today and then we did a few bits after,” prop Fin Baxter said of Raducanu’s visit. “I think she did a bit of kicking with Marcus [Smith]. Maro [Itoje] was chatting to her and we were all drifting off, letting two big dogs of their sports talk. Then it was, ‘Fin, Will [Stuart], come on, Emma wants to do a lineout with you’.
“So we did the lineout. She was very good, and caught the ball. And then afterwards I was like, ‘hi Emma, I’m Fin by the way’. It was a weird way to meet her for the first time. But it was cool to have her in.
“The amount of pressure that she has to go under because of how successful she is…it’s definitely something we can all learn from.”
England have not beaten New Zealand since the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final. They were narrowly beaten in all three Tests the two sides played in 2024, including a 24-22 defeat at Twickenham last November.
