Bern’s need for speed in Slam decider
WITH the speed and sidestepping ability of a centre and the brute power of a forward, not many rugby players are built like England’s Sarah Bern. Such is the explosiveness of the 24-year-old Bristol prop that she often trains with England’s backs to work on her pace and running lines. it is clearly working. Bern scored an outrageous try from her own half against italy in this year’s Women’s Six Nations. her scores often go viral on social media they are that good. Bern will hope for another effort today, when England look to seal a Grand Slam in their Championship decider with a French side who have also won all four of their games. ‘Every player has their strength, and running is my point of difference,’ Bern — who started her career as a back — told Sportsmail. ‘Speed is my favourite session of the week. i love learning how to be faster and change direction quicker. i work hard at it.’ Bern has a mammoth 277 metres carried in England’s four Six Nations games to date and carried for an equally impressive 154 metres post-contact. they are the numbers you would expect from an outside back, not a tighthead prop ‘it’s amazing to hear those stats but it’s just about doing my job well,’ said Bern. ‘People always say i’m smiling on the pitch, but that’s because i enjoy playing.’ there has certainly been plenty for Bern to enjoy in recent times. Simon Middleton’s side have won their past 22 matches. France will be their biggest test in the tournament so far, but it would be a huge shock if England were beaten. ‘it’s going to be very tough,’ said Bern, now firing on all cylinders after recovering from a double shoulder dislocation. ‘Our recent matches with France have been very close.’