JAILHOUSE RUCK
Robshaw ready for explosive clash with Welsh pack after ‘daunting’ mission inside maximum security prison
CHRIS ROBSHAW prepared for today’s Battle of Bristol by training with convicted criminals.
England’s rugby forwards go head-to-head with archrivals Wales in a potentially explosive live scrummaging session.
Robshaw and captain Dylan Hartley got in the mood by being locked up in an Argentinian maximumsecurity jail .
“There were guys in there for all sorts and we weren’t sure what to expect,” said Robshaw, who was at a Buenos Aires prison as part of a rehabilitation project for offenders.
“It was a pretty daunting experience going in. As you go through three sets of barriers you see dogs on the leash and guards with machine guns, and you’re a bit like, ‘Don’t know if we should be in here’.” If coaching prisoners in Argentina was an eyeopener then today’s setpiece clash in the wild West Country will be no less challenging. National teams pretty much never pack down against each other outside of matches and with the autumn Tests just five days away both sets of players are fired up.
Eddie Jones (above) called for his forwards to “rip into” Wales in a session for which top Welsh ref Nigel Owens has been hired.
“We want them to be 100 per cent,” he said. “Absolutely 100 per cent.”
Time will tell how wise a move it is. Recent history suggests the two nations are playing with fire.
Bath recently tried something similar against Welsh opposition and it erupted into a brawl, sparked by England hooker Tom Dunn appearing to swing his head into his Dragons’ rival.
The balloon also went up when Jason Ryles, England’s Aussie rugby league coaching consultant, arranged a session for his Melbourne Storm team and the Canterbury Bulldogs.
“It was a good concept which started out at two-handed, then went to bumping shoulders,” he said. “Then after that it was,
like, ‘F*** it!!’. No, it didn’t work.”
This morning’s set-to involves 12 scrums and 15 lineouts and will not be for the faint-hearted. “We want to challenge ourselves as obviously we’re playing international rugby at the weekend,” said Hartley (right).
“The best way to prepare is to scrummage against another international side. “Going up against Wales might challenge us differently and make us a bit more resilient and selfreliant. It will also bring a bit more edge.”
The players’ prison visit was on behalf of Try for Change, a joint initiative between England Rugby and Comic Relief to rehabilitate offenders through rugby.