England turn to Emma Raducanu in bid to beat the All Blacks

Emma Raducanu received a kicking masterclass from Marcus Smith and traded lessons in leadership with Maro Itoje after being invited into the England rugby camp before this weekend’s showdown with the All Blacks.

England’s senior players sought the guidance of Raducanu, the British No1 tennis player and 2021 US Open champion, as part of head coach Steve Borthwick’s latest effort to tap into sporting minds from outside of rugby.

Raducanu, who became the first qualifier to win a major title in New York four years ago without dropping a set, spent Tuesday at England’s Pennyhill Park base.

The 22-year-old observed England’s training session before taking part in a line-out with props Fin Baxter and Will Stuart. She also received kicking tips from Smith before an in-depth leadership discussion with Itoje, who will lead out the side at Allianz Stadium this Saturday afternoon.

“Emma Raducanu was in training today,” Borthwick said. “It’s just great having people, elite sports people come and visit us. Emma was talking to the players and sharing her experiences about preparing for the elite level of competition, which is terrific. People like her are always very welcome because we learn a lot and the players enjoy learning from others’ experience.”

Baxter, who will start at loosehead prop against New Zealand having held off the challenge of vice-captain and British and Irish Lion Ellis Genge, revealed that he and fellow prop Stuart had lifted Raducanu in a mock line-out at the end of their team session on Tuesday.

“She watched training today and then we did a few bits after,” said Baxter. “I think she did a bit of kicking with Marcus. Maro was chatting to her and we were all drifting off, letting two big dogs of their sports talk. Then it was: ‘Fin, Will, come on, Emma wants to do a line-out with you.’

“So, we did the line-out. 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 definitely something we can all learn something from.”

Borthwick’s side are hoping to break a four-match losing streak that stretches back to 2019 against the All Blacks on Saturday and take a first win at Twickenham since 2012.

The England head coach was impressed with how Raducanu had articulated her experiences at the highest level of sport. She was not the first big-name attendee to drop in for preparations this week following the visit of Brighton and Hove Albion head coach Fabian Hürzeler.

England welcomed the Premier League manager into camp on Monday and Tuesday and the presence of guests from other sports – particularly football – has been a recurring theme of Borthwick’s tenure as head coach. England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and former Stoke City and Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis have, among others, visited training since Borthwick replaced Eddie Jones in 2022. Borthwick’s backroom coaches recently met their cricketing equivalents.

“We had Fabian in on Monday and today, too, and it’s been really interesting to chat to him,” Borthwick added. “We learnt a little bit about what his views are, and the importance of the team. That’s been a good message for us.”

This is not the first time that Raducanu has been a talking point among the England rugby team. In 2021, towards the end of his time as head coach Eddie Jones was forced to apologise after he told Marcus Smith to be wary of the “flood of distractions” that could come his way as the “next big thing”, referring to the attention that Raducanu received since winning the US Open.

Jones also clarified his comments and admitted that he had sent Raducanu a letter. On Tuesday, however, the two worlds collided as Smith and Raducanu kicked a ball together at Pennyhill Park.

England face the All Blacks after victories against Australia and Fiji on the opening two weekends of their November Tests. Their autumn comes to a close a week on Sunday when they take on Argentina at the Allianz Stadium.

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