England v New Zealand: Rowntree Previews the Tour
England Forwards Coach Graham Rowntree chats to Alex Payne and QBE Rugby ahead of the summer tour of New Zealand, which kicks off this weekend at Eden Park in Auckland.
Alex asks the World Cup winner how, as a coach, he reassembles and prepares a squad ahead of a summer tour after the fatigue of a long season.
The World Cup winner insists that playing the All Blacks in their own backyard is motivation enough for the players and they won’t need any motivation with that prospect ahead of them.
Graham admits, however, the tour is massively important for England to bench-mark where they are as a squad leading into the home World Cup next year; maintaining that this is the group of players that will represent England in 2015.
One thing is for certain though, with an exciting, youthful England team taking on the best rugby union side in the world, the three tests in the southern hemisphere are going to be a fantastic spectacle.
Click here to hear Attacking Skills Coach Mike Catt’s thoughts on the tour.
Graham Rowntree was speaking exclusively at a coaching event hosted by QBE, official insurance partner of England Rugby. For more great rugby videos and interviews, go to: www.qberugby.com and follow @QBErugby on Twitter.
