ENGLAND are tapping into the skills of UFC stars like Conor McGregor to help KO France.
After grappling with judo before the autumn internationals, the Red Rose have turned to MMA as they look to land another sucker-punch in the Six Nations.
England’s warriors will use techniques from the brutal martial art in the run-up to their Grand Slam defence, to give them more fight with and without the ball.
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Boss Eddie Jones, though, will hope their latest sparring sessions will be injury-free after Sam Jones broke his leg wrestling Maro Itoje in a judo drill last year.
Defence guru Paul Gustard said: “We met a guy who we’re still in discussion with about improving certain aspects around the contact area, around the maul and about getting back to your feet post-tackle.
“It’s those sorts of skills that are innate in wrestling or a one-on-one contact sport. It’s not just the tackle but also the system. Try drills, try games that I think might work and might illicit a certain response from the players or get a certain outcome.
“This guy is local and lives not too far from our base at Pennyhill Park, which is handy. But there are lots of things we can take from it.
“You always have to put it into the context of rugby but you want to see the moves, the body motion they do, how they manipulate parts of the body to get out of contact.
“It’s nothing new because people have used wrestling and judo before.”
As well as expecting a brawl against Les Bleus at Twickenham on February 4, England have found themselves at the centre of a possible spying scandal with New Zealand.
The All Blacks and England have both recruited the help of coaches from the Australian rugby league powerhouse Melbourne Storm.
Tackling specialist Jason Ryles visited England’s HQ last autumn but has also been in bed with the reigning World Cup winners.
The tie-up between the two southern-hemisphere heavyweights goes back to 2010, while Jones and his invincibles struck up a bond only this year.
However, Gustard knocked down the threat of secret information being leaked, with the top two ranked teams in the world not meeting until 2018 at the earliest.
He said: “I would say unequivocally not. You’re talking about someone’s coaching integrity there.
“You become exposed to an environment — what we say to him and the transfer of information is what we say to him and likewise.
“I think Jason is a good bloke and enjoyed his time with us and was appreciative of what he took away.
“You never question someone’s integrity.”
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