England straining at the leash

England’s Grand Slam heroes are desperate to be unleashed against international minnows Georgia in their World Cup opener, according to veteran flanker Richard Hill.

Five weeks will have separated England’s last outing against France from the Georgia clash in Perth, a lengthy spell which will have been filled largely by gruelling training sessions at their luxurious Pennyhill Park Hotel base.

The five-try demolition of France at Twickenham earlier this month was the first taste of match action for 2003 RBS 6 Nations winners such as Hill, Martin Johnson and Jonny Wilkinson since the victorious summer tour Down Under.

Johnson and Wilkinson will have played just over 40 minutes of rugby in nearly four months following their substitutions shortly after the interval against France and Hill admits the whole squad is straining at the leash.

“It was July 21 when England’s initial World Cup squad first met. Since then we’ve got through a huge amount of work and I’d like to think our fitness and skill levels have risen,” said the Saracens forward.

“The coaches’ focus now will be managing the players because we’re all ready to play. Everyone is pretty keen to get on the pitch and start this World Cup.

“Some guys managed to play in all three of the World Cup warm-up matches while others, like myself, Martin and Jonny have only had the one opportunity against France.

“We’re all used to September coming around and being into the full flow of the season. But at the moment we’re still training. We’ve done contact work but we’re used to be on the pitch at this point in the season.

“We don’t know what team Clive Woodward will pick for the Georgia match but every member of our squad wants to be get stuck into the first match of our World Cup campaign.”

Although it has been a long and arduous summer for the England squad at their Bagshot camp, they are already feeling the benefits of a punishing fitness regime that has been designed to mould them into perfect shape in time for the World Cup.

They will also have been assisted by this summer’s record temperatures – the World Cup is being staged during Australia’s hot season and although some matches will have evening kick-off times, the heat can still be oppressive.

Wallaby legend David Campese warned recently that the northern hemisphere teams will find it difficult to adapt to conditions Down Under, and playing during October and November will certainly will certainly be a journey into the unknown for Woodward’s men.

Many of the 30-strong party will have travelled to Australia with the Lions in 2001 or as part of England’s squad over the summer but those tours were undertaken during the World Cup hosts’ winter.

“Generally the heat has never really been a big issue before because we play over there during their winter. But I think it will be a lot different this time. I’ve never been to Australia in November, it’s certainly going to be a hotter period of the year,” said Hill.

“The weather and conditions are something that we’ve discussed and taken into account. I think we’ve been very fortunate in terms of the weather we’ve had in Britain. I’m sure it’s partly replicated the conditions we’ll experience out there.

“We managed to fit several sessions in during the spell when it was 30-plus-depress and hopefully that should help us acclimatise earlier than usual. We will just have to make sure we look after ourselves in terms of hydration.”

England, who lie behind the All Blacks as bookies favourites despite topping both the International Rugby Board and Zurich world rankings, leave for Australia on October 1, making them the final team to arrive at the World Cup.

They face Georgia, South Africa, Samoa and Uruguay in the group stages with the Springbok clash in Perth on October 18 the certain showdown for top spot in Pool C – the winner will secure a potentially far easier route to the final.