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'If you come back under 120 you're not going back to England camp'

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Ex-England No8 Nathan Hughes has revealed the complicated fluctuating weight battle he endured during his three-year Test career due to the very different demands made of him by head coach Eddie Jones compared to Dai Young, his boss at the time at Wasps. It was 2013 when the Fijian-born forward arrived at Wasps following two years playing NPC for Auckland and having completed the three-year residency, he was then called up by Jones for England duty in autumn 2016.

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Hughes went on to play 22 times for his adopted country across three autumn series campaigns, three Six Nations and two summer tours. Twelve of those appearances came as a starter before he fell down the pecking order following his last run as a sub in the incredible March 2019 Twickenham draw versus Scotland at Twickenham. 

With his England career now over, the 30-year-old Hughes could next be seen playing Test level for his native Fiji as the three-year gap back to his last cap means he has served the necessary stand-down period in order to change allegiance under the new World Rugby eligibility regulation for tier-one capped player re-registering for their country of origin.   

In the meantime, Hughes has been reminiscing about his England days under Jones during a guest appearance on the latest edition of RugbyPass Offload and has explained the extreme lengths he went to satisfy his club boss at Wasps whenever he returned from international duty.  

Asked what his relationship was like with Jones during his time involved with England from 2016 to 2019, Hughes explained: “It was good. He knew how to approach different people. Every time I went into England camp I always stripped down so much weight and then when I went back to Wasps Dai would be like, ‘What the f*** are you doing? If you come back so light again you’re f***ed. You are not going back to England’. 

“Dai always loved a heavy pack. When you played Wasps it was always this big, heavy pack one to eight. Every time I came back he was, ‘If you come back under 120 you’re not going back to England camp’. So after England camp I always had to eat so much… and he always made me stand on the scales.”

It was a bizarre workplace situation of having Young as the feeder at Wasps and Jones stripping the Hughes weight back with England, but the player insisted he didn’t mind the stress it caused. “It was quite good to know where I stood in the Wasps and England teams. Eddie always called me the English breakfast tea because all Fijians love tea and biscuit. So he called me the English breakfast tea,” added the No8, who has been on loan at Bath from Bristol since January.

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6 Comments
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Andrew 949 days ago

We can laugh but this is real. The ABs are lightweights from 1 to 15 now. A fit fast 120kg no 8 is going to makemore impact than a fit fast 108-110 kg no 8 at test level.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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